No I think this perspective is a product of your own biases. There are plenty of people out there who care and as the article notes, there's lots of charity in

No I think this perspective is a product of your own biases. There are plenty of people out there who care and as the article notes, there's lots of charity in the world. But it doesn't solve the problem. The issue is that people are independent agents, so the effect of whatever we do for them is going to be dwarfed by what they do for themselves. When we examine the roots of poverty and homelessness, we find that in most cases people in those situations keep on making choices that perpetuate their circumstances. This isn't meant to suggest that we should reduce charity efforts or that these people who are suffering "deserve" it, it's just an observation that there is no solution without correcting the actions being taken on the individual level. Unfortunately trying to solve a condition as broad as homelessness is like trying to cure cancer. Why do people repeatedly take the wrong actions? There are a thousand causes. But if you want some broad groupings, you can start with unresolved trauma and a lack of information/education. So if we want to achieve fundamental improvement we need to work on those. By the time we get to the homeless I think trauma is the most common factor that prevents them from pulling themselves out. Trauma from serving in the Vietnam War for example probably created around 75,000 homeless men. I come from poverty and escaped it, and in hindsight I'm able to see that my family and the other people around me were making bad choices repeatedly for years. That is why most of them remained in poverty and some of them died an early death. I'm also able to recognize the bad choices I make today which limit my contemporary success, and I'm not always able to change those habits due to my own issues. Everyone is a WIP. Compassion is worthwhile but alone it is insufficient. People must somehow be compelled to change.