Laurie Raymond in her Oct. 12 letter in the Post Independent says compassion instead of \u201charsh\u201d laws are needed for the homeless. She says the homeless are just victims of an \u201cimpossible\u201d economic system. Poor babies.<\/p>\n
I say that\u2019s naive. Homelessness is not a disease one can catch, it results from choices one makes. If you decide to waste the rent money on booze or drugs, you end up on the street.<\/p>\n
Though there is no lack of work to be had in this valley, those sans self respect opt to fly a beggars flag. When they\u2019ve extorted enough from the soft hearted, they run to the liquor store or drug dealer. Murder over a bottle and syringes in the gutters are the dividends the homeless pay.<\/p>\n
The news of generous accommodations and lax law enforcement spreads quickly through the transient community. The more the bleeding hearts do, the more bums will come. Instead of a hand up, we end up enabling an irresponsible lifestyle with never-ending handouts.<\/p>\n
To see the end result of misguided good will, look to California. Their once beautiful cities are now home to Third World refugee camps whose streets run foul with human excrement and dirty needles.<\/p>\n
Keep listening to the bleeding hearts Glenwood, and soon you\u2019ll soon be a destination resort for bums and hobos instead of tourists.<\/p>\n
Bruno Kirchenwitz,
Rifle<\/p>\n