While I applaud (letter-writer) John Redekop’s concern for the plight of Abbotsford’s homeless and his interest in alleviating their situation, I fear that his proposed solution(s) amount to little more than putting a bandage on a cancer.
The problem with Redekop’s perception (unsightliness) and his proposed solutions (incarceration, sobriety, work) is that they show no awareness of the structural problems that constitute part of the equation that resolves itself into a lump sum of homelessness.
We live in a capitalistic society in which markets in both land (real-estate, ground-rent) and labour exist. For both markets to function effectively, fewer rental units must be available than there are people who need rental housing because they are landless. Otherwise, the value of rental property approaches zero as the vacancy rate increases.
For the labour market to function effectively, more people must be seeking work than for whom employment is available. Otherwise, the wages of labour would rise to a level at which in is no longer capitalistically profitable. Inevitably, a class of chronically unemployed/unemployable is created.
The existential and logical conclusion is that our society requires this class of homeless such as Redekop draws our attention to festering in our public parks.
Exactly who ends up in this class is ultimately determined by the great lottery of life: one’s genetic endowment, family one is born into, opportunities and people one meets on one’s way, etc.
Exactly who will come to occupy this place in society is a biographical matter.
I am sure every homeless person has a story to tell of how he or she got there.
Categorizing them into three convenient categories: the ill, the addicted, and idle, and offering solutions by ultimatum, ignores the structural factors as well as the personal, in becoming homeless.
Perhaps Redekop sees three categories of people when he drives past the tent-city. I see 115 churches that promise treasures in heaven to the homeless in return for their unjust suffering on Earth out of one side of their mouths, while sanctifying structural social injustice out of the other.
What does John Redekop anticipate? Jewels in his crown?
Robert Siemens