These people and their f**king tree houses
andrew cumo
long before he governed of the state of new york, was bestowed an emmy, obtained a big dollar book deal and inspired a unique sexual orientation, the infamous, then candidate for attorney general, andrew cuomo made a profound observation. his comment was in reference to a sukkah. a sukkah is a temporary structure used to celebrate succot. thetimesofisrael.com
mr. cuomo expressed frustration towards something he didn’t understand. he lost the opportunity to obtain wisdom and insight into the concepts of reason and permanence. these concepts are important for all leaders.
the holiday is a about reason and permanence. the holiday reason and permanence was spelled out in leviticus chapter 23, which provides that “for a seven day period you shall live in booths. every resident among the israelites shall live in booths, in order that your [ensuing] generations should know that i had the children of Israel live in booths when i took them out of the land of egypt. i am the lord, your god.”
thus, the reason for the holiday is for remembering and appreciating the past. the past being the difficulties of being a free people during a transitional period of time.
these people and their tents!
in los angeles, you do not have travel far to see homeless tents. they are parked on sidewalks, located under freeway underpasses, and on the beaches. temporary housing is dangerously becoming both permanent and acceptable. the consequences have been fatal to some.
an annual survey by the us conference of mayors listed the top causes of homelessness among families and individuals as the following: single adult individuals: (1) lack of affordable housing (2) unemployment (3) poverty (4) mental illness and the lack of needed services and (5) substance abuse and the lack of needed services families: (1) lack of affordable housing (2) unemployment (3) poverty and (4) low wages.
there are other causes of homeless: (1) unrealistic expectations (2) refusal to work (3) refusal to follow authority (4) refusal to accept housing which requires following instructions and obeying rules (5) refusal to be humble and accept reasonable accommodations (6) refusal to accept housing does not permit substance or drug use (7) and inability to work because of legal status.
the issue of permanence is the more troubling problem. when we look into our own personal lives and calculate housing costs, the amount is staggering. for individuals who have little or no income on a continual basis, the realistic hopes of them affording ongoing housing is highly improbable.
in sum, in order to solve problems, reasons must be understood. tackling homeless problems is conducting “reason” triage for each and every individual. further, there is the problem of permanence. many individual will never have the means to housing. thus, what solutions are available? the notion of affordable housing for these individuals is an absurdity. they have no income. they require some form of “free housing.”
be well!!
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