Homeless Parking Meters and Food Banks

(Denver, Colorado) Here's an idea. Take old parking meters and reuse them to fleece the public for homeless programs.

The idea is to encourage people to put the money into the parking meters instead of giving to panhandlers. Money raised from the meters will go to organizations fighting homelessness.

Just guessing, but the operability of the parking meters may be impacted if panhandlers are in the vicinity. I understand that chewing gum works. Great idea, eh?

But let's not forget that the purpose is to end homelessness. Unfortunately, it's DOA. Ending homelessness is an unachievable goal simply because a large number of people happen to prefer the lifestyle. Throwing money at programs to end homelessness is not much different from throwing bundles of cash into the ocean to stop driftwood.

What's really needed is a plan to end Help-the-Homeless programs because all they do is make the homeless lifestyle more appealing. For example, in Seattle some people with homes and a modicum of property actually pretend to be vagrants to take advantage of the public and private outpouring of compassion.

Ending homelessness is a pipe dream. There will always be people who are malingerers or unrecoverable addicts or wanting to simply disappear from society. In fact, the American abyss of homeless has a relatively new demographic comprised of convicted sex offenders and convicted illegal aliens. Homeless programs are a godsend for those who want anonymity and complete freedom as they travel from one do-gooder vortex to another throughout the country.

And, don't get me started on "estimates" of homeless populations which, by the way, provide the bases for the amount of money pumped into homeless programs. I will remind the readers that there were 80,000 homeless estimated to live in Chicago in 2004. When an actual census was performed, only 958 vagrants could be found. The lesson here is to never believe that homeless estimates are even in the same ballpark with reality. That's because the people providing the estimates get paid more when the estimate is higher. Virtually anyone under the same circumstances would be tempted to fudge the numbers.

As for another arena, food banks, I have strong suspicions that estimates of need are massively exaggerated. Why? Well, nothing factual, although I recall driving past a food bank several years ago and everyone in line out front was overweight, and not by a little. Nonetheless, food bank operators provide estimates of need whenever they plead to the government or the public for funds. The higher the estimate, the more moolah. Helluva deal! I'd like to be paid what I estimate my needs are.

All the while, these needy, hungry people are walking around in a society with a purported "obesity crisis." What is it? Is America too fat or without food? Forget estimates, implement accounting. Otherwise it's a black hole where compassion-driven dollars disappear.

Two things to remember are 1) help-the-homeless programs encourage homelessness and 2) estimates of homeless populations, or any estimate linked to a paycheck, are wildly exaggerated to benefit the estimator.