A Change in Direction

Social Engineering: What is the explanation for, and the solution to the current on steroids supply-side poverty policy paradigm in America - seeing how it has failed to produce the desired yield and ROI for its investors, the American people. Frankly, and in deference to all of the planning, resource allocation, capital utilization and sweat equity that has been applied (the results have been disheartening, with regard to the issue of homelessness)!

Could the answer be, that an antipodal, non supply-side empowerment paradigm, that permits equal access, by all Americans (even the ones who lack capital and fixed assets), to the opportunity structures of this nation, should replace the one that is currently in place? Hegel comes to mind, i.e., "Man's inhumanity to man is based on the ownership of property, and the pursuit of power through class struggle".

At HOP, the outdoor citizen's think tank and coalition of Santa Clara County, we will attempt to answer the question, and fight to change the current dynamic.

_______________________________

First of all, in terms of a cost benefit analysis, have the trillions of dollars that have been spent already, by concerned taxpayers, faith-based organizations, government and charities yielded an appropriate return-on investment, ROI? The prevailing wisdom would seem to suggest that the appropriate ROI, has not and is not being derived for every dollar that has been and is still being spent to address the phenomenological American-homeless, social pandemic.

Instead of a decrease or improvement, there has been a substantial expansion of the outdoor citizens demographic, here and elsewhere, among the well-fed clothed, temporarily sheltered ... attendant outdoor citizen's demographic. If the overall objective is to keep the outdoor citizens where they are, seeking handouts, then the plan in place is working.

Westerners may 'put their money where there mouths are' when it comes to confronting social issues and war, (behavior that is often a substitute for direct involvement), however, can or will money alone, "answer all things", in this context?

The phrase, "Money answers all things", ironically, is taken directly from the Christian Canon, Ecclesiastes 10:19. Even though most westerners are not aware that this scripture exists, too many Americans, including religious organizations, often practice 'money as a solution problem solving techniques' - churches all too often practice it!

The author, apparently King Solomon (we are not related), may have been correct, whatever his pretext may have been at the time. However, we believe that out of context, the author was wrong. In fact, money does not answer all things. Human and other social problems, require more than money to deal them. For example, if your infant child were crying, would a five-dollar bill placed into tiny hands, appease him or her?

Or, might a gentle touch, a bottle, pacifier, love or touch, satisfy the infants longing or hunger? Other means or methods need to be employed besides money, to answer some things, including what is already in place, to address, not confront, the byproduct of other issues, that results in one ending up homeless in a rich western nation.

The failure to attenuate the root causes, has resulted in a larger problem, that has resulted in too many individuals and families, in a land of plenty, falling outside of, a non-existent safety net, but rather an inclusion net, in the expansive American 2-classes system.

The author of the book: The Greening of America, Charles A. Reich, recognized and wrote about the insidious nature of this phenomenon, just over 4 decades ago. And what should we conclude and interpolate, with respect to this 'living beside the housed', growing phenomenon 40 years later - and the dollars being misspent to address it.

Americans have historically attempted to address the issue of homelessness, in a similar manner that America has often addressed other issues, that has often resulted in America's engagement in war, with so many other nation's of the world. One has to wonder just just long will it take before F14, F16, F18s, drones and satellite surveillance, appear over the growing number of homeless camps, that are popping up, many of them ironically being populated with American war veterans, all over America.

It would be interesting to see if we could, what America's domestic policy for homeless Americans happens to be. Sooner or later, we all know what 's coming, Project Apache for outdoor citizens, perhaps? Sooner or later, someone will recognize, besides HOP and few other individuals and organization, that the expenditure of dollars alone, as opposed to to addressing the the insidious root causes of homelessness as a condition, will have to be addressed prior to sending in the Marines to "get her done".

We have thrown money at this expanding problem, to the tune of trillions of dollars being spent, without achieving the desired result.

Could the money have been better spent, and can the dollars being thrown at the problem, be better spent today? At HOP, we believe that it will take more than money to address not only the issue, but the root causes that result in too many individuals who choose not to do so, ending up living a homeless, not just out of doors, lifestyle!

Part 2

When I, and a group of outdoor citizens came together to form a badly needed self-help empowerment organization 2 years ago, among the yet to be named 'outdoor citizen's demographic', we did so with this idea in mind: We recognized that an army of helping organizations and individuals were already in place in the Santa Clara Valley that were in need of conversion. We also recognized that an incredible amount of resources were apparently being misspent to address the problem of homelessness.

We immediately recognized, that although dollars were changing hands that were to be used to address the problem, that not much had changed for the targeted group of outdoor citizens. In fact, the majority in the outdoor citizen's demographic,were still living in cars, camps, parks, ravines, backyards, garages, foyers, floors, standing in food and feeding lines, or riding buses and the lite-rail into the wee hours of the morning.

In the land of plenty, there have been an abundant amount of resources, financial and other, spread around; who can deny that? However, given the current state of America's, and the worldwide economy for that matter, in the final analysis, those scarce resources have begun to slowly dry up, and in some instances, and in some instances have ended up in the pockets of the few, at the top.

Where there used to be a flood of available resources being spread around, today the Ronald W. Reagan styled trickle down system- dynamic, is firmly in place – something that the misguided late President, worked hard to achieve for his favored class group.

It kind of reminds me of what the Prophet Elijah experienced, when the brook at Kidron begin to produce a trickle, and subsequently dried up, read the old testament scriptures. Can a ocean, river or stream of dollars ... dry up altogether? The answer is in the question my friends, and most Americans are painfully aware that the stream is no longer trickling in some neighborhoods. Nevertheless, the late President, posthumously, got what he wanted, a massive transfer of income for his favored group of Americans!

At HOP, we are hoping to motivate the 2 interested party groups, both the providers and recipients to change course, rather than adopt or adapt to Ronald Reagan styled trickle-down/voodoo economics, (something that his successors are championing to this day). If we succeed in changing the mind of the misinformed, I can envision living in a time when there will be a policy shift in the massive compensatory bureaucracy, that manages supply side programs. Meager resources that pacify the the under-served, will be replaced with opportunities for the under-served, to become viable self-supporting individuals again.

With respect to the outdoor citizens demographic, the recipients of the dwindling welfare streams, we are hoping that each one of them, will recognize the value-ad, in terms of buying into our proposition. We reject the legacy and the current proponents of the Ronald Reagan voodoo economics paradigm. , And as a result, we are teaching outdoor citizens to begin thinking outside of the customary dependency box.

The policies of the former president, have resulted in what appears to be an expanding and firmly entrenched 2-part, haves and have not system, with subsistence programs for a permanently unemployed and underemployed underclass - and at the same time a boundless, unlimited financial opportunities cache, for a near wealthy, wealthy or uber-wealthy tax-avoidant upper class.

We believe that waiting for the recipients of Ronald Reagan's voodoo economics largess, to alter the course of Ronald Reagan styled trickle down, for veterans and other excluded Americans, is simply a waste of time. Instead, HOP has been aggressively moving in a radically different direction. We have been reaching out to other organizations, and outdoor citizens, encouraging both groups to change their missions as well as their strategies. We have asked all concerned, on both sides, the would be helpers and those who are need of help, to HOP on board, before it is too late to change course!

The reification of the 2-classes, welfare-state dynamic, that is to continue subsidizing the welfare state and its expanding permanent underclass, is neither the correct response nor the answer to the expanding problem. HOP hopes to pull the rug out from under the harbingers, as well as the protectors and protagonists for the current paradigm. We hope to have them to join with us, and to funnel wasted resources into recovery initiatives, instead of permanent underclass maintenance programs.

The latter will result in dynamic retraining programs being put into place, also to underwrite the new emerging working class of former outdoor citizens ... who will rise from the ashes of despair, and become contributors in the new inclusive American economy, perhaps an economy with a 30 trillion dollar GDP.

The time has come for all reasonable Americans to not only think outside of the box, but to get themselves out of the box, that has been and is being imposed by the privileged in America, once and for all. We need to work on reform, and whatever is done, in the meantime, please government officials: don't send in the Marines. Besides, someday, many of them will likely end up living in civilian homeless camps themselves, when you are done with them!

Solomon

America: What Does Its Future Hold?

Anarchy or Another American Revolution:

The problem as I see it, with the 235 year old American experiment, is that America and the majority of its people, not all citizens mind you, are being held hostage by a powerful minority elite. This closed and conniving power elite, the tail that is wagging the American dog, is in control of the reigns of power and wealth in this nation.

The former includes America's political systems, the judiciary, the executive branch, the military, the police, the media, America's financial systems, the American capitalist church system, the American people (and a a burgeoning group of undocumented aliens).

_____________________________________

And when you factor in the recent Supreme Court decision that pretty much sanctified the political relationship between the wealthy and corporations, the fate of the average American citizen has been sealed, at least for the time being. What the Supreme Court ruling established was this, that an American corporation has pretty much the same rights that an American citizen has (within the American political process). And, seeing how major corporations in America are owned by the wealthy, well, you do the math.

Is it any wonder then that the majority of Americans are in financial trouble, while members of the minority elite have never fared better, financially and politically. If the majority of America's citizenry continues to accept the current arrangement, and fails to wrest power away from the closed powerful minority elite, the majority will continue to struggle under a venal arrangement that favors the few. The latter is what occurred with America's founders, a legacy that was restored in modern times by late president and reformer, Ronald W. Reagan.

Ronald Reagan. after being elected America's 40th president, immediately began his reign of terror by consolidating military, economic and political power, and concentrating all of it into the hands of a favored few. He also began implementing his redistribution of wealth, scorched earth policies that favored the rich, and began busting and taking away the power of unions. By terminating PATCO employees, and subsequently going after other major unions that fought for working class Americans, (something that the government failed to do under his leadership), a new corporate elite aristocracy was born.

And as a result of weakening the unions, concentrating wealth in the hands of a chosen few and mitigating the power of the people (the proletariat to dissent) an immediate transfer of power and wealth in this nation, from the majority of the American people to his favored power group, white American conservative males, ensued.

Also, as a result of Reagan's institutionalized favoritism towards the wealthy and corporations, coupled with his catastrophic leadership, the reification of a self-centered power elite; in just under 4 decades, the American economic and mercantile system, along with America's citizen-majority teeters on the brink of economic disaster. At the same time, the beneficiaries of Reagan judicial and political reform are enjoying incomprehensible wealth and power, at the expense of the majority. Reagan's policies were halted, for a brief period of time (during the Clinton years), however, President George Bush Jr., followed by President Barack Obama have replaced prosperity for all American's with Reagan's, and the founders doctrine.

And as a result, when you think about the group of Americans who will soon represent America's future, America's children, young adults, adults and a burgeoning group of septu and octogenarians (who will have outlived social security, their savings, 401K plans, Roth IRAs and other investments), they will continue to experience what they are beginning to experience now, living in deep Republican doodoo)!

The remaining citizens of the not to distant future, both young and old, will continue doing what they have begun doing of late, standing in unemployment lines, begging on the streets, going hungry and depending on unemployment, medicare and medicaid. And at the same time, a small group of Americans will be living in the lap of luxury, and enjoying the kind of uncommon wealth that was realized by America's founding class. Is it any wonder that the members of this group and their descendants, have hated any policy that even hints at the fair distribution of America's wealth?

Jealous? No, I am not jealous at all, however, a system designed to reward the few, while a growing majority suffers, is a broken system as far as I am concerned. And these people call themselves Christians. Come to think about it, many of America's founders considered themselves to be Christians too, having escaped from the kind of oppression that they currently practice against others in the United States. And in the words of a former southern executive from Buckhead Georgia, who provided our organization with an executive briefing just over a decade ago,

"THAT DOG DON”T HUNT"!

The continued failure of the American sleeping dog, to wrest power back from a rich and powerful closed group-elite, once and for all, will result in bankruptcy for the masses, and instant failure for the majority of America's citizens. And what will have to take place to change this dynamic?

1. Americans will have to learn and practice a new economic paradigm, and that is to stop believing that America cannot exist without self-serving corporations or by subsidizing them and their condigned power. Corporations will continue to prosper, only as long as the majority provides them with protections under the law, or by purchasing their goods, products and services. Every dollar that you spend with self-serving corporations, represents a vote for corporate supremacy. It is time to revert to mom and pop stores, and cottage industries.

2. Americans will also have to learn to exist in a reformed society, one in which small businesses provide income-producing opportunities for the average American citizens, and a living wage for all of its participants. There will no longer be a gap between the rich and the poor.

3. Americans will have to wrest power back from the 3 existing branches of power in Washington DC, and to put teeth into the laws, and power back into the hands of the majority.

If we fail to make these and other changes soon, the space shuttle generation along with the space shuttle program, will also come to an end, only to be replaced by commercial interests of the rich. Or in terms of a phrase, that President George H. Bush Sr. once made famous, the majority of Americans are going to find themselves in "deep doo doo"!

Americans also need forfeit their desire to get rich or die trying, and instead to work to install the kind of commonwealth where all Americans, prosper. The latter will not only dispense with the current gross economic disparities that currently exists between different class groups, but will also result in each individual or family, being empowered in a way to take care of itself, and to eliminate inflation, reduce the crime rate and the number of criminals who participate in the American underworld economy.

Otherwise, if the majority of Americans, continue to sit on their laurels and view American capitalists as heroes, while doing nothing for themselves, it won't be long before America, as we know it, will cease to exist -and we are almost there now.

And what are the chances of change occurring? Actually, the chances are good. Why? Because the group of angry Americans who recognized, during the run-up to the 2008 election, that there was a need for change, are still out there. The only mistake that they, an activist majority made before, was when they selected and elected the wrong candidate, Barack Obama to lead a populist people's revolution.

At the time, an overly confident neophyte, lacked the vision, skills, fortitude, aptitude, courage and conviction, to do what needed to be done at the time - to represent the majority of America's people, and to put the Reagan and founder's genie, back into its bottle. Fortunately, that disparaged group of voting American citizens, that was responsible for electing him in 2008, I believe, have since learned how to amend their ways. That groups is still looking for change, and they won't make the same mistake the next time, let's hope!

All that needs to be done, is to stoke the fire that is still simmering in a wounded and disappointed majority, for with respect to neophyte President Barack Obama, we simply do not not have time to wait for him to come into his own. For similar to Ronald H. Reagan (his hero), George H. Bush Senior and Junior, the Republican presidents that preceded him - the needs of the majority were never his top priority.

Frankly, I am impressed with United States Representative Dennis Kucinich from Cleveland Ohio. I believe that if the majority were to elect him to be the next president of the United States, that we would begin to see abrupt changes in America and abroad, similar to what Secretary of State Hilary Rodham-Clinton proposed, and her husband President Bill Clinton implemented, when she ran for president of the United States.

Congressman Kucinich, would stand up and fight, unflinchingly, for the needs of the majority, and against the vast right-winged conspiracy minority, that is still holding this nation hostage. Keep in mind that Republican Presidents have controlled the American narrative and its military, economic and political power, for the majority of the past 30 years.

Otherwise, if America will keep doing what it has been doing in the past, it will continue getting what it has been getting in the present, disappointment among the majority.

I would love to hear your comments!

Solomon

The Supply-Side Poverty Paradigm in Santa Clara County and Beyond

Part 3

Prior to leaving Washington (in 1983), neither my first nor my last time working on social, urban and public-policy issues by the way at the Congressional level, there was a change of heart. Many of the individuals who came there to bleed for America's permanent underclass, as opposed to coming up with some realistic proposals and solutions, helped to put together something with teeth before we left, that we could present to the politicians.

Initially, many of them wondered whether or not I had inadvertently joined the wrong discussion group - I sounded very conservative to them, at first. But soon, they felt that I made sense, and asked me to speak for the group.

____________________________________________

It is our hope, at HOP, that some of our bleeding hearts in the Valley will eventually recognize that they will have to do the same in The Valley, engage in introspection. Let me put it another way, 'stop enabling the able-bodied outdoor citizens, would you please'? Many of our outdoor citizens need to feel the kind of pain that will shock their sensibilities, and hopefully, spring them back into action, so that they can jump start their lives. Pain, can be a powerful motivator for positive social change, and to reverse lethargy and inaction.

Given the number of individuals that are unhoused in the area and living on someone elses's floor... given all of the manpower and resources that have been expended and distributed, wouldn't you say at some point, that what has successfully worked before, is simply not working today? The crisis is worsening, and the Republican House has already proposed to role HUD Funding for example, back to 2007 levels, as a starting point.

It is time for disruption, and a change from the old ways of doing things to take place. For example, when outdoor citizens come to you and beg for handouts, either on the streets or at your agency: “Tell Them WhereTo Go", in other words where you send your money to in order to assist them and where they can be held accountable and put into recovery programs. Explain to them that a organization with skilled personnel will help them to get going again. Whatever you do, stop supporting begging and dependency, you are reinforcing bad habits, which will only result in re-enforcing long-term chronic dependency. Again, tell them where to go 'to meet your money', in order to get help!

Jesus believed and taught individuals to be responsible. It seems to me that some of the faith-based groups, agencies, and recipients of all of the public's and their congregation's largess in this area, are intent upon doing just the opposite. Many of them are busily maintaining the "we will take care of you status quo”. Let me give you an example. The outdoor citizens get everything for free in this area, to the extent that other outdoor citizens travel to this area from other parts of the state and the nation,because they have heard 'just how sweet it is in Santa Clara County'.

Even, San Franciscans travel down the peninsula (to the Southbay) in order to get what they can no longer get in San Francisco. Our current Lieutenant Governor, Gaven Newsome, when he was mayor of San Francisco, recommended that Bay Area cities, work together in order to deal with this cross-pollinating phenomenon.Outdoor Citizens from as far away as San Diego... come here to take care of the area's largess, which impacts already limited resources.

From all across the nation they come, knowing that if you can make it to the Bay Area's shores, that you will be taken care of, shortly, after you arrive. And even though I admire the spirit of giving in this area, I was even helped when my fortunes turned, however, with this caveat: I immediately engaged in a personal recovery plan.

My plan worked for me, and now I am teaching other outdoor citizens how a well thought out recovery plan can work for them.

However, many of the helping organizations in this area neither understand when they are doing too much without a return on their investment, nor when the able mind and bodied outdoor citizens are not doing enough to help themselves

Many of our outdoor citizens have not sat down to consider or to construct a recovery plan for themselves yet, and some of their professional and semi-professional helpers don't seem to mind! And having said that, what they are doing is contributing to cultural dependency and social anomie. Outdoor citizens, ought to be required to take action steps themselves before receiving more than the very basic help.

And afterward, when they are helped, benchmarks need to be set, with targets in mind, accompanied with frequent compliance reviews. Otherwise, permit the ones who refuse to do anything, to experience The Pain Station. Let them know up front that help will be measured, and it will be cut off in time. The by-product of all of the, 'we will solve your problems for you', that too many of our chronic outdoor are experiencing, some for a decade or more, is that many of our outdoor citizens have remained right where they were long before I, and others like me, got involved in the fight.

While being supported without condition, many outdoor citizens who lost jobs, homes, apartments ... did so before the most recent recession, and some before the recession in this region in 2001. Has there been any accountability? What happened, given all of the resources that have been expended over the past 3 years alone. I can't see any results. We can blame what has transpired on the the economy ... however, that is not the whole story.

Reliance on a free-handout economy, with the expectation of a guaranteed job is the problem. It is time for a new way of thinking and reckoning to be put into action - consider HOP's model. Sadly, I can't seem to get some faith-based groups to understand that not even Jesus, continued his 'miracle healing feeding crusade', once he realized that his program enabled individuals (who were merely following him in order to obtain fish food, and other miracles).

At HOP, the Think Tank and Advocacy organization, one that is comprised of current and former outdoor citizens mind you - we are teaching a new paradigm. Hopefully, others will get on board and try something new for a change. One HOP member proposed a slogan 2-days ago that will be incorporated, with regard to street and other beggars, and it is: REFUSE TO GIVE CHANGE TO PEOPLE WHO REFUSE TO CHANGE. This slogan compliments, the new TELL THEM WHERE TO GO slogan that we came up with!

In other words, don't give any more money to anyone on the streets, or at the expressway exits.

Instead, give the money to responsible and ethical organizations; and at the same time tell the beggar where to go where he can be helped, supervised, monitored and given a helping hand (if he or she will do what they are told in order to help themselves. Giving on the streets ... have only buttressed begging and the lack of accountability, but more importantly, the lack of effort and change in the lives of beggars.

We know some things that some don't know, because we've been there. Many of our team members are already working to turn their lives around - instead of being dependent on a system that doesn't work to help individuals to get up and to get going again, sadly. During my last person-to-person meeting with late Congressman Augustus Hawkins of the 21st district in Los Angeles when in Washington DC and before he passed on - he told me something. He said, you can actually do more back at home by working with the ones who are in need in the community, than you can get down here in Washington DC …”

Many other Representatives in Washington, for example late Representative John Seiberling of Ohio ... echoed the same sentiment and shared similar advice. Practically every Representative that I spoke with, admitted that Washington was in gridlock. Representative Conyers from Michigan, once explained to a group of us in DC, that a certain bill that he tried to get on the floor for 25 years, was never permitted to come to the floor, out of committee ... for a vote. Washington, as most Americans already know, has been deadlocked - well that is unless you are an organization that owns one or more of the 300,000 or more registered (mostly corporate) lobbyists in this nation (who will do your bidding for you), then you will likely get you what you want.

Is it any wonder that many of the residents in the District of Columbia refer to it as 'Dodge City', not, because of the killing that goes on there. They are also referring to the crime that is taking place on Capitol Hill. There are hundreds of corporate lobbyists for every congressperson. HOP, and several other well-intentioned institutions in America and this area, are not the place to go if one does not intend to alter their plight, and that is in consideration of individuals on both sides of the spectrum. At HOP, we are essentially teaching outdoor citizens, the ones who will listen to a new perspective, a new paradigm, and it includes the following:

1. That the world has changed since the Post WWII economic boom that America experienced (which lasted more than a half century).

2. That Europe was devastated, and broke at the end of the war, while America's blue collar industry, factories, its banking and mercantile system, among other things, was booming.

3. And as a result, there were jobs aplenty. (Many Americans in the rust belt where I hail from, held more than one job at a time). I can recall when I held 2 jobs and was working 16 hours a day around the age of 18.

4. However today greed, coupled with globalization, corporate down-sizing, loss of market share to the emerging global economies, corporate down-sizing, the depression and the slow economic recovery (not to overlook the psyche of the entitled to a job Americans), too many Americans have lost that one well paying job - that they used to have. And more more and more of them are sitting in a stupor, while waiting for 'their job' to come back.

5. That the shrinking manufacturing base, currently at about 27% of what it was decades ago, has resulted in many of blue collar workers having been simply put, eliminated. And as a result, homes, apartments, rooms and families have been broken up and lost...

6. That even if you were able to garner a job, typically short-term, you would not be able to earn a sufficient amount of money to cover your living expenses, particularly, if you live in northern California.

7. That the solution is within you coupled with solid supportive help, of the kind that teach and help you to take back charge of your lives, and therefore your destinies with this in mind; you must take the responsibility for your comeback, and create income-producing opportunities for yourself. In other words, you will hone and depend on your current skill-sets, return to school if you must, and use what you have already in your toolbox, to compete in the market place.

8. We remind our people (outdoor citizens), that each one of them possesses 'not only marketable skills, but income-producing skills'. We also explain that the American citizen will have to learn to compete against both American and global interests in the new paradigm. And finally, with our support and hopefully yours, outdoor citizens will learn to garner a slice of the American and global pie - the former ship has sailed.

   
   

9. Maintenance programs are just that, maintenance; and they will result in many Americans being on the dole for the rest of their lives - we lost over 50 outdoor-citizen lives in the area, last year alone, along with several outdoor citizens in this region just over the past 3 weeks...

10. Finally, we help outdoor-citizens understand that more and more of the jobs that they were accustomed to having before, have been and are being shipped overseas, automated or outsourced. This phenomenon has occurred with the full consent of lobbied American government officials by American corporations.

    
    

    Both entities are competing for their own survival and to satisfy campaign-financiers and their stockholders. The dangerous nexus that currently exists between government and corporations, is only hurting the American people. However, we have to fight back!

Item III.

John Maynard Keynes or Kenneth Galbraith would be appalled, if they were alive and could witness the current economic conditions in America, particularly what is taking place in the American corporate marketplace, on Wall Street and with America's mercantile system (particularly in a nation with a 14T GDP, piled-up debt and Americans living in the streets). Who knows what Mr. Friedman would have to say if he were still with us today, with respect to current market conditions. And we all know that he was a dyed-in-the-wool Republican and supply-side economist.

Thomas Sowell, my soul brother, formerly at the Hoover Institute at Stanford (in 1984, someone asked me to read his books) I don't understand you, but at the same time. However, and at the same time we are moving on with our own economic recoveries and an economic recovery plan to benefit other outdoor, and indoor citizens for that matter. I feel that it is safe to say that the contract with America ala Hobbes and Lockes is DOA, at this juncture it appears to be, every person for themselves! And as far as I am concerned, the majority in Washington are interested in the few, not the masses.

Mr. Volcker has had very instructive things to say from time to time. Mr. Greenspan, has to defend himself, since he presided over the Fed, during the downturn and slide, ergo, he has been somewhat muted and more of an apologist. Mr. Geithner at the the Treasury Deparment and Mr. Bernanke at the Fed are presiding over the current debacle and economic recovery.

All of us know, I believe, what the real problem is and where it originated, in addition to all of the above (to include job losses, corporate down-sizing, repositioning, job furloughs, the stock-market crash), can you say hedge funds though? Where I disagree with many of the outdoor citizens and organizations that I am involved with, many of them accept the status-quo and fail to understand that it is time to to alter the status quo. Why?

Because with the best of intentions many of them are doing the wrong thing, and very little to address the systemic issues of our time. One thing that is needed for sure, in the Santa Clara Valley and other regions of the nation, is DISRUPTION, including in Washington DC.

In other words the same organizations that have prevented a crises of hunger in and among our demographic, have fallen into a separate rut of their own. Today, however, it is time to get on with the business of rehabilitation, by partnering with outdoor citizens in a way that will help them to get back to creative ways of producing economic returns on their best investments, themselves - in deference to whatever the rich and politicians do!

Certain institutions did an admirable job before, however, late President Ronald Reagan shifted the gears. There has been a massive redistribution of wealth in this nation, since that time, having said that, individuals who needed it the most, are not going to give it back/invest in the American people. The word when Ronald Reagan was President was, 'what's wrong with greed', right Tony Blankley, Editor of the Washington Times?

In summary and I repeat that we believe the following:

1. That organizations in the area need to adapt to a new paradigm, one in which individuals working with those who want to help themselves to recover, ought to be helped. The ones who do not, and will not help themselves, ignore them.

2. That outdoor citizens must be encouraged, taught … those who can be taught, to begin working to create income producing opportunities for themselves, with support (to include cleaning, sweeping, painting curbs, mowing lawns, using their computer-skills, starting their own hi-tech businesses some have advanced degrees you know).

3. That outdoor citizens must volunteer to work, when one is capable of doing so, instead of receiving the gifts that they have been receiving of late, gratis.

4. That a certain amount of pain being felt, will inspire some of our able-bodied, but spoiled outdoor citizens to get back to work or to create income-producing opportunities for themselves. We are living in a new day, and certain jobs aren't coming back!

5. That organizations must channel more dollars into self-help organizations, not only HOP, who are trying to create self-sustaining and independent human beings instead of dependents (and the latter is what is taking place all over the area today.

In conclusion: I wonder what our critics will have to say when we, HOP, a year and a-half old organization that began without money, a place and not very much of anything else, helps to alter the current paradigm and status quoin this region; or on the other hand, when the ones who are being served by status quo organizations make the turn around? Motivated outdoor-citizens, are turning to us already. The rest are staying in the parks, and relying on government, faith-based groups … to sustain them, to do their work for them - however, they are watching us.

We plan to help individuals who desire to and are willing to work, to stand and to walk again. The answer is on the porch, not on the streets, or under another person or institution's control. And why are we doing what we are doing, because of LOVE!

And if what you or you group has been and is doing currently works for the good of the people (not your group...) then by all means keep doing it. On the other hand and in the words of Dr. Phil, ask yourself or your group ... "how is what you have been doing, working for the individuals or groups that your group or you serves or has served in the past?"

If nothing else you will be able to determine why you or your group are doing what you are or have been doing, and who really benefits! Sadly, and at times, we can do the right thing the wrong way!

And here is one final shameless, but hopefully helpful plug. During my years as a psychiatric counselor, where I received plaudits from my team members, who wondered why I had been more successful than many of them who had been there long before me.

My response was, "the clients in our Mental Health center told me that the difference between you and the other therapists is that you care about us, the others are here using us in order to acquire their advanced degrees". Sadly, and in many instances, I knew firsthand that they were correct - several of my peers were using the clients to get what they wanted, their PhDs.

To be informed, is to be armed! Do some introspection and self-actualization, those of you who want to help. And ask yourself, why are you doing what you are doing? In other words, are you doing what you are doing for the ones who need help, or are you doing what you are doing for yourself?

Solomon

President of HOP Hope for Outdoor People

www.hoppeople.org

email us at hopeforoutdoorpeople@gmail.com

The Supply-Side Poverty Paradigm in Santa Clara County and Beyond

The Issue of homelessness: Part 2

We refer to ourselves as Outdoor Citizens. We are working to change the existing crippling, supply-side dependency dynamic that persists in this and other regions of the country.

Supporting dependency is neither the solution to the problem of homelessness in the Santa Clara Valley nor elsewhere in America, we believe. And if you disagree, simply consider what has been taking place with outdoor citizens in your community.

Or in the words of Dr. Phil, "how has what you or your community have been doing ... working for you and your community so far"?

_________________________________________

Author Derrick Bell, in his book, 'Faces At The Bottom of the Well', wrote: "if you keep doing what you’ve been doing, you will keep getting what you have been getting". And most Americans know firsthand, that not only are we getting what we have been getting, there appears not to be an end in sight.

The give and give more again paradigm is solidly in place in American cities!

HOP, with a vision, minuscule resources (the work is all being done here by unpaid volunteers, former and current outdoor citizens and with the help of a few donors), is using these resources, our experiences, our wits and a new paradigm in order to help to turn lives around.

Already, we are witnessing lives being transformed, and outdoor citizens taking charge of their lives, their personal destinies and standing upright again - and we just got started.

What we are doing at HOP, that is working, benefits outdoor citizens, the city, county, state and the entire nation. We provide space, a place, professional training, desks, computers, business and marketing plans ... where research can be done and ideas put into practice. This is not the mission of poverty supply-siders.

The winds of change are blowing in the valley, the nation and the world for that matter. Individuals and organizations that learn to shift with the current tide, will succeed, we believe.

It is our hope that other outdoor-citizens (who up to this time have preferred the methods that are currently in place, (that have not worked) and rather supports dependency, or receiving something for doing nothing, will be motivated to try something different - at the very least we can help to save the next generation. It is also our hope, that organizations in the area who support dependency will soon follow suit and join us (even when it means swallowing pride, and simply admitting that what worked before is not working today – given that the problem is expanding).

Even the Apostle Peter, a fisherman who still had fish to give, stopped giving alms, and instead helped to lift a man to his feet so that he could walk on his own 2 feet again, but only when the Apostle's paradigm changed.

Readers who are familiar with 'disruption theory', understand that from time to time there has to be a change in the customary manner and with the methods that have been used before, if an individual or an organization plans to keep pace. In other words, adaptability is required.

Even a once great idea (the free delivery ice wagon, black and white TV, typewriters … eventually runs its course and needs to be replaced). Smart leaders, and managers on the cutting-edge, recognize when it is time to do, improve or create something different. Several organizations, some of notoriety in Silicon Valley, failed to forecast or re-evaluate their processes, the ones that worked for a period of time in the past, and they suffered as a result. America, and Americans have also failed to heed the signs of knowing when to change.

To that end, several once venerable organizations, in the once booming Silicon Valley have recently been overtaken by upstart organizations that didn't exist a decade ago. Why? Because the leaders of the organizations failed to keep up, or to recognize that from time to time, even a venerable organization has to recognize when it is time to change its mission, its methods and ways of doing things. Some of them ignored, the Law of Accelerating returns, and failed to keep up with the pace. Consider, what has taken place in the the Republic of China and the other emerging global markets today, and the 'huge sucking sound', that we hear coming from the American economy.

The ROC tried something different, given new leadership at the top, and has come out of the dark ages in a few decades, and is threatening the existing world order. America, on the other hand stayed too long with what had been working before, and it is costing all of us. Arrogance, over-confidence, elitism at play, perhaps? Successful businesses that plan to survive and to thrive under existing changing conditions, also recognize the need to be as effective as they are efficient and therefore to modify or change their practices at certain peak and off-peak junctures.

The Valley, in my opinion, with Federal and State help, has effectively underwritten what appears to be a burgeoning and expanding permanent underclass, that costs billions to support, when you take into consideration what is already in place. There are an estimated 7,000 outdoor citizens in the region, who will continue to depend on the system for life-long support, get it life-long support.

The composition of the outdoor-citizen's demographic includes women, children, men from a number of ethnic groups, both American and foreign born. Members of this permanent underclass have been on the dole, in some instances, for 5, 7, 10 and 12 years however, a period that has eclipsed either of the two major Silicon Valley and national recessions.

The supply-side provisioners will continue to respond to the demand and do it their way, instead of helping to change the dynamic. Several of these organizations, as HOP has experienced already, operates like a impenetrable syndicate of who's who's in the valley. We have observed that some of the political figures in our area, are a part of these syndicates. HOP, has made numerous attempts to get our Councilmen and some ministers to respond to the numerous messages that we have left for them. Hmm!!

Item I

Since my return from the nation's capitol several years ago, I ended up living in a shelter, a church's rear office, on a park bench and at the Salvation Army for a few night (and did I mention with very special and caring friends). I recognized 'my problem', and that of my new cohort groups and the helping community and agencies, as a result of living among the outdoor citizens' demographic in Santa Clara Valley.

I especially took note of what was taking place with well-intended government, social services and faith-based groups in the area. During the time that I lived among the outdoor citizens in the Valley, I not only made observations, I also took notes on both sides of the Bay, to include the People's Park in Berkeley, and parks, shelters, feeding programs ... in Santa Clara Valley.

The First Church of Christian Science on Dwight Way in Berkeley was most helpful, Priscilla, a member of the church, was my teacher and guide. Rosie, a long-time resident of the People's Park and Terri (who was affectionately known as 'the Compost Lady', because she planted flowers and vegetables in the park to feed the outdoor-citizens there, were also extremely helpful.

I began to collaborate with outdoor citizens, as well as with service providers and faith-based groups on both sides of the Bay, in hopes of trying to determine what course of action should be taken in order to change the current dynamic, in the most prosperous state in the world, as far as I was and am concerned.

The first thing that I observed and took note of, was that the outdoor citizens were mostly non-participants in their own recoveries, they were often missing from the policy and planning table. Second, I noticed that there was a percentage of the outdoor-citizens demographic who were satisfied with the way that things were operating at the time, 'receive, and you shall receive more types I call them'!

And then there was the group that I will refer to as 'the helping-naive, or the helping beneficiaries might be a better term. These individuals appeared to be involved for personal or political reasons, at the expense of the individuals that they were supposed to be helping. .

Some outdoor citizens required support help true enough, however, others were and still are unabashed moochers to this day. What kind of help was needed, was the question that I attempted to answer. The latter group, the chronics who business it was to beg, I concluded, needed what the lame beggar at the temple needed, someone to help to lift them from the ground begging, so that they could get on with their lives instead of depending on handouts. Providing them with alms, was not the solution.

I also recognized that there were physically and mentally handicapped individuals, in need of a supportive lift, not a wheelchair for life. Project Hired, convinced me that there were motivated handicapped individuals, working every day, and they wouldn't have it any other way. However, the De-institutionalization Act, one of late President Ronald's proud accomplishments, has been disastrous for many individuals, who are in need of round the clock in-house mental health services. Too bad they weren't rich, he would have protected them1

Helping people is a balancing act, one that requires training,vision, wisdom, sincerity, an ear to hear, analysis, strength and discernment. Otherwise, good caring people, end up being pawns in a sleighter’s hand! Many caregivers ... have, unwittingly become pawns in someone elses manipulative (occasionally political) games.

Aside from the fact that some outdoor citizens who lack a conscience, will pull the whole system down with them in deference to the ones who require genuine help and appreciate it - at times it appears as if many of the supply-siders (who are supposed to be change agents), have experienced Stockholm Syndrome.

In other words, they have become one with the individuals that they are supposed to be serving, even the bad ones! Retired Stanford professor, from the Department of Psychology, Dr. Zimbardo, could explain this phenomenon firsthand given his work with the Stanford Prison Experiments, and what took place at Abu Ghraib.

In fact, I was stunned, given the responses and feedback that I received from several service providers in the region. Several of them were were more perturbed with my suggesting that change needed to take place than they were with the individuals (some malingerers), who were co-dependent with them, their agencies and other faith-based groups.

Again, in too many instances, outdoor citizens are still not participating in their own recoveries - and too many services providers, faith-based groups, agencies ... prefer to rescue them, rather than to help their clients to get up so that they can walk again. This is what happens whenever you outsource your responsibility to another person or agency.

It was incredible to me, the amount of resources that were being expended, to include dollars and human capital, to solve a problem for outdoor citizens wherein which outdoor citizens had zero input or involvement. At present, HOP and several other organizations and individuals in the area are ahead of the curve (in terms of recognizing a need for disruption in the systems in this region).

We have joined forces with current and former outdoor citizens, who want to make a difference in the lives of our demographic. We will be doing this while too many of the rest are saving us, instead of working along with us. Thee incredible amount of resources being expended on a daily basis, including direct handouts on the streets, from government programs, faith-based and other institutions in the region, have reached critical mass.

And still, there are approximately 7,000 outdoor citizens, who remain outdoor citizens in arguably of most populate and leading state in this Union (1 out of every 7 or 8 Americans, is a Californian). In other words, instead of providing crisis-altering measures being implemented, most institutions in the area, have accepted homelessness, I believe, as a condition.

They are providing change (in a monetary sense), instead of helping individuals who need to work to change themselves and their plights!

HOP, hopes to change minds and attitudes in time. HOP, other individuals and groups in the area who believe in what we are doing - are intent upon changing the current dynamic. And we plan to do so, not only among the outdoor citizens' demographic, but also among agencies, faith-based groups and services providers that are co-dependent with chronic outdoor citizens in time.

Individuals who are capable of helping themselves, and have found that “it is cheaper to keep her', the freebies, require inspiration (to include negative sanctions) in order to motivate them to get up and to get going again.

I am speaking about the ones that can help themselves with a minimal amount of supervisorial help, but have given in to supply-side handouts ...

In order to do so, HOP had to create its own creative think tank agency. Now what is truly sad is this, some individuals and institutions who make their living off of the homeless, don't seem to want to have much to do with a professional outdoor citizen's organization that has an understanding of the problem, and is staffed with recovering individuals who have been there and are still there in some instances. Hmm!

Well, who is this Solomon dude anyway, they are likely thinking, a man who popped up in town from Washington DC several years ago, we're in charge here? To some, I am certain, that I am a loud mouth, who has as much as said that the service-providers … in this area ... are co-dependent with the outdoor citizen's demographic in this area, many of them.

And besides that, some are thinking at first I guess, "I have been in this fight for awhile and who is he (an outdoor citizen) to come walking in here, Mr. High and Mighty, to tell us or me, what to do with our money? The problem is, it is not anyone of our money, it is typically taxpayer money ... that is being referred to.

And the answer to their question is, I am their friend. I could turn the question around and ask, who are you to turn away an outdoor citizen who wants to help outdoor citizens. Remember, even Jesus had to stop the miracle feeding crusade that he started during his public ministry, because the people were only following him for food and miracles - not to turn their lives around.

Can our missionaries today, public and private, alter a course that is not working?

Oftentimes, my fellow members of the cloth need to hear this the most. Some of them are 'hell-bent' on rescuing people, or let's put it another way 'doing works'. One leading church located in downtown San Jose has been blessed with incredible financial resources. This church is intent upon rescuing people, by doing good works, the latter also makes them feel good about themselves. However, is it good works that the outdoor citizens really need. Sadly, these kind of churches often end up being used, and worst than that; by using their methods, the outdoor citizens that they purport to serve remain destitute, dependent and in the same place.

This prominent church with a dearth of financial resources, (their pastor mostly believes that by simply spending money, that problems are being solved. I recall what happened when Jesus, and a boy with a few fishes and a few loaves of bread, helped a group as large as the Valley's outdoor citizens group, without money.

In other words, 'stop spending pastor and get God, the right vision and the people involved'! How dare I? I am a minister, on sabbatical dude. Paul withstood Peter, and some of our clerics need someone to confront them from time to time!

At times, I can be very curt, when I want to be, however, it is intended for a useful purpose. To these type of individuals who I make angry, all I can say is: Take your thumb out of your mouth because there is more at stake than your damaged egos. Truthfully, I've own experienced a couple of individuals (even clerics) that I would consider to be 'true jerks that are on mission of their making. God ways, are not our ways?

Am I a T-Partier, or an individual on the Right who believes in a redistribution of wealth that will inure to the benefit of a certain class group, the one that needs it the least? Nyat! However, will the rest of us sit on our laurels, and help the rich to get richer and turn around and cry about it. Each one of us has the same right to compete with anyone else, even to steal market-share, inside and outside of America. In other words, why criticize either the organizations or individuals that you continue to patronize, and wait for to employ you? Figure out a way, to start your own business, instead.

Anyway, don't get upset with me, I am on the side of right and I would like to help if I can to break through the powerful matrix of caregivers ... that exists in this area, whose apparently misdirected hard-work is not reaching the desired result. Someone pointed out that when the President was in town, and spoke at Facebook, in downtown Palo Alto, he even failed to stop and speak with the outdoor citizens who were a block away. Instead, he raised money for his campaign. Just imagine what all of those millions could have done to create opportunities for the outdoor citizens demographic in this region?

And don't feel bad if you feel turned off at first by me, many of the outdoor citizens who have been enjoying a comfy existence as a result of the area's largess, wish that I would shut up and go away too. Can you blame them? Solomon is creating disruption, and spoiling the party for some of them, when I start shouting from my porch.

I understand it too, for how would you like it if someone was tampering with a way of living that costs you nothing? In fact, when you think about it, some of our outdoor citizens are confirmed whiner-babies. You can't say it, I know, however, I can, and oftentimes I do just that, I say it to them! This combination of supply-siders and whiners, is another big part of the problem to deal with the area's homeless issues.

These are 2 polarizing power groups!

Some years ago, I actually argued a similar position with a group of do-gooier social workers ... who converged on Washington DC, just over 2 decades back. I was an invited delegate. Service providers came from all other the nation, in order to focus on nationwide social and public policy issues in 1984.

Approximately 1,000 of us, spent the week in the nation's Capitol at a forum that was put together by The United Neighborhood Centers of America. Our mission was to, among other things, discuss ways to solve the problems of America's permanent underclass in the inner cities. We caucused every day for one week, listened to speakers, engaged in discussions and debates, met with Representatives, created policy papers ... Eventually, the bleeding hearts among us came around.

On one occasion, when we were drafting a policy paper, I explained to my colleagues that they were guilty of being idealistic, but not very realistic. The latter is a problem that often persists and plagues most service providers and service provider agencies.

Why? Services-providers typically are people who have hearts of compassion (I wish everyone did), and want to help. Our downside is that oftentimes idealism, trumps realism or pragmatism – we don't care what it costs, let's just do it. Not good, I explained! Our delegates were not being very realistic when it came to addressing the needs of America's permanent underclass back then.

At the time, the average per capita income in the inner city was around 9K. Nearly 3 decades later, the average per capita income in some urban centers still hovers around 15K, one area is adjacent to Capitol Hill just on the other side of the Anacostia River.

please read part 3

Solomon (the Proud President of HOP)

Please respond, or send your rebuttals