Tough love time for city’s homeless
Citizens of Albuquerque, we need to wake up! The problem with homelessness and panhandling has gotten out of control, and we have no one but ourselves to blame for it.
Ample services for drug rehabilitation, detox, emergency shelters, transitional housing, counseling, employment assistance, health care and meals exist all over the city — Google them! — but only for people who want to turn their lives around. If they can make $40 an hour, tax-free, setting their own hours, for doing nothing but holding a sign, what incentive does that give them to make a change in their lives? None!
The biggest motivator for change is discomfort. These people need a hand-up, not a handout. So many I see are young, able-bodied citizens who have — and are — making poor choices in their lives, and we only enable them to continue on their path to self-destruction by giving them money at intersections. This money is then used to buy drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, spray paint, and other things they deem “essential,” and they litter our parks, underpasses, on- and off-ramps and streets with their litter and waste in return.
Where has the old American work ethic gone? This is not the Great Depression! Plenty of opportunities exist for people to better themselves. Our economy is flying high right now. I don’t believe that many of these people are truly and completely disabled. Some are; but the majority do not seem to be. They’re making that choice. If they can be on their feet that many hours a day, rain or shine, they can learn a trade or food service and can get back into the workforce again. The very least they can do in return is to clean up after themselves.
Are we really willing to continue to let these people, who often work in teams and on shifts, take over our great city with their “something-for-nothing” attitudes? When I see the lack of effort on their parts to better their lives or to respect those who live around them, I start to lose sympathy. And yes, I understand drug addiction and mental illness. There is help available for those, too. We cannot let a subset of people who are making bad decisions dictate the direction our city is going. Please stop giving them money!