Philosophical thoughts on welfare
The National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty estimates that at least 3 million American men, women, and children will be homeless for at least some part of each year [1] . Record numbers of people sleep on the streets because they cannot keep up with the rising cost of living in the growing economy. Despite this growing economy, homelessness and poverty has actually grown in the past 20 years [2] and will accelerate as Iraqi War veterans join the ranks of the homeless. The American community suffers because the homeless consume a disproportionate amount of public resources, sometimes hundreds of thousands of dollars per person. They also often wreak havoc upon commercial areas and residential neighborhoods and damage property. A possible solution to America ’s homeless problem is for the government to engage in a massive welfare program to feed and shelter the homeless, but this money has to come from somewhere, in this case the taxpayers. It would be a burden on the work