The Homeless: Advertising to Survive

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                                                 22 creative homeless signs | Street photography, Homeless man ...
There is one common trend between almost every remotely urban area is homelessness. Due to the inadquecy of many social security programs, most of these people are left to subsist off of kind donations and part-time cash. This is another are of American life where the free market reigns supreme. Your pitch for why someone should spare a dime for you in particular has to be convincing--it is a necessity to stand out against the sea of the simple "I'm hungry. Need help."  

While I am by no means claiming that the end of homelessness should require advanced advertising sensibilites, it is the harsh reality that--in a time where someone can be offered multiple examples of homelessness on a single daytrip--wit is more valuable than need. 

This once again highlights the extremely poor situation of the homeless. Living on the streets for multiple years can severely drain creativity; this is compounded by a decrease in physical attractiveness. This creates a vicious cycle which is almost impossible to escape. 

While this may be all very sad, many may wonder why this matters to them. Homelessness is not an individual crisis, it is a societal one. Drug use is extremely high among people with no homes. This is almost a baloon effect: the abscence of a home is filled with the prescence of ilicit substance. If we can create political turmoil throughout the world to (unsuccessfully) curb drug use, why can we not tackle this issue within our own borders?

America needs the social safety net of countries like Norway and Sweden. Not only would granting housing to these people solve societal issues, it would bring potentially thousands of people into the job market, improving the economy and the general standard of living. 

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