So do you believe that homeless rights is the answer to improving homeless lives and reducing homeless population? You basically just accused me of a bunch of stuff that I haven’t mentioned.

I don’t believe your first two points have anything to do with combating homelessness. These are people who need help. Giving them rights isn’t enough. We have to get them to services and housing on a case by case basis, one way or another.

To combat inequality is a much bigger discussion. Homelessness is an extreme aspect of inequality, but you are now getting into territory of changing away from a capitalist system. Again, I would have no issue with that but it cannot be done at a local level, that has to be done at a national level. By battling capitalism at a local level you are putting your city at a competitive disadvantage to the rest of the US, it is a lose lose scenario for everyone. If we moved away from capitalism as a nation, this would not be the case.

I think if you take a step back and think about the things in society that you would like to change, look at whether they are political issues, capitalism issues, or bigotry, and then think about the most effective way to address them it would help. We have to understand that we cannot rid the world of ideas of bigotry, for example but we can try to make sure that bigotry does not lead to a capitalistic advantage. We cannot create an equal playing field from scratch, we need to find opportunities for education and financial literacy where it is scarce. If everyone simply had all the same resources, the playing field would be reorganized quickly based on who makes the most competitive use of that capital. Without more education, the same people would end up with the most wealth. Again, this is within the constraints of capitalism.

So in summary if you are looking for equality within capitalism, it is about education, capital, and effective management of that capital. There are ways to work on that, but it will be a very difficult road and it will not happen on its own. If you are advocating a move away from capitalism on the basis of inequality, it needs to be done at a national level, and we need to consider what the next system is going to be. Personally I am a capitalist who is also in favor of a universal basic income. I believe that could help to reduce some of the negative impacts of modern capitalism as well as redistribute some of the wealth. I think if we could also make low interest business loans available to people who have trouble qualifying, that would be a big help. The final element is access to education.

Race is tied to poverty in this country but a lot of people don’t understand why. The answer is generational wealth. Capitalism funnels money to the top, it always will. Having capital, and having the knowledge to use that capital competitively to create wealth, is the way that generational wealth is built. Because of slavery, African Americans missed out on the first few generations of wealth when capitalism emerged in America. This put them at an economic disadvantage, and a disadvantage in terms of experience. These barriers are extremely difficult to overcome.