$1,000,000,000 can't fix America's homeless problem.

Before anyone in the comments tries to school me on how much 1billion dollars is, and how if you laid all the $100 bills end to end they would reach past the orbit of Mars, I'm well aware. **That is the point**. Even 1billion dollars isn't that much money. It is the entire budget for the departments of Agriculture, Commerce, and Interior, combined. That is the entire funding for the US Coast Guard. That is the entire funding for the Department of Energy.<br><br>The point is, 1billion dollars, while a staggering amount, has been spent on a great many things that don't really affect the average American much, such as the DoE, which exists pretty much solely to fund the R&D of nuclear power. If you removed that department entirely, does the average American notice any difference? Do you realize that our nuclear power plants are fixing to get a lot older, and new ones cannot be built without an enormous amount of R&D that isn't going to happen if the entire department is defunded? What needs to happen first?<br><br>I am not arguing that the DoE is a bad department, or that the entire budget for it should be reallocated. I am arguing that if it were, it would be **practically the same situation** as if we just gave the money to the homeless. They would do some cool new drug research, they would go on a drinking binge for a month, they would buy some food, they would go out to a steakhouse and eat to the point of vomiting, and the next week they'd be just as hungry and just as homeless as ever.<br><br>Maybe, just maybe, someone would use the money to get back on their feet. Maybe they'd buy a house and some food and a car. But those are things that we cannot make the homeless do. We cannot force them to make the smart decisions. (There's a whole side argument that homeless cannot afford a car, a job cannot be found, etc. Let's assume that that house you bought was only an apartment, and that car you bought was just something to look at. You are far better off than you were yesterday). Any homeless who *wanted* to get back on their feet could do it with just a paycheck every couple weeks. You can do the same thing if you're homeless. You go to some homeless shelter, and when you go there, most cities offer some kind of job assistance deal where you can get a steady, if very meager, income. The problem with homeless is not lack of money **or lack of a home**. Homeless people can't afford to do shit, but if any given homeless person can stay off the drugs for a while and stop drinking, look for a job, get a place to sleep, and then keep that job and save money, they can eventually save enough money to buy a house, quit their job, and be set for life.<br><br>But that's just the point. Homeless people are addicts. Homeless people are alcoholics. Homeless people are intoxicated and homeless. They will spend any money you give them on intoxicating substances, and if you give them enough, they will **die** from it, if they haven't already. They cannot look for a job, they cannot afford a place to sleep, they need to be *forced* back onto their feet, and if you give them money but don't help at all beyond that, you've only killed them more quickly. This is what someone is going to do with your money if you give it to the homeless. They might do something else with it. But that's what they'll do.<br><br>I've been poor, but I've never been homeless. I know why these people are in the situation they're in. I know why my mom and I were in the situation we were in. We were both in the same situation because we made the same life choices, and if I gave the homeless money, it would be as futile as giving myself money (I'm past the point now) would be, because we both know that we're going to spend that money on the same things we do with our paychecks. That's what it means to be poor. It's why you can't get out of poverty with something as simple as "the minimum wage needs to be **x** amount, since the current minimum wage isn't enough money to buy basic necessities for life". These studies always assume that the poor don't spend any money on luxuries. I will never forget the time that my mom, who had been out of work for several months, got a paycheck from her new job, so we had money for the first time in who knows how long, she was so excited that she started crying, drove us all to McDonald's for dinner, and proceeded to buy a pack of cigarettes.<br><br>What homeless are going to do with $1,000,000,000 is buy a pack of cigarettes.<br><br>Edit: Everyone seems pretty sure I'm just some privileged rich kid. I am not. I am a junior in high school. I do not live in a rich neighborhood. I have been in the situation of homelessness. I am not blaming the homeless, I am blaming the system. If I weren't so goddamn tired, I'd have just written a whole lot more and avoided this confusion, so my bad.<br><br>Edit2: I did not expect this to get the amount of visibility it has, and I am glad I could get a dialogue started on this issue. I'm very glad I can see what YOU see when YOU look at the homeless, and I hope that by sharing what I see when I look at them, you can see my side and understand what needs to be changed, and how to help someone who is in that situation.<br><br>Edit3: I have been very generous with the awards I have given out, but if you feel you've written something great, feel free to tell me! I will be happy to reward it, especially if you change my perspective.