How would I help the homeless?

These days there is much suffering and due to financial problems one can get homeless. And this situation can happen to anyone for sure. You and I can get into some kind of financial problems due to divorce, health problems, accidents and unfortunate decisions resulting in having no money to pay for the bills. And this can result in being forced out of one's home and into the streets. You might think this cannot happen to you or me, but history has proven that this can even happen to those who are rich at this moment. And currently we see that many people are getting homeless or need to spend the night at a friends home. What is the influence of homelessness and how would I help the homeless?

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Influence of being homeless

Not having income, not having enough to pay all the bills can result in eviction, and thus one needs to sleep elsewhere. If one hasn't any friends or cannot find a place, then one needs to spend the night outside and thus one needs to sleep on the streets. Living on the streets is a dangerous thing. One doesn't know what others want, one doesn't know how to get the next meal and one only thinks about how to survive another day. This situation has a terrible influence on the person as one needs to endure all weather conditions, animals, strangers and one is forgotten by all as others are in disrespect. This has a deep profound influence on that person, as one isn't treated like a human being anymore. Being in this situation in many cases has influence on the mental state of the person.

How can the homeless be helped?

As homelessness has a physical and mental impact on the person, then they need to be treated as such as well. It means taking them of the streets and giving them a safe place at first while they are being assessed. With this I mean assess if the person has mental of physical problems which obviously need to be treated. How can that person be helped in the following steps. Maybe they need help in getting their identification in order so that they can travel back home, maybe they need some money to get home, maybe they need a basic income to recover, strengthen and be given time to think on what is best to do after this period. So there are many ways to solve the problems for the homeless person. It needs to be asked how we can help them, as they for sure know how they need to be helped.

Giving a roof above their heads

Affordable homes is a big issue, as people with little income and working also want to have a payable home, but they cannot pay for it. It means there aren't enough cheap homes to rent and thus this needs to be provided. Everyone has right on getting appropriate housing. If normal houses or apartments are too expensive to rent, then houses need to be subsidized so that people with less income have the opportunity to get into housing. If not, then they need to stay in a cheap hotel or need to remain living in their car. And that obviously isn't the best solution to this problem. But for the homeless just getting of the streets they need to be put in a safe place where they are given time. Time to recover and time to think on what to do next. Just by getting them off the streets and giving them a roof above their heads (not meaning a shelter, but a home, apartment or room for themselves) is the best way to help.

Giving basic income

Homeless people have problems with their finances and that can be of big influence. If they want to survive they need a steady income, so that they get time to heal and get time to think. This can only be done by providing a basic income for the needy. Basic income is government money that is not taxed and there are no conditions attached to it as well. So people can use it in any way possible, and that obviously suits their interest the best. It gives them the possibility to heal and gives time to think on what to do next. I think that the duration of giving a basic income can be time dependent, so that severe cases can get it long time and easy cases can get a stimulus in order to get their direct plans into action. And the benefits of such a basic income are more then the cost of it to society.

Help the homeless

If you see a homeless person then you should try to help them instead of calling the police. Help is a must and it needs to be in our nature to do so. If you would be in such a situation then you would want to be helped as well. So treat them like you want to be treated and help the homeless. If you cannot help, then call those who can help the needy. I do expect in the future that it should be forbidden to not help those in need, and thus we must arrange collectively that homeless people must be helped.

How can basic income help change our World now?

Giving away free money as a government is something many of society object to. But people do not realize that basic income has many advantages on society which do weigh against the cost of it. Especially those in need, such as the homeless, poor, and others in hardship do have rights as well in getting the best help there is. And this kind of help easily can be given through a basic income for the needy. How do I think basic income must be used to help the less fortunate ones and why is it for society important to prioritize in how we are spending our budget?

What is basic income?

A basis income means the following: "Universal basic income (UBI) is a government program in which every adult citizen receives a set amount of money regularly" (lit.1). This money is free and not taxed, and it is unconditionally. This means people don't have to prove anything to get it and there are no strings attached to it as well. Basic income has been tested in many places (such as in Finland lit.2) where people got a standard income every month, without the need to work or any pressure on it as well. And if one would find work or get income, then that wouldn't have any effect on their basic income. It has helped to stabilize peoples health (as they are less stressed about work, money and need to use help less), it has helped to minimize criminalization, it stimulates local consumption as people buy more in their area and it reduces the amount of people sleeping on the streets as well. The overall impression was that basic income helps society in many ways and thus the cost of it weighs against the benefits. So these are important lessons to take into account, as it improves our general well-being in many ways.

"How good we do it as a society, depends on how good we treat and help those in need".

Hardship and difficult times

If basic income would be implemented now right away for everybody, then that would have big financial consequences. But as said, it has many benefits as well. I can see that there might be problems implementing it for everybody right now. But that doesn't mean we cannot use it for those who actually are in need for it. There are many people who find it hard to get around during these financial uncertain times, there are a lot of poor people and consequently there are many people roofless or homeless. And not everybody wants to sleep in a shelter as for many it isn't considered as a safe place. So how can basic income be used to solve the problems for the poor and homeless?

Two wrong decisions and you can be homeless

Many people have debts and their income is needed to finance their spending. So if one gets into financial problems due to health-problems, relationship troubles, divorce, accidents, overspending and so on, then one can get homeless very quickly. You might not see it now, while you have your life settled, but even you can get into such problems that you end up on the streets. And life on the streets isn't a happy place, as you can imagine. One is cold, miserable, hungry and people ignore you completely just like you are worth nothing. Just by making two wrong decisions and you can end up on the streets as well. So from this point of perspective it is wise to learn from those who already are homeless, and try to help them as well. It isn't their fault they end up in this situation as things simply happen. And this can happen to you as well!

How do I think basic income should be used now?

We most likely cannot put basic income in place for everyone now, but we for sure can implement it for those in need. There are many that are poor, homeless, in distress in any way and do need help. In my opinion it is the decent way to act for those who haven't any problems in life. Helping others is what we need to do and basic income is a strong instrument that can be used to lift others out of their sorrow. After helping the homeless and poor with basic income, in time it gradually can expand by including other groups of society. Think about those who do have income, people with health problems, others with basic living hardship, and can barely come around with their money. By lifting up their living standards giving a basic income, they don't have to fear for uncertainty anymore and thus can create a better life. This has many positive effects for sure on them and on society as a whole as well.

Society needs to prioritize for change

You might say, giving away free money like this is un-payable for society. If you start giving away basic income by helping those in need first, then you do what is required to help society as a whole. How good we do it as a society, depends on how good we treat and help those in need. So we don't measure how much money we make, or how far we traveled in space, but we measure it in the quality of life of the most needy ones. This must be the primary method to measure if humans really have compassion for others. Now there are laws that forbid people to be homeless or sleep on the streets, but we should make laws about forbidding people not to help others instead. And if society isn't in order yet, then there is no need to invest billions in going into space or on the military as we can not even care for those on Earth. It means that society needs to prioritize and decide what is really important for our species as a whole. And basic income is a necessary means to an end in preparing this World for the next step in our evolvement.

Sources:

Lit.1: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/basic-income.asp

Lit.2: https://www.helsinki.fi/en/news/fair-society/basic-income-experiment-finland-yields-surprising-results