Month: January 2012

I’ve got an idea about homelessness. Do you know what they ought to do? Change the name of it. It’s not “homelessness”, it’s “houselessness”. It’s houses these people need. A home is an abstract idea, a home is a setting, it’s a state of mind. These people need houses; physical, tangible structures. They need low-cost housing. But where are you going to put it? Nobody wants you to build low-cost housing near their house. People don’t want it near them. We’ve got something in this country, it’s called NIMBY. N-I-M-B-Y; ‘Not In My BackYard’! People don’t want anything, any kind of social help located anywhere near them! You try to open up a halfway house, try to open up a drug or alcohol rehab center, try to do a homeless shelter somewhere, try to open up a little home for some retarded people who want to work their way back into the community. People say “Not in my backyard!” People don’t want anything near them. Especially if it might help somebody else. Part of that great American spirit of generosity we hear about.