Pesky Arithmetic

Earlier this year, hundreds of volunteer counters and city employees conducted a census of the homeless population in the city of Chicago. A total of 958 people were found and, since hundreds of census-takers were involved, it appears they were found as lone individuals or very small groups. This became a contentious issue because the actual population of 958 homeless counted could not be rationally correlated to the 80,000 homeless estimated by the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless.

For pointing out the discrepancy between estimated and factual numbers, Interested-Participant was harshly criticized for "misleading" the readers and being guilty of "fantastic exaggeration." Additional criticism was directed toward the actual census, its timing and methodology, and all conservatives who live in a "deluded world," failing to grasp the concepts of charity and compassion.

Remember, this all came about because of a very large discrepancy in numbers. The results have been attacks on Interested-Participant, the census, the census-takers, and all conservatives. And blame has to be placed squarely on one thing: pesky arithmetic.

Generally, conservatives would look at the discrepancy and try to reconcile the two numbers. Sure, given all factors, 958 homeless is probably a low total. But, without a lot more data, it would require a leap of faith to accept that it's over 79,000 low.

On the other hand, liberals rightly assert that arithmetic is useless in measuring feelings and compassion and, therefore, they tend discount the validity of pesky arithmetic unless it directly supports their feelings and compassion. Consequently, when pesky numbers don't add up, they are ignored and the people doing the adding are attacked for not having any feelings nor any compassion.

Attitudes with regard to announcing precise demographic data are political. With respect to the homeless, advocacy groups have a desire to receive as many tax dollars as is achievable to conduct their business. To be fair to the taxpayer, exact numbers need to be known, and when the problem is quantified accurately, a meaningful strategy can be employed to address it. Chicago is attempting to quantify and address its problem and has counted the pesky total of 958 homeless. The liberals ignore this number since it casts doubt on their estimation of 80,000.

Mention needs to be made that the homeless advocacy is not motivated to reduce the numbers of homeless. It's their job to provide for the homeless. The more homeless the better because that's more tax and charity funds given to the advocacy groups. If the population of homeless decreases, their business must contract. If the population goes to zero, they have to shut down and find different work.

Based upon the aforementioned, it's always a good idea to scrutinize and question the estimates provided by advocacy groups. Some people believe that compassion always trumps pesky arithmetic but, unfortunately for them, pesky arithmetic is what is used to count the dollars extracted from the pockets of American taxpayers.