Closets Just For Shoes.mov

I used to work in Hollywood and had many encounters with homeless people. Always curious about how people become homeless and how they survive, I would observe and interact. Later I was hired by philanthropic organizations to produce videos related to homeless issues. It is not surprising that what we call "mental illness" is responsible for a large fraction of homelessness. This song explores the thoughts of a homeless man who drifts in and out from fantasy to reality against the backdrop of some of the images and events I witnessed on the streets of Hollywood.

"Helping the homeless" is a misnomer. They cannot be helped or served as a group. They must be helped one at a time by a friend who truly cares. Help cannot be prescribed at arm's length, it must be discovered through intimate knowledge of the individual to be helped. It must be based on the particular needs and wishes of the person to be helped, not on the opinions and presumptions of the giver of help. We must realize that some cannot be helped, and most cannot be helped in the ways we assume they need.

Much of what we call "help" for the homeless are simply ways to prevent them from degrading our environments.

I once asked a dirty, drifting homeless man what the rest of us, society, could do that would help him. He said "Let me sell things. Pencils, toys, whatever. When I try to sell things the police arrest me for not having a Vendors License, I tried to get one but the city will not give a Vendor's License to someone who does not have a permanent residential address."

Well what do you know? The greatest obstacle to upward mobility and self sufficiency is government, that thing that is supposed to "equalize" society and provide the "safety net" is the thing keeping the homeless right where they are.

I am ashamed and disgusted at a city government that wants such "fees" from people who can't even afford housing. Has city government gone insane? If a city politician ever says they are "helping the homeless", ask them what they are doing to simply allow the homeless to earn a living. All they have to do is call off the cops and cut out the phony "fees" they charge. Begging is OK but selling is not? What does that say about our society?

Government is run by politics, and politics says that a lot of voters want those "dirty scary people" out of sight. We still have a long way to go to find the right approach, much less real solutions for homelessness.

Jerry

CD "Take-Offs and Landings" available on CDBaby at:
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/jerryday

Category:

Music

Tags:

• guitar
• vocal

[n1spirit]

Decided to explore your YouTube channel after stumbling across your video on Smart Meters. I'm glad that I did; you're very talented, Jerry and I'm thankful this is a cause/challenge that also seems close to your heart. There are a number of issues that interest me in life today but the plight of the homeless has been near and dear to me for the better part of 15 years. Stay strong.

[minivanjack]

@n1spirit Much appreciated. Many thanks.

[MrEpicTruth]

good song, man! you're very multi-talented.

[bweazel]

Jerry, you bad ass.

[Snowblindinfinity]

Awesome song. Awesome words. Government creates most of the homeless people so they can use them as tools of the fraudulent political process. They have no real desire to end poverty, they are parasites robbing us of our world.

[The Banks and those who support them] " ...will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered..."Thomas Jefferson ~ The Debate Over The Recharter Of The Bank Bill, (1809)

Fiat justitia ruat caelum.

[leobluesy]

sounding good

[thomastholin]

VERY IMPORTANT TO ALWAYS REMEMBER!!!

***The psychopaths gravitate to positions of power!!!***

WELCOME TO THE FASCIST POLICE STATE!!!

The Local, State & Federal government are all corrupt from top to bottom.

End The Fed!!!

[OfficialGetGln]

good lighting, good voice, good talent =)

[1mealperday]

sleeping bag and one meal per day is all most of us need. Old Hobo.

[captvanhalen]

Great to see you again. :)