1. Pain & Suffering
1.1. Mental Illnesses
1.1.1. Decreases chances of upward mobility
1.1.1.1. Primate research shows that ascent in rank is associated with increased serotonin and dopamine, while loss of rank results in a reduction of both neurotransmitters
1.1.1.2. reduced brain capacity
1.1.1.3. Depression causes memory loss
1.1.2. Stigmatized & increase isolation
1.2. Self medication
1.2.1. Drugs
1.2.1.1. Criminal charges
1.2.1.1.1. Decrease upward mobility
1.2.2. Alchohol
2. Poverty & income inequality
2.1. Income inequality
2.1.1. "...impacts negatively on social cohesion, eroding social capital
2.1.1.1. Points of comparison
2.1.1.1.1. Low self-esteem & self worth
2.1.1.1.2. Anger harbored again wealthier people
2.1.1.1.3. Sense of injustice
2.1.1.2. Social divisive
2.1.2. "...a measure of the ‘rich-poor gap’ in any given society and therefore it exists at the ecological level. It reflects the extent to which a society is unequal in terms of income distribution."
2.1.3. increased risk for cardiovascular disease
2.1.3.1. Increase discomfort & stress & anxiety
2.1.4. Increases chances of developing mental illnesses
2.1.4.1. common mental disorders such as anxiety, depression and suicide
2.1.4.2. Places individuals at risk of schizophrenia."
2.1.4.2.1. "An observation supported by this growing evidence base is that individual health depends not just on personal income, but also on the incomes of other members of one's community or society"
2.1.5. Increase mortality rate
2.1.5.1. reduced life expectancy
2.1.5.2. increased infant mortality rates
2.1.5.2.1. Tramua
2.1.6. Poor nutrition
2.1.6.1. Underdeveloped brain and body functions
2.1.6.2. Compromised health
2.1.7. Overcrowding
3. Homeless
3.1. Mental illness
3.1.1. ...around a 1/5 of American's homeless population suffers from untreated schizophrenia or manic depressive illness.
3.1.2. Prolongs homelessness
3.1.3. Substance abuse
3.2. Limited help
3.2.1. Cannot obtain access to housing
3.2.2. Cannot access healthcare
3.3. Crime
3.3.1. Criminal behavior
3.3.1.1. "Criminal behavior appears to serve various functions among the homeless, and the homeless who engaged in illegal behavior can be classified as chronic criminals, supplemental criminals, criminals out of necessity, substance abusers, or the mentally ill."
3.3.1.2. Minor, non-violent nuisance offenses such as panhandling or turnstile jumping in the subway
3.3.1.3. Major ones like theft or breaking and entering.
3.3.1.3.1. "2009 study found that homeless people bouncing from shelter to shelter were more likely than homeless people living on the street to commit violent crimes, such as robbery and assault."
3.3.2. Inmates percentage
3.3.2.1. ~40% of inmates were homeless for at least point in the last 3 years before arrest
3.3.2.2. ~21% of inmates were homeless the night PRIOR to the arrest
3.3.2.3. ~15% of inmates are homeless
3.3.2.3.1. "...Compared to other inmates, those who were homeless were more likely to be currently incarcerated for a property crime, but they were also more likely to have past criminal justice system involvement for both nonviolent and violent offenses, to have mental health and substance abuse problems, to be less educated, and to be unemployed."
3.3.2.4. ~67% of prison inmates have prevalence of ANY mental disorder
3.3.2.4.1. Usually for minor crimes like disorderly conduct ("nuisance offenses")
3.4. Why are people homeless?
3.4.1. Shortage of affordable rental housing
3.4.1.1. Commodification of housing
3.4.1.1.1. "It's a matter of reorienting our values so that a person having a home is more important than a property owner's profit,” said Kristina Meshelski, a member of DSA-LA’s Housing and Homelessness Committee. "There are more vacant units than there are unhoused people, we know that."
3.4.2. Increase in poverty
3.4.3. Criminalizing homeless people from sleeping in public & sharing food
3.4.3.1. "...Los Angeles whom police have ticketed for offenses related to their unhoused status — offenses such as sleeping on the beach or sitting on the sidewalk. Tickets carry fines that can reach hundreds of dollars, more than people struggling to survive on Social Security or general relief payments, and even low-paying jobs, can possibly afford. Unpaid tickets lead to arrest warrants and time in jail."
3.4.3.2. Zoning laws
3.4.4. Stigmatization
3.4.5. Cheated on not being able to rent housing with vouchers? (need to fact check)
3.4.6. Getting out of abusive relationships
3.4.6.1. Domestic violence
3.4.7. Eviction/foreclosure
3.4.8. Unemployment
3.4.9. Vicious cycle
3.4.9.1. "A person with a secure place to live has a better chance of stabilizing their mental health or fighting an addiction; having a shower, clean clothes and a good night of sleep increases the chance of getting a job."
3.4.9.2. "Money spent on police, courts and jails as a response to homelessness takes away resources that government could direct to housing and services."
3.4.9.2.1. "Criminalization of homelessness is part of a larger pattern in this country of turning to law enforcement to solve societal problems, such as substance abuse, mental illness and poverty — a pattern that has made the U.S. a leader in incarceration while only exacerbating those problems."
4. Lack of access to healthcare
4.1. Mental illness gets untreated
4.1.1. Isolation & poverty continues
5. Children in poverty have less developed brain capacity
5.1. Worse academic achievements
5.1.1. Hinders upward mobility
5.2. "MRI scans...found that children from low socioeconomic backgrounds had less gray matter — brain tissue dense with neuron cell bodies — in the hippocampus and frontal and temporal lobes than what was expected for their sex and age."
5.3. "...brain involved in language and executive function — the perisylvian cortex and prefrontal cortex — are among the slowest to mature"
5.4. "Smaller hippocampi and prefrontal cortical volumes, areas important for memory and complex thought, like reasoning and decision-making."
6. Orgnanizations that help
6.1. National Coalition for the Homeless
6.1.1. 2017 report: around ~1 million homeless Americans
6.2. Human Rights Watch
6.3. Western Regional Advocacy Project
6.3.1. "the debate on inequality and poverty primarily focuses on fixing “broken” people rather than the broken system, as evidenced by the rising number of homeless persons and the number of laws directly targeting them."
6.4. National Alliance to end homelessness
6.4.1. 2018: ~552,830 homeless americans
6.4.2. 2018: Highest in NY (~92,000) and CA (~130,000)
6.4.2.1. Highest in NYC (~78,000) and LA (~50,000)
7. Questions
7.1. Why aren't people helping themselves? Motivations?
7.2. What are the arguments against providing more social service and federal aid?
7.2.1. Critics say if we help homeless people with these aids they will just end up staying on aid without moving.
8. Poverty and Black Americans
8.1. Crimes
8.1.1. An average black man without a criminal record usually can get as far as a white man with a criminal record
8.1.2. Among drug users, blacks usually smoke crack coke, and whites smoke powder coke. The criteria to be incarcerated for crack coke are less stringent than for powder coke, making blacks easier to be arrested and incarcerated.
8.1.3. Blacks are more likely to be stopped and frisked.
8.1.4. Minneapolis Police Use Force Against Black People at 7 Times the Rate of Whites