Volume LIV: Homelessness; Ottawa’s Morality Crisis

Hello everyone, welcome to the Simple Saturday Solutions Edition of The Good News Journal, and thank You for being here.  The Microcosm and Macrocosm are a reflection of One another.  Ottawa’s homelessness crisis is a morality crisis, and the same is true wherever there is moral injustice anywhere in the world.  The Good News Journal is all about how We can change that by imposing simple solutions.

Really, the government Acts like a parent to its citizens, (the term ‘Parentis patria’ comes to Mind).  The difference is, in a ‘free and democratic society’, the kids get to participate in the rule making and ‘choose’ a new parent once in a while.  Really, it’s pretty much the same Idea.  The children get disgruntled if the rules are too rigid and rebel against their parents.  The parents generally respond one of two Ways; by compromising on the rules, or with punishment and possibly more rules.

Right now, the government of Canada is choosing to spank any citizens refusing to do their chores, though I’m reasonably confident the system is similar in most every other country.  If One doesn’t do their chores, ‘allowance’ is reduced.  It appears as though the child is still getting an allowance, but the allowance is not enough to pay for the room.  Only young children get free rent, adult children have to pay for a room if they want to remain in their Parents House.  If the child still isn’t doing the chores when it comes time to pay for their room the following month, the child is kicked out of their Parents House.  The child can take a spot on the front lawn, but dad won’t allow tents there, One would have to go out to the field for that.  The barn is the other option.  It’s dry, there’s hay to sleep on, but it smells, though one can get used to that if they don’t mind the flies, bats, mice and rats.  Leftover food scraps are handed out for free three times a day, but if the child wants any real, healthy food, they Will have to use their allowance for that.

Then, even for the children who’ve ‘learned their lesson’, there is the hard Ship of getting back in the House.  Dad says the Good chores are already being done beautifully by children who are offering mom and dad even more money for their room, and the few chores that are left to be done won’t earn the child enough to get back in the House.  Furthermore, the child Will have to come to the House looking respectable if they want to be seen doing chores on the property, and dad doesn’t want to hear any excuses about how hard it is to look respectable when One’s living in a barn – if One is committed to doing their chores dutifully, One Will find a Way.

I thought this little analogy might make Ottawa’s morality crisis more interesting and entertaining to read.  Although simplified, it is a reasonably Good rough explanation of what’s going on in Canada economically with respect to poverty and homelessness.  None of the policies and procedures of the systems in place are arbitrary.

I am thing King that most People would agree Keeping a full time job would be considerably more challenging if One is homeless and/or living in a shelter.  Yet most of the time, the argument is that the homeless should ‘get a job’ when the reality is that it’s one of the most unrealistic expectations.  Consider the mental anxiety alone and what kind of implications it might have on the individual and/or One’s colleagues in a workplace environment.  I’m not saying it’s impossible, but it would be extremely challenging.

Although I personally think the Idea of working forty hours a week for the better Part of One’s Life just to survive is insane, I do recognize it’s the main framework the majority of society is working within, so for now I’m going to appeal to that model.  Within that model, the Idea is that one should be contributing to the House Hold chores (40 hours a week) if they want to Live in their Parents House.  The thesis for this Post involves the suspension of disbelief in the Idea that We Will have a Utopian world if We can get everyone working.

The Idea of the Utopian world, is for everyone in the House to be Happy.  Mom and dad Will be Happy when the chores are getting done, the children aren’t fighting, and they are all Living safely in the House.  That’s the goal.  We’re even going to presume that mom and dad’s punishment worked, the kids are sorry, have promised they Will do all their chores and stop fighting (some chores paid better than others) if mom and dad Will just let them back in the House.

The problem is, some of the children are in really rough shape.  That’s a big Part of the reason that mom and dad decided to let them back in the House, they could see that the punishment was really taking a toll on the kids.  The children who were still in the House played a huge Part, too.  They had pleaded with their mom and dad to let their Brothers and Sisters back in the House.  Some of the children had even offered to Give up their rooms to any Brothers or Sisters who were too sick, tired or depressed to work, and to do their chores.

The first thing the parents did, was allow their children to come back home.  Some were enthusiastic and eager to get washed up so that they could contribute to the chores.  The children even added some of their own chores to the list just to show mom and dad how Grateful they are.  One of the new chores was taking care of any of their sick and tired Brothers or Sisters unable to work.  The other new chore was building an addition to the House with a gym, pool, sauna and jacuzzi.  Checking in on Brothers and Sisters was the first chore every morning and the last chore every night.  The rest of the House Hold chores were done after morning visits, and the rest of the time in the day was spent working on the new House extension.

Most of the sick and tired children recovered very quickly.  Some just needed a Good night’s sleep, healthy food, positive encouragement and a peaceful, safe environment.  Others needed considerably more time and extra care.  However, after only a few weeks, most children were helping with at least some of the chores, and they were finding they had more and more time to dedicate to the new House extension.  As it came closer and closer to completion, the House Hold excitement was tangible, even those unable to work were enthusiastic about the unveiling.

Finally, the extension was complete!  It was Magnificent.  The children saw it first.  When it was first completed, the children ran back to their Brothers and Sisters to tell them about the surprise they have finished for mom and dad, and were as King of them to see it first, and to be there for the unveiling.  Much to their surprise, each of the children who had been unable or unwilling to work for whatever reason, had secretly been working on a special contribution for the extension of the House.  Some had Created masterful paintings or sculptures, one of the children had even networked with other Brothers and Sisters to Create a musical Piece for the unveiling before the Parents.

When the Parents finally saw the completed extension to their House, they were ecstatic.  Never before had the chores been done so well, or had there been so much harmony in the House Hold.  They were equally surprised by the beauty of the new extension (it was not a complete surprise, as a building permit had been required to begin construction), and by the incredible Artistic talents decorating its walls.

1337 Words.  I guess that’s the Perfect Time to Sign off.  I was also going to add that over time, the children became so efficient and masterful in their work, and sharing Ideas with their Brothers and Sisters, that they eventually managed to get all the chores done in only ten hours.  Ironically, the children spent most of their extra time off learning Arts and Crafts from their Brothers and Sisters unable or unwilling to work.

The simple solution is to do what is morally right, which would mean to provide a basic minimum income sufficient to secure safe, dignified housing.  The rest Will fall into place.

Thanks so much for being here, have a Sensational Saturday and Sunday!

Love and Blessings,