Michael Lissack But to the many who live off of the homeless, out of mind is not good enough. They want your dollars -- tax dollars, charity dollars, it makes no difference. They do not want to house the homeless or give income to the poor - they want to service them. Regardless, of whether the services are wanted, regardless of cost, regardless of effectiveness. Providing the ser- vice - i.e. giving the charity or agency money is far more important that the quality of life of their clients. Most Americans want the homeless off the streets, but no one wants them next door. One way to solve this so-called NIMBY (not in my back yard) problem is to locate cubicle hotels in currently nonresidential areas Such areas cannot be too isolated or nobody will he able to get to them. But if we could recreate skid row in relatively accessible areas, the poorest of the poor would at least have a place where they could legitimately be. Advocacy groups seldom support this approach, which they rightly characterize as an effort to ghettoized the poor. But we should not let idealism become the en- emy of more modest improvements. For people who now live in congregate shelters, a nice room in a residential neighborhood is good ideal, but almost certainly not an attainable one. A cubicle in a nonresidential area is a far less inspiring ideal, but it is an attainable first step. Few Americans believe their society has an obligation to feed and house everyone, regardless of how they behave. When people act selfishly, tak- ing advantage of those around them, Americans are quite willing indeed eager-to see them suffer. But most of us do feel an obligation to help people who either cannot help themselves or are trying to do so and simply need an opportunity. Most Americans also know that some of the homeless fit this description, though they have no idea how large the proportion is. They badly want some war of distinguishing those who have a claim on society from those who do not. Offering everyone work is the most obvious test. It is not clear how many of the homeless would be willing to work four hours a day for a cubicle and three cheap meals. Unlike today's shelters, a cuticle hotel would give single adults a private space with a lock on the door, ac- cessible at any time, where they could leave their possessions and get mail and telephone messages. Some would judge that worth four hours of work.
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