If Reaganomics was not at its heart a flimflam, it was at least fifty years behind the times. The rationale of trickle-down economics is not altogether ludicrous in an expanding, industrial economy. But in a shrinking, increasingly service-based economy, the money that the rich gain must come of depriving the poor. The principle of less eligibility is that persons who subsist on social welfare should be less eligible for social benefits than workers with the least wages. If any worker cannot afford housing, then the social welfare system must not provide housing for people who do not work.
Homelessness is the subject of many myths.
Many of the myths stand in the way of solutions. It is a myth that alcohol is the root problem of many homeless men. Yet so long as that myth persists, liberals can keep their purses shut and their consciences clear. Blau claims the outlines of a solution must be obvious once it is understood that homelessness is hardly anything more or less than poverty in the ultimate. I wonder whether a solution is so obvious.