The Homeless—Is There a Hope?
“SHELTER is a human need ranking in priority with food and water and a home is an essential condition of civilized life. Once these truths are seen, homelessness will be recognized for what it is: an affront to human dignity and the denial of a basic human right.”—Lord Scarman, president of the United Kingdom Council for the International Year of Shelter for the Homeless.
Speeches like this clearly show that officials and governments are well aware of the need for more and better housing, and efforts are being directed to filling that need. The question, however, is: How effective are these efforts? Let us consider a few examples.
Survey of Current Efforts
To meet the needs of Bombay’s growing population, reports The Times of India, 125 new housing units are needed each day. While this may not seem to be a large figure, it amounts to over 45,000 units a year, and that is only to contain the growth. What about the more than 800,000 substandard, unsanitary slum huts in the city? To replace them in 20 years, another 110 units would have to be erected daily. That brings the total to over 85,000 units a year. To do so, “our production rate needs to jump fourfold,” says the report. Similarly, between 1961 and 1981, New Delhi, India’s capital, achieved less than one tenth of its goal of building 450,000 units of housing.
In Africa governments are hard-pressed by the housing crisis because of the influx of the rural population into the cities. In some countries, “unemployed city dwellers have simply been deported to the countryside,” reports The Star, a Johannesburg, South Africa, newspaper. In others, only established residents in the city are allowed to work there. Despite international outcry of discrimination, especially where racial factors are involved, have such strong-arm measures been successful? “The problem of providing jobs and homes for rural refugees is one that threatens to get out of hand in much of Africa—and, indeed, throughout the Third World,” says the report. “It has been predicted that major African cities will face the collapse of their social and educational systems and their water, power and sewerage services.”
In Britain housing for the poor and repair or replacement of deteriorating housing stock are two major problems that call for urgent attention. “Yet at the same time as we are told that as a nation we ‘can’t afford’ to spend any more money in tackling these horrific problems, there is no restriction of any kind on the subsidy we pay to people who are buying their houses,” says the Catholic Herald. Because of the cutback on funds for low-cost housing, construction has dropped to less than a fifth of the level of ten years ago. To add to that, “we also have a massive repair bill, for both public and private housing, estimated at £50 million,” says the report. How the government plans to deal with these expenses is unclear.
“The problem of homelessness in America is more than the problem of housing the desperate and the helpless,” says an editorial in the New York Post. For example, the city of New York pays an average of $1,800 a month to keep one homeless family in a welfare hotel, and the annual bill for this service comes to $125 million. In addition, it spends $250 million a year operating 28 public shelters. Still, the number of homeless people in the city continues to rise. Why? “No one knows how to best reach the homeless,” concludes a special article on the homeless in U.S.News & World Report. “Better housing, more jobs and easier access to food stamps won’t help those who are mentally disturbed or hooked on drugs or alcohol.”
Treating the Symptoms
Clearly, solving today’s housing problems and meeting tomorrow’s housing needs prove to be an overwhelming task for governments around the world. Why? Because the problem of housing shortage and homelessness is not an isolated issue. It is deeply interwoven with other equally massive problems, such as population explosion, poverty, unemployment, and inflation. Without successfully tackling these other problems, it is unlikely that there will be much hope for housing. But is there a nation on earth today that is free from any of the problems mentioned? In fact, is there a government that is having genuine success in dealing with these problems? No, there is not.
In light of this, the efforts being put forth to solve the problems of the homeless may be likened to attempts to patch up cracks and leaks in a crumbling house. Though the intentions may be honorable, the effect is that of treating the symptoms only. What is needed is to tear down the rotten structure and build a new house from the foundation up.
This view certainly is not new. It was taught 19 centuries ago, and it was so far ahead of its time that the tradition-bound leaders of those days found it difficult to accept. “No one patches up an old coat with a piece of new cloth, for the new patch will shrink and make an even bigger hole in the coat,” said Jesus Christ. (Matthew 9:16, Today’s English Version) What did he have in mind?
The Permanent Solution
Rather than treating the symptoms, Jesus dealt with the root cause. He taught his disciples to look to God’s Kingdom for the permanent solution not only to the housing problems but also to all the ills that are plaguing mankind today. “Let your kingdom come. Let your will take place, as in heaven, also upon earth,” he urged them to pray. (Matthew 6:10) That Kingdom, which will carry out God’s purpose on earth, will not just patch up the present worn-out and broken-down system of things. It will replace it.
What will all of this mean for you? Listen to what the ancient Hebrew prophet Isaiah was inspired to say: “They will build houses and inhabit them, plant vineyards and eat their fruit. They will not build for others to live in, or plant so that others can eat. For my people shall live as long as trees, and my chosen ones wear out what their hands have made.”—Isaiah 65:21, 22, The Jerusalem Bible.
Did you notice that the emphasis is not on just building more houses? Rather, it is on fairness, equality, and justice. Do you not long to live under such a government? Not only will you be able to have a house of your own, which is more than what most people today can ever hope to have, but you will live in peaceful surroundings, with plenty of food, clean air and water, and good neighbors. All of these, and more, are things that the righteous administration of God’s Kingdom will accomplish.
In obedience to Jesus’ command, Jehovah’s Witnesses today are telling people everywhere about “this good news of the kingdom.” (Matthew 24:14) Through the pages of this magazine and its companion, The Watchtower, as well as by personal visits, they are endeavoring to bring to your attention the marvelous prospects just ahead. We urge you to take the time to find out how you can be among those who will live under that righteous government that will restore the whole earth to be mankind’s eternal Paradise home.
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“They will build houses and inhabit them.”—Isaiah 65:21, JB