I know a former NY Daily News and Village Voice writer and merchant mariner in Palo Alto/Campbell/Los Gatos, CA who is disabled and has no money except the paltry Social Security. He's perfectly sane, well-read, highly-intelligent (law school dropout in the hippie era), but lacks the funds to miraculously "pickup himself up by his bootstraps." A person can't get anywhere from nowhere without some sensible help like every other civilized country does. America is great if you're rich but it's like Brazil if you're not. European countries tend to be great if you're poor or middle-class, but not as great as the US if you're rich.

Yes, I'm aware. I have about six years of college. I spent nearly six years homeless.

I still write about it sometimes on various blogs of mine, like Street Life Solutions.

Cool. I lived in a vehicle (a car, another car, and then a can) for 9 years to save rent and then to live minimally. It took me 10 years to graduate between work and the echos of the dotcom era messing-up course availability. Doing alright now if anyone were wondering.