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Charles Murray's Arguments Against The Homeless

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Homelessness has always been a controversial and complicated issue to understand; but, recent natural disasters, an economic recession, and conflicts among various nations have given homelessness a whole new dimension.
Experts from various fields, ranging from economics to health care services, are divided on how the task should be approached. Some homeless advocates propose the implementation of preventative policies focused on housing affordability and others on policies that prevent the discrimination of the homeless. The truth of the matter is that there are too many connecting issues that have caused homelessness to escalate from a lifestyle that was really only lived by middle aged individuals with a substance abuse problem, to a condition …show more content…

Libertarian Charles Murray proclaims that “the evil of the modern welfare state is not that it bribes women to have babies — wanting to have babies is natural — but that it enables women [that are not married] to bear children without the natural social restraints” (qtd. in Tanner). However, it is clear that Murray oversimplifies the situation since not all single women choose to get pregnant outside of a marriage. In order to understand these types of situations it is important to factor in the death of a spouse, abandonment, and sexual assault. Many single parents raise their children alone because their partner died, they were rejected by their loved ones, or [in the case of women] they were forcefully impregnated without their consent. In these situations the government should view the parents as victims and not irresponsible con artists. Programs that help single parents should be supported because no child deserves to be without a home. Children need stable housing to feel secure, and it is the federal government’s duty to provide security to all its …show more content…

For example, although the HUD includes individuals living in the streets and in public shelters in their definition of homeless, they have yet to recognize people living with relatives and friends in that same definition. Yet, in 2012 the same department reported that 66 percent of homeless families moved in with relatives or friends before they finally moved into a shelter (Katel). So if the percentage is as high as it is, why does the government not recognize these families as homeless? Because there are still prominent members of the public who don’t believe that bunking with loved ones counts as being

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