The Root of the Homeless Problem

Ryan Hertz, executive director, South Oakland Shelter, writes in the Huffington Post (9/6, 500K) "The Blog" that during his "travels to rural indigenous villages throughout North America, to isolated communities in the mountains and jungles of Mexico that sometimes lack even running water," he is hard pressed to explain his job. To these people, it is inconceivable that members of society are allowed to be homeless. He says, "Our lifestyle has transformed many of us to the point that we barely recognize" someone begging for change "as human." Hertz argues that "it is primarily because so many of us have so much that we are willing to let some go entirely without, even when we can easily afford to provide the basics for all with little to no impact on the standard of living to which we have become accustomed."