The Homeless and Our First Loyalties

Evidently we here in Paris, Tennessee have a homeless problem.  Not on par with San Francisco of course, because the people of Paris and Henry County are rooted and cohesive, and enjoy competent and honest government. 

But a problem nonetheless and our local government is trying to address it.  Indeed a problem that is now common from sea to shining sea.  

First, let’s remember that the problem of dealing with the down-and-out or those out of their mind is as old as time.  It cannot be solved.  Only mitigated.  

However, the root of the scale of our problem today is the Cultural Revolution of the 1960’s where We the People granted to ourselves bread & circuses in the form of the welfare state and Sexual Revolution, the two great hammers that have broken down the natural, rational family which has produced an explosion of people more emotionally broken or unsteady than they would have otherwise been.  

Indeed, what if we were made to watch biopics of the poor shadowy souls we see everyday wandering the streets, or any number of the wretched creatures that inhabit our county jail.  Or those terminally alone, bereft of all familial support.  Or those who year after year seem incapable of righting their own ship or living beyond the moment, much less for others.  What abuse did they suffer when they were a yard off the ground?  What neglect?  What sermons did they not hear?  Or what sermons from Hollywood were rotting their minds back in the 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s?  Back in the good ‘ol days.  

I imagine in all too many cases such biopics would be unwatchable, indeed heart wrenching.

But we are not going to solve the root of the problem or at least turn the spigot down because We the People, Born Free, are going to have our bread & circuses.  We will not be restrained.  We will have our cake and eat it too.  

So in the meantime and for the foreseeable future we have a problem.  But why is it a problem?  It is a problem because the homeless or terminally indigent, be they mad or down-and-out make life uncomfortable.  They negatively impact what we can call quality of life, a concept far to large to address here.  

In the case of Paris, Tennessee, the city is trying to be proactive.  My advice to the City Fathers is to put first the interests of native born Parisians and those who have moved here who pull their own weight and otherwise contribute to our quality of life.

Secondly, I would do nothing that encourages the homeless to move here.  If you feather the bed, they’ll come and sleep in it.  And they’ll keep coming.  Hoards of them. Just look at San Francisco. No, we have enough home grown troubled souls and we should direct our attention and limited resources to them.

As to local law enforcement, do not ask them to do anything more than that: enforce the law.  County jail should remain a cold, sad, uncomfortable place with tasteless food that keeps you alive.  An abandoned boxcar should be considered a better place to lay one’s head.  

Now here is my advice to all of us.  We should all in public behave ourselves, contributing to the quality of life that makes Henry County such a draw to outsiders.  By our own conduct we should all uphold and enforce the traditional notions of good manners and courtesy for which the South is justly famous.  No one, including the down-and-out or the mad should be allowed to behave otherwise.

So with these thoughts in mind, I wish to offer the following as a litmus test of the health of our city, and the competence of our local government…

A young woman pushing a baby carriage with a toddler in tow, ought to feel perfectly at ease strolling down every single public street in Paris, Tennessee, without exception, between the rising and setting of the Sun.  

My $.02.