Wednesday, August 11, 2021 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
5
Commentary...
Compromising homelessness
By Erik Dolson
Columnist
Two weeks ago, camps
of the homeless, aka the
houseless, aka those living in
rough shelter, in squalor and
despair rank in the hot July
sun near the Columbia River
in Portland, seemed almost
apocalyptic.
After asking liberals and
conservatives what they
thought could be done, and
reading a variety of publi-
cations, I think there may
actually be some options but
am not at all sure we can get
there from here.
Because I had a bias
against publicly funded
<affordable housing= (at a
social level the concept may
be self-defeating in a capi-
talist system), I9d dismissed
that housing the homeless
was possible.
But last week I read a
tweet from a progressive
politician (I was looking
for something by Cormac
McCarthy, okay?) which said
<housing is a human right.=
This caused a shift in my
thinking. I do believe there
are <human rights= that a
civilized society guarantees
its members. In other words,
an individual is guaranteed
a minimal standard of living
by the fact of being a mem-
ber of our society and we
will not accept misery under
the overpass.
Now that I think about
it, the label <social secu-
rity= captures what I9m try-
ing to get at: Even here in
America, land of individu-
als, land of the free, land of
<them that kills eats,= we
believe in social security.
(No, you did not pay into
your Social Security account
all you are likely to receive.)
I also believe in (and receive)
Medicare.
What if we expand the
label of <social security= to
include minimal health care
for all? That would certainly
provide security and, if pro-
vided by society, becomes
part of our <social security.=
We share the air.
So if Medicare, Medicaid,
etc. also become part of
our social security, can we
include shelter for the home-
less? To <cure= what the The
Economist magazine calls
<unsheltered homelessness=?
Not until we liberals
become a whole lot more
honest.
WHAT?!?!?
Before America will agree
that housing is a human
right, liberals have to put
actual concepts of accept-
able <housing= or <shelter=
on the table. Not doing so is
dishonest hedging of bets.
Yes, I know the risks of being
specific.
Liberals must accept that
many Americans are get-
ting through hard times by
living in the basements of
relatives, or in singlewides in
unregulated trailer parks, or
in campers somewhere in the
forest, or in a room in a house
with kitchen and bathroom
shared with strangers. Those
Americans, and their kin,
won9t accept government
giving away better accom-
modations to the unsheltered.
But if liberals have to
describe what shelter they
will agree is minimally
acceptable, conservatives
have to acknowledge that
bad things happen to good
people, that community
well-being depends on the
well-being of its most vul-
nerable members, and finally
that we will simply not toler-
ate fellow Americans living
and dying on the side of our
freeways.
Conservatives must do
more than say the program
rewards the undeserving,
or the addicted must suffer
before recovery, or bad deci-
sions must result in bad out-
comes for the good of soci-
ety, or & just pick the most
unfair example to oppose any
such program so it will die.
Consequently, such shel-
ter must be minimal, and we
must NOT remove the social
stigma of such housing. Yes,
that9s harsh to liberal sensi-
tivities. But community val-
ues are a primary mechanism
that society uses to correct
social malfunction at a macro
level.
My vision includes a
warm room under a roof, a
bed, a way to heat food, a
toilet, a shower: 200 to 300
square feet? I don9t know.
Small A-frames come to
mind, with enough <space=
around each unit for individ-
ual choices, whether a veg-
etable garden or daffodils or
a hammock between poles.
Arranged in a close hexa-
gon? The hexagons them-
selves arranged in a pattern
of hexagons? With a com-
mon area for visits by medi-
cal personnel or commu-
nity conference? A pickup
point for public transport to
employment?
A professional told me
once that a <community=
can9t be larger than about
200 people. Could we pre-
vent warfare between adja-
cent communities? I don9t
know, I9m just throwing out
ideas.
My ideas may be inane or
impossible. Offer your own.
But don9t retreat behind <It9s
not my problem.= Yes, it is.
As Americans, we must
look for the trade-offs while
we create innovative solu-
tions. It9s cheaper to shel-
ter the homeless in minimal
accommodations than in hos-
pitals or jails. It also becomes
simpler to address individual
problems such as addiction,
mental health, lack of skills,
etc. There may be real sav-
ings on a social level.
Then, maybe we can
confront the absurdity that
monthly rent for a basic
apartment in many places is
about half of a good monthly
wage.
Erik Dolson is a Sisters
resident and writer. His
work can be found at https://
erikdolson.substack.com.
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