from the soap box

I'm starting to doubt human nature. My entire life I assumed people were born good and that they want to do good for other people. My life, despite all of my complaining, is quite good. I have a family that supports me and money in a bank account. I have a roof over my head and I know I will eat everyday (of course ruling out Yom Kippur). What just irks me is the urban homeless population. I am not bothered so much by homeless people in general, I am bothered by the lack of interest in the seemingly obvious problem facing society. In the most advanced cities in the world we cannot solve a problem that seems solvable. The problem is we all live in our own small selfish bubbles. I will be first to admit I am guilty of it, but I think as a society we must break through our bubbles and help fellow members of the human race.

I am supposed to be attending a University with some of the most brilliant minds in the country. The people who of UC Berkeley invented the atom bomb, helped to start what is now the internet, and created the anti-proton (whatever the hell that is). What I am trying to get at is these same people can't seem to come up with a way to help their fellow residents. We all seem to live in this "UC bubble", once we're on campus we care about our grades and our research and once we're off campus we care about what happens in this week's episode of Grey's Anatomy.

It's depressing to see people without homes on the streets of a city known by its progressive values, yet it has one of the highest rates of homelessness within the city limits. I don't have a solution for the problem, but I want to help find one. I want people to know they can get a meal and medical care without having to ask strangers for spare change while smiling through the gaps in their teeth. I still believe in the power of the goodness of human nature. People are and can be good. We just need to stop being silent and open our eyes to problems bigger than wardrobe malfunctions and celebrities' shaved heads.