Mainstreaming Resistant Homeless Persons Is An Impossibility
The unique, voluntary, experience of Civil Rights-homeless activist, Ted Hayes, the original Domestic Peace Corps, servant-trooper reveals that 95- 98 % of the homelessness populations can not, will not, even if they wanted to, transition out of homelessness into the mainstream of society. This is true nationwide, especially, in Los Angeles, the capital of homelessness of the United States of America!
A portion of these people are those who have experienced mainstream lifestyle before their state of homelessness, while others coming from already impoverished circumstances and conditions.
Nonetheless, of the 98% of those who can’t make it to mainstream, 95% of them whom are mentally and physically capable of maintaining a “9-5” job, are refusing to do so. In fact, having no desire, they actively resist it.
Dwellings of the Homeless Populations
These homelessness populations would include those individuals and families who dwell in garages turned into illegal housing, over-capacity apartments and houses (* dwelling with family/friends), hotels, motels, SRO apartments, transitional housing, missions, shelters, abandoned buildings, automobiles, (trailers, trucks, buses, vans, cars, RVs, etc.) encampments, (tents, blankets, plastic sheet lean-tos, etc), shanty towns, (wooden shacks and corrugated or cardboard boxes), and on “the streets” (sidewalks, store front porches, alley ways, parking and vacant lots, under surface road and freeways bridges, off freeway islands, parks, beach fronts, river beds, etc.)
Controversy: “Street” Homeless
It’s these hardcore, chronic, “street” homeless peoples whom are the most visible, troublesome, and therefore, the highly controversial of all the segments and levels of homelessness populations.
Unable To Mainstream Homeless
This 98% population who can’t, won’t attain to the mainstream and remain there as productive, hardworking, tax-paying citizens, is due to the following possibilities: either and/or their physical and psychological (mental, emotional intellectual) disabilities and challenges; ages; lack of skills; and/or inability to become skilled persons.
- These folk will always be dependent upon someone or social programs to even remain alive and healthy, let alone become tax paying productive citizens in mainstream society.
Mainstream Resistant Homeless
If asked what would help them, they will give you what I call, “correct, homeless, political speech” (HPCS). HPCS is a way for homeless persons to win ones friendship in order to get that possible dollar or spare change.
If the potential donor, or television news crew, etc., asked what it take for them to “get off the streets”, the homeless person would say, “Ohhh…a job and place to stay” and it sets the potential donor thinking, “This guy is alright. Like me, he believes in the work ethic. He’s just having a hard time right now. Nevertheless, thinks like me. That could be me there. I’ll give him some money.”
Generally, if that same homeless person, who is daily, precisely at the same time, on the same street corner, soliciting funds, was offered by the donor a twenty dollar bill ($20), place to stay and job paying twenty dollars ($20) hourly, when returns tomorrow at same time to pick him up…the homeless persons with HPPCS, won’t be there.
While these persons may work sporadically, i.e., daily bases-day job, or a few days at time, but without punching a clock, they will not allow themselves to be lured by social service programmers into the road that leads back to the stresses, insanity, madness of mainstream. It’s just not worth it!
The reason for this resistance to mainstreaming by this homeless population is that, they have actually found certain tranquility in their misery.
Escaping the Unhappy Slavery of Mainstream Society
The chronic homeless person is like the slave that has escaped the unhappy, stressed filled plantation, even inadvertently wondered of, and tasted the “sweetness” and joy of freedom, that self-liberated slave would rather “die in the swamp”, that return to the unhappy, materialistic addicted, mainstream society plantation.
No offerings of better slave quarters, food, healthcare, less work, or even threats of beatings and death, can’t coerce the slave to return to being owned by another human being. Without verbally articulating this sentiment, their mainstream resistant behavior demonstrates that human dignity outranks slavery.
Homeless Become One With Homelessness
Though initially angry and/or emotionally upset, and somewhat embarrassed with their new state of homelessness, after repeated failed attempts to “get off the streets” via the social services, human nature dictates that they surrender to their circumstances.
Essentially, they have acclimated and embraced their homelessness state, that is they become “one with it”, by embrace the pain to remain sane.
These folk have discovered that their homelessness has emancipated them from the “rat-race” duties of most stressed out Americans, of whom scientific research reveals that 95% of them hate their occupations, even highly paid.
They are greatly vexed by either, having to travel hours in overcrowded traffic, by personal auto and/or public transportation to and from work; obnoxious bosses and irritable co-workers; paying high rents or mortgages, utilities, taxes, education for their children, child support, alimony, past debts to relatives, friends and credit agencies; or even with lucrative incomes and large, paid-for house, nevertheless, the stresses of such lifestyles are destroying the fabric of their families, that leads to societal breakdowns, and rebellious youths.
Furthermore, the high stresses of mainstream rat-race society, also generates psychological-mental (emotional and intellectual), physical, and societal illnesses, creating huge industries of healthcare, legitimate pharmacuitical, i.e., “big pharma”, as well as street drugs use costing in billions of dollars, with far more generated by the later, all leading to violence, accidents, which fuels the insurance industry.
Program Resistant Homeless
Of course, they also refuse to be subjugated to the stifling environments of the outreach social service rehabilitation center programs, where they are required to obey strictly enforced rules and regulations, including those of sobriety.
The Enslavement of Working Poor and Middle Class Peoples
It is a truism that the middles class are not being lost but rather transformed into “tax slaves”. Whereas, the rich are getting richer, and the poor are getting poorer. In fact, society is balanced upon the back of the working middle classes and working poor.
Tax Slavery
The tax slaves pay for the financial expenditures of government ranging from bureaucracies (local, county, state, federal), to military, to foreign aide, to the poor and homeless, to corporations who won’t pay theirs.
Program Resistant Homeless Do Not Want Mainstream
These “program resistant” people understand that after graduation from the rehabilitation and training centers of outreach programs, the very same conditions and situation that drove them into “streets” in the first place, are not only still there in mainstream, but they have actually grown worse.
They reason, “Why work so hard merely to return to a drudgery that is now far worse than the original causations” for their homelessness in the first place.
They also, reason, that even working for “cost of living” wages is foolishness, because they are so tired and stressed, they can not fully enjoy the fruit of their labors and the devastating toll that it takes his/her family is not worth it.
They are aware that too often in order to pay the prices of the living a mainstream life, several employment wages must be combined in order to make “ends meet”.
Often, multiple jobs is a combination every adult person in a household maintain at least one or more occupations, resulting in a myriad of domestic, psychological, and physical complications.
The Mystery of Program Resistant Homeless
The escaped slaves have found tranquility in their misery; Rest, in their turbulent struggles; Reprieve in their weariness; Calm in the storm; Joy in their sorrows. Laughter in their anger; Happiness in their sadness; Comfort in their loneliness; Sanity in their madness; Healings in their wounds and pain.
Herein lays the mystery to “program resistant” homeless people who would rather remain in the cold, rain, filth of the outdoors environment and the constant harassment of police, than to yield and avail themselves’ of decent government sanctioned shelters.
They understandably refuse to surrender their freedom in exchange for the horrors of mainstream, paying taxes, utilities, rent or mortgages; traveling to and from work; and the rigors of the job and the entanglements with co-workers.
Mainstream, House On Fire
A very vivid picture of the circumstance of
No Room In The Inn of Mainstream Society
Finally, even if the great masses of the homelessness populations would desire to mainstream, they can’t, because geo-physically, there is no room to build adequate housing.
Lack of Housing
While the social services may be able to temporarily shelter, including transitional housing or substance misuse facilities, there isn’t nearly enough housing in in urban regions such as, Los Angeles that is permanent and “affordable for them in “decent” neighborhoods.
No Gainful Employment
Niether is there enough living wage or gainful, cost of living employment opportunities for them, even if housing was available.
Gentrification of the Lower Classes
It is a fact, that gentrification is occurring right through the middle and poor working classes. If these classes of people are loosing their housing and employment opportunities as well, clearly then it is impossible for the unemployed poor and homeless to achieve.
Decentralization Is The Most Answer
Activism must no longer advise government and private entities to seek programming to mainstream the masses of homeless populations, but rather to identify alternative tributaries and implement programming accordingly.
Through the objective process of elimination, we come to the conclusion that only a plan of decentralization of the homeless population from the urban centers, suburban area and in some cases rural communities into former military bases, etc, reformed into chartered townships.