Current+Economy+and+Homelessness+-+Period+4

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In America today, two of the biggest problems include homelessness and the current economy. Ironically, they’re very much related. Due to the bad economic conditions, jobs are becoming increasingly hard to find. In fact, the unemployment rate has recently reached 8.1% (Databases, Tables & Calculators by Subject). As a result, both the economy and the standards of living greatly drop. Education of these problems is a must. Without a stable economy, the workforce suffers, and without a stable workforce, the economy suffers. With a vicious cycle like this at hand, things cannot progress, and everybody loses.

Drug Abuse
[|Drug abuse] is another main reason for homelessness in America. Drug abusers wind up spending all of, or a majority of their paychecks on their drugs of choice. That means that they cannot afford to pay their bills or their utilities. After a while their debt piles and piles, and the bank or landlord has to evict them from their homes. But this does not convince the abusers to stop their abuse. They continue the drugs, and most of the time it becomes heavier after losing their jobs and homes, so every penny of their made money from begging goes to their drugs now. So now they are digging through the garbage looking for food, stealing money, stealing food and water, drinking dirty water from public places, and just creating a whole big mess all over the place. (Gallagher)

Government Intervention
To put it simply, when it comes to government and the economy, more is less (Jacobson). The more the government intervenes, the less control businesses have over the economy. When this happens, unwise decisions are often forced to be made. Needless to say, unwise decisions lead to a decrease in profits, and a decrease in profits results in job cuts.

Unbeknownst to some, it is up to big business to create jobs that form a stable economy. This is why government interference could never help. While a business works its way up to the top gaining experience and know-how as it moves along, government officials do not have these same credentials (Jacobson). Without this essential professionalism, elected members of our government cannot make the same responsible decisions that business could.

Economic Ignorance
Just as you wouldn’t build a house without knowing what you were doing, why would you spend money and make investments without knowing what you were doing? Unfortunately, people do this all of the time, and the results are never good. When citizens support [|failing businesses] (and make bad decisions themselves), both the people and the economy suffers.

A way to keep the homelessness numbers down is simply by keeping businesses operating. A way to do this is by only supporting businesses that are worth supporting (Glassman). However, in order to do this, people need to know what to look for. This is why it is so important for to be educated about the economy, and the way that it works. If people want good things to come out of it, they need to know what they should be putting in. (Gallagher)

Solutions

Counseling
Drug abuse counseling is a excellent option for a solution. There are more than enough places to get this kind of help, especially in larger cities where this is a major problem. [|Counselors] and therapists are there to help you, but first they must learn how to help themselves. They have small groups of people who go out and help them learn how to do so.

Private Groups
Small private groups go around teaching and helping homeless people how to control their spending and help them get into a therapists for more help. These groups give people a place to stay when they need it, water to drink, and food to eat as well. One of these groups is the Covenant House. But the Covenant House is there specifically for homeless teens. They also give them a place to learn who God is, and how they can follow him wherever they go. This is because the Covenant House is a Christian organization.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Education
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Besides having an economy with reliable producers, it is also important for there to be responsible consumers (Thumped). This is why economic education among the communities of America is such an important thing. Without intelligent people to make smart investments and make smart purchases, things can go downhill fast.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Having the know how of sustaining a healthy economy can also decrease the number of homeless people. Since people know how to support good businesses, the businesses can then put their profits into creating new jobs (Jacobson). When this happens, people have money to pay their bills, therefore they are able to sustain their homes, keeping them off the streets.

Links
[|Putting a stop to homelessness]

[|Homelessness statistics]

[|Economic statistics]

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">References
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">"Databases, Tables & Calculators by Subject." Bureau of Labor Statistics Data. Web. 14 May 2012. <http://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LNS14000000>.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Gallagher, Tom. "A pathway to hope for homeless teens." National Catholic Reporter 29 Oct. 2010: 19. Student Resources in Context. Web. 6 Mar. 2012.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Glassman, James K. "Stimulus: a history of folly." Commentary 127.3 (2009): 19+. Global Issues In Context. Web. 19 Mar. 2012

"Homeless Man." Gale Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Detroit: Gale, 2010. Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 16 May 2012. Document URL http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CEJ2210079169&v=2.1&u=pl7053&it=r&p=GPS&sw=w <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Jacobson, Louis. "Jobs crisis: most economists agree states can do a few things, though not a lot, to help create jobs." State Legislatures 38.1 (2012): 12+. Student Resources in Context. Web. 19 Mar. 2012.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">"Thumped - Thumped; American capitalism." The Economist [US] 13 July 2002. Infotrac Newsstand. Web. 20 Mar. 2012.