Dear Mr. Jenkins,

            I fervently hope that you are in the best condition possible. I shall not state my name for it is of no importance as compared to the issue I wish to bring to the light. It is an issue that is by no means unprecedented. Yet, it has reached a degree that calls for immediate action. The issue I write about today, my dear sir, is that of homelessness.

            Each year over a hundred inhabitants are newly labeled “homeless.” Each year over three hundred homeless citizens in this city die. Nevertheless, we have not undertaken any actions to address this matter. I believe that the concern here is not that the city is purposefully refusing to stop the spread of homelessness but rather that we have become so accustomed to an issue that we have ceased to regard it as an issue. Three decades past, it would have been common to hear that a tourist’s main complaint upon visiting our city was the number of homeless people in the streets. However, today we see that this type of complaint has significantly diminished. I ask you sir, why is that so? Could it be that our city is no longer the refuge, and prison, of homeless people? I think not. The reason is that it has become a fact that all cities hold homeless people. It is no longer a disadvantage but rather a given attribute. We have taken it for granted that since we choose to live in a city, we choose to live where homelessness is a common prospect.

            Hence, we have ceased to realize how heinous an act it is to permit the existence of homeless people in our city. Every year we are permitting hundreds of homeless people to die of hunger, of thirst, of the lack of basic amenities. We refuse to comprehend their plight. We simply ignore their existence and hope, oh so fervently hope, that they would one day cease to exist. Each year, sir, you tell us of how successful a city we have become. Each year you describe a clean, healthy, and economically successful abode. I now address mayors of all prosperous cities, could this be success? Is one truly considered successful when a three-million-dollar condo is built, a condo like hundreds of millions across the globe? Is one considered successful when half a city’s population is lying in the streets, eating off dumpsters and living in cardboard boxes?! I wish to alter this view of success. You have succeeded at the task which you so fervently desired. You have succeeded at becoming wealthy entrepreneurs. You have succeeded, sir, if what you have reached could be called success. You have succeeded, sir, if wealth alone could create nations. You have succeeded, sir, at squeezing the breath out of innocent citizens, if that could be called success. If success is the blind attainment of wealth and assets, then, sir, you have gone farther along the path of success than any other. If the money of this nation is more precious than the human soul, then, sir, you have my express admiration and support. If wisdom is a snake, then, sir, your wisdom exceeds that of Confucius.

Furthermore, I would like to suggest a solution. We currently have over four hundred condos and apartment homes offered either for sale or for rent. I believe they should provide ample housing for our homeless citizens. In addition, I have spoken with some of the greatest factory owners, Mr. Paul Saodinger and Ms. Gertrude Black to name a few. They confided that they could not only use more workers but also afford to offer them free bed and board services. I have also exchanged words with a few of the best entrepreneurs. After much toil, I convinced them to donate twenty million dollars to aid the construction of houses as well as resources for the homeless. It is evident that there are several opportunities for the homeless population. The problem is that we do not realize the necessity of acting to help our homeless people. We instead shun and disgrace them, if not completely ignoring their existence.

            Finally, I believe that there are several steps that must be taken in order to save these innocent homeless souls. It is prudent that we act immediately before it is too late. It will no longer do to follow in the steps of our fathers. This age requires us to mold the world ourselves. A second wasted means the death of a person. A lifetime wasted would perhaps mean the accumulation of a great wealth, but it would also mean the death of millions, millions who could have been saved. I implore you sir; the issue of homelessness is not a mere trifle. It is a crime, a crime in which we are the guilty.                                                                                                    

  I thank you very much for your time, and I hope you will consider my offer to build a better world.

Kind regards,

*****NOTE: Any relationship to historical names, figures, or places is entirely coincidental.

– Ayah Gouda