The Heartless Judging the Homeless

I was recently eating lunch out on the patio of a downtown restaurant. A well known, homeless panhandler came by and did his usual chatter asking for spare change. After he wandered off I overheard a group of dinners making disparaging remarks about the homeless in general and about that man in particular. The term crackhead came up. Having worked in the area for many years, I'm aware of certain details about that particular homeless man. He is not a crackhead, he's simply not sane. Back in the 80's, Regan closed down numerous government-run mental health facilities. Anyone who was deemed as not a danger themselves or others was turned out. If they didn't have family to take them in, they would up on the streets. Remember the giant homeless problem back in the 80's? It didn't appear from nowhere. Remember all the celebrity pleas and shows like "Comic Relief"? And then in the 90's, the homeless problem went back down to previous levels. Those people didn't suddenly get sane, find jobs and become productive members of society. They died of exposure. It's sad and horrible, but it's true. Just because someone is not a danger to themselves or others does not necessarily mean they can take care of themselves. The homeless man I mentioned above was part of that group back in the 80's that got turned out. It's only through the kindness of the downtown residents that he has survived. Not everyone on the street is there because of drugs or bad choices or laziness. Sometimes they're just the people we as a society have not taken better care to protect.