WHERE IS THE INCENTIVE?

Once a government agency is created, it will fight to keep receiving budget dollars. As with all government solutions to an issue, more money will be needed to correct the problem that never gets solved. If government really wanted to solve most problems, they would get out of the way. Government many times does not want to solve problems but gain more control over a nation. Unfortunately, there are many who think they are helping. They are helping to perpetuate bureaucratic control.

There are only two ways of viewing any issue. One is based solely on effects or the visible world and the other is to think in terms of cause and effect. The vast majority of people have been trained to think only in terms of effects. For instance, they see a homeless man and think something ought to be done so that this man has a home. They never ask the question of why this man is homeless. In other words, they are not capable of thinking in terms of cause. Thinking about causality is what will solve the issue of homelessness.

The Appalachian Regional Coalition on Homelessness is seeking volunteers to do a HUD mandated count of Northeast Tennessee’s homeless. This mandated count is designed to provide Federal Government grants to end chronic homelessness in the United States. The Johnson City Press provides the following quote from Dreama Shreve, director of ARCH’s Homeless Information System, "What the point-in-time counts means to the local community is money. Every grant awarded to the local service agencies by HUD requires specific data supported by data gathered in the annual surveys. Northeast Tennessee will miss out on the those grants without it."

Well there it is. Shreve’s job depends on counting homeless people. What is well known about government agencies is that the majority money expended goes to administration, not to the intended recipients. The government is a poor employer because they are looking for free labor to conduct this homeless count. Of course, Shreve is going to make sure that this survey is put in the newspaper. She is getting free advertising so that she and this government agency keep their jobs.

The homeless are comprised principally of men. The main reason why they are homeless is because they are lazy. They do not want to work and since they are manipulators, they manipulate the gullible into giving them shelter, clothing, and food. Shelters and soup kitchens enable these men to continue their chosen homeless lifestyle. Biblical charity is personal and short term. Any organization that keeps feeding the same people day in and day out is not doing them any favors. Instead of creating independence, they create a dependence.

This upcoming count will do nothing to prevent or solve chronic homelessness. In fact, what will happen as a result of this count will be that homelessness will increase. This increase in the homeless will result in more money being granted to Northeast Tennessee and so the cycle goes on and on. Who pays for these lazy men? You and I do through our taxes. Isn’t it time to cut off the funds to this government agency and the lazy?