Turn On, Tune In, and Shoot Up — In Doorways

he existence of homelessness in rich cities induces a state of unease, if not of outright guilt, in the well- or adequately-housed—who, after all, are vastly more numerous than the homeless. Surely here, if anywhere, is a problem that the authorities, local and national, ought to be able to solve, or at least reduce to tiny proportions?

However, the matter is complex and while it goes under a single name, it has multiple causes which are different in different places. Homelessness is a syndrome rather than a disease.

For example, in London I have noticed that there are no persons of Pakistani or Bangladeshi origin among the homeless, as there should be if low household income and the cost of housing were the explanation of homelessness. There are few blacks among them either, certainly no Africans, and the few blacks that one sees are either frankly psychotic or on drugs—or, of course, both. Furthermore, by no means do all the white homeless come from the lowest social class.

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