ABSTRACT
Practically everyone has heard the old legend about the blind men trying to describe an elephant. With each sightless explorer groping at a different portion of the beast, a listener would be hard-pressed to believe that all were describing the same animal. Homelessness is a lot like that. It can be described as a "social problem," an "urban plague," or a "choice," depending on who is addressing the issue. Causes for homelessness vary from bad luck to personal fault to the insidious creeping of the welfare state, depending on the point of view. Solutions seem obvious or unattainable, depending on the perspective. In the following pages, homelessness is considered from 10 perspectives that are unique, limited, and revealing. Let's listen in as four homeless people and six domiciled people talk about homelessness in today's America.
