In the public imagination, homelessness looks like the man in soiled clothes sleeping on top of a subway grate or the woman peering out of a tent from under a highway overpass. But in cities and towns that have the highest concentrations of homelessness, many — and sometimes a majority — of those who do not live in shelters are in cars, not on the streets, according to the annual census known as the “point in time count.”
In Los Angeles County, for example, two-thirds are living in vehicles. In San Mateo County, which includes part of Silicon Valley, its even more — 71 percent.
“The American dream of owning a home is dead unless you make a gazillion dollars,”
Perfect. I said something similar the last time this sort of rhetoric came out of a coworker’s mouth. Literally what I said about begging on the streets and making 6 figures was what he said. I said “that’s not happening, at least not for more than maybe up to 5 people, and if you don’t believe me then why don’t you just do that instead of working harder and making less?” The response was some bullshit about not wanting to be a drain on society and how he would feel bad taking money he didn’t earn. And yet his goal is to buy a few houses and rent them out so his housing is paid for by other people. Pointing out the irony to him would be a waste of breath.
Of course she does. She is said welfare queen. I’m sure she’d try to explain how it’s not the same thing, but the reality is that she believes that she’s earned (there’s that word again) what she’s receiving, implying that others haven’t. I would have trouble maintaining a close relationship with somebody who holds these beliefs.