Argumentative Essay-It's Time To Help The Homeless

According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), there are over 600,000 homeless people on any given night and the number continues to increase, especially in major cities. Homelessness affects all people since citizens must deal with the consequences of the actions of the homeless. Clearly, the current method of dealing with homelessness, which consists of relocation, has thus far failed. Legally, the homeless problem should be fought through designing institutions to focus on setting the poor up with a career path instead of simply giving charity in order to have a long-term solution. Also, drugs should be decriminalized and the mentally ill should be properly treated in order to prevent the never-ending cycle …show more content…
donate their money freely. Statistics show, “…42 percent of Americans said they'd volunteered in the last year, 57 percent reported donating money, and 71 percent reported helping a stranger” (How Charitable Are Americans?). Religious groups and philanthropists are the main contributors to these numbers. Mandating charity on an individual level would also violate the democratic ideals of America because the Constitution makes no mention of this. This kind of mandate would also generate a negative attitude towards donating since the kindness factor would be taken away. Freely donating money should continue to be highly encouraged to complement the change in laws that would benefit the homeless. The obligation to help homeless people from a moral standpoint depends on the circumstances. For example, religious people would most likely be obligated by a higher power, such as God, to provide for the poor and displaced in society. Morality is circumstantial, thus society as a whole is not obligated, but instead encouraged, help the downdraught. People tend to feel more motivated about what they when they choose to do