It is shocking and I agree with most of your sentiment. I'm not sure the issue is "survival of the fittest" mentality though. I think it may be more the idea a

It is shocking and I agree with most of your sentiment. I'm not sure the issue is "survival of the fittest" mentality though. I think it may be more the idea a person is an individual and can do as they please. That idea is deeply ingrained in America like it's not in many parts of the world, including Europe. The actual laws sometimes don't reflect the idea (for example the draconian laws on drug use vs massive amounts of drug use that actually occurs on the ground in the USA). It's an idea I agree with, and it has some serious benefits in terms of productive capacity and potential for achievement, but taken to extremes, the idea manifests in some pretty ugly ways. It's not that there isn't help for the homeless, more that no one is enforcing help or otherwise structuring life for people. Add to this the pursuit of wealth by whatever means necessary destroys community and aggravates the situations that produce homelessness. I'd also like to point out America is indeed a land of immigrants. Many of these have been from the lower or disadvantaged classes or otherwise people who just didn't fit in with their previous societies. Much of the time they did indeed achieve a better life for their children but sometimes the generational cycle of irresponsibility and squalid behavior didn't disappear upon touching down on new shores. Just my theories. Not sure of accuracy. But it is a shocking state of affairs and shouldn't be as it is.