“Unfortunately the bulk of American homeless are voluntarily so. “
I guess, if by “voluntarily” you mean “the streets are actually better than this crappy shelter”. If you think the vast majority of homeless, drug-addicted or not, wouldn’t choose a tiny private apartment with climate control and a door they can fucking lock from the inside over sleeping on the streets in a hot second, you’re severely mistaken.
The most horrid filthy secret of human interactions throughout history is that practically anything will be “voluntary” if you can make the alternatives worse enough.
This is the updated version of “Some people would rather die than go to the poor house.”
I once donated to a drive that pledged to give €500 to each homeless person they helped. They filmed the ones who gave permission.
Do you know what each single one did upon receiving that? Get up and get themselves a private room for at least the night. They also all talked to the social worker who handed out the money, but everyone agreed that their immediate concern was a room, a shower and a couple of square meals of their own choosing.
Three Dutch reporters who went onto the streets for three weeks also said they often felt less safe in shelters than outside. People need some basic safety and affordable housing, but those responsible for housing prefer to build ‘upmarket’…