The homeless stir feelings from heartache to disgust
Letter
Published: Monday, April 28, 2008"Not since the Great Depression have so many Canadians been homeless," wrote Daphne Bramham. But how different were conditions and the calibre of the men so long ago? Men in the 1930s wanted to work and many of them hitchhiked across the country in search of jobs without resorting to robbery and violence. They asked for work in return for a meal and when the Great Depression was over, they joined the Canadian Armed Forces and fought bravely for their country. It is an insult to compare them to today's homeless.
Today, economic conditions are such that work is plentiful and employers are pleading for workers. Many of our current homeless do not work, do not want to work and do not seek work. Instead, they prefer to beg aggressively for handouts without offering anything in return except a string of expletives when we refuse to respond to their pleas.
So why is there such a big difference between the Dirty Thirties and now? Basically, it's because we now have too many bleeding-heart, leftist politicians and "hug-a-thug" judges whose efforts are wasted no matter how much public money is thrown at the problem. Someone once said that even if we gave each of today's homeless $1 million we would have the same problems in about two months.
As for drug addicts, don't even get me started.
W.F. Thomas
Vancouver
