[DanielBMarkham]

Part of the problem with conversations like this is that anything we say is going to be a generalization, so we run the risk of stereotyping whether our intentions or good or not.

There is nothing inherently wrong with wanting to live outside. I know in a "civilized" world, it seems so -- wrong -- but people have been living outside for eons. We're pretty good at it.

Of course I am not saying that people who are homeless all want to live outside. I am saying that we have to be extremely careful waving our arms around saying things like "It's mind-boggling...."

Yes, from the outside, looking at it from fifty-thousand feet, it makes no sense at all. This is the way of all human systems. Up close, however, you'll usually find that people do things for mostly logical reasons.

So I would at least change your statement to "It's mind-boggling that in this country that people who want to have a home cannot find one..." It seems like a nit, I know, but it takes us much closer to a solution by removing a subtle imposition of our values on other folks.