By Leland Anderson Venice
I am astounded by the increasingly bizarre lines of argumentation posited by the good citizens of Santa Monica concerning the city’s homeless situation. I have over the last few weeks observed your readership alternately decry the indolence, criminality and overall offensiveness of the homeless who congregate in and on the city’s parks and beaches. The general consensus appears to be that, as the homeless in the area haven’t the decency to crawl into the ocean and die, the only sensible alternative is to somehow permanently relocate those without $1,200-$1,500 a month to spend on lodging. Solutions proffered for the “homeless problem” ranged from incarceration and/or deportation to I.D. cards (priceless). It seems only a communist would fail to see the bind these “people” have put the taxpaying residents and business owners of Santa Monica in. I will forever be impressed by the ability of those whom mere circumstance has placed into a high tax bracket to disregard the most basic causative factors of all our nation’s social problems. Simultaneously, they fail to erect even the pretense of compassion for any human being — with the possible exception of anyone likely to turn up outside little Decklan’s pre-pre-SAT class or the holistic supplements aisle at Wild Oats. In reading some of the opinions held by the local townsfolk, I was heartened to learn that the contempt the privileged class holds for pretty much everyone else on Earth is alive and well in Santa Monica. I had no idea hypocrisy, xenophobia, solipsism, misanthropy and general dumbassedness was so fashionable here as well.
Yes, some people choose to be homeless (though far fewer than one would like to think) just as, I suppose, some people choose to make by recommendations on stocks they know to be worthless, and yes, as long as there are people; there will be poor people. Bad decisions are our birthright. But regardless of all else — drugs, bad luck, laziness, or good old fashioned anti-social behavior — you’d do well to understand that when people can’t cover their basic needs, in the absence of others, they generally become their own targets. That means their drinking, brawling and debauchery are an ends not a means. Whatever inconvenience you are subjected to on your next trip to Williams Sonoma by “aggressive panhandlers” (if you were hungry or so dispirited that you couldn’t face the day sober you’d be aggressive too) will surely last only as long as it takes for the valet to pull up in your eco-friendly SUV. But by all means do what you must to purge yourselves of the thought of sharing your air with anyone who isn’t exactly like you: Buy that Maybach, that Patek Phillipe, or that Michael Kors sweater or even that Ostrich-skin decanter. More bread! More circuses! War is peace, right! Alas, rhetoric, however dazzling, will not prevent “people” from urinating on public streets, or God forbid, having the desire to live and be treated like a person. We can’t be our brother’s keepers can we? And we can’t very well be expected to change the past. The radical deregulation of the mental health system in this country began during the Reagan years has already dumped thousands of Americans on the street. They ain’t going no where now! The economic disparity between the wealthy and the poor has been expanding steadily — the trickle down ain’t trickling like it should, what are you gonna do? These are very real issues that must be faced, I say again, faced. Still, ignoring our problems seems to be working for somebody.
P.S. I very much enjoyed reading of the Second Annual Spaghetti Showdown in your Monday (8/26) issue. I imagine the lucky denizens of Santa Monica who participated in the event have recovered from their gorging and I trust that whatever the contestants weren’t able to stuff down their gullets was scraped into plastic bags and thrown into the garbage behind the restaurant so the scores of homeless who might want to eat more than once a day might be able to re-live the fun and excitement of the event. I’m sure the new basketball nets and pool cues at the Boys and Girls Club that the proceeds from the contest paid for will be appreciated.
Kudos!
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on August 28, 2002. Read the original PDF.