Refugee Camps for the Homeless?

Refugee Camp in Myanmar - APP

One problem in big cities in the USA is the large number of homeless people. Many of the proposed solutions to this problem suffer from their own problem, to wit,they presume is that all a homeless person needs a chance, a leg up, a helping hand, and they could get back on straight and narrow and become contributing members of society. I bought into that idea for a long time. Now I realize that while there may be some people like that, they are a distinct minority. There are a fair number of people whose mental problems make them incapable of holding down a job. But the biggest problem might be those people who are not interested in working and are perfectly happy eking out an existence on the fringes of society.

I'm thinking what we need is a campground for the homeless. I suspect the only reason the homeless congregate in downtown areas is because that's where the soup kitchens are. If we could find an area outside of town that would make a suitable campground and persuade one of these soup kitchens to set up shop there, we might find that the homeless would migrate there of their own accord. Basically we would be setting up a refugee camp for our own citizens who can't, or won't, hack it in our dog-eat-dog capitalist society.

Sorting out who would pay for it and who would govern it would give all concerned plenty to argue about in the coming months (years), but it would alleviate the immediate problem for all concerned. I can't imagine camping on city sidewalks or on the shoulder of Interstate freeways is something people aspire to. Okay, there's one in every crowd, but aside from the occasional nut-case, I think everyone would prefer camping where you aren't getting told to 'move on' by the police, or worrying about whether a stray motor vehicle is going to flatten you.

P.S. About the picture. I looked for a picture of a nice small refugee camp, one you would be happy to send your lay-about friends to, but all I found were pictures of ginormous tent cities. They seem to be becoming permanent fixtures in many parts of the world. Maybe it's time we got on board the express train to purgatory.