Getting Homeless People Out Of Sight In Hungary, American Style

IN BUDAPEST, HUNGARY, IT IS now against the law to be homeless. There is a new ban on homeless people in public places. Such bans are becoming increasingly common in Europe and the United States; having given up on ever solving the problem of homelessness, western "civilization" (using the term loosely) has now decided to sweep the homeless under a rug, and forget about them altogether. Not only does the ban in Budapest apply to living on public property, but also to homeless people even stepping foot on public property, "trespassing" on public property, such as parks and sidewalks. The reasoning must be a follows; if the ban merely includes actually residing on public property, then anyone who is cited will merely claim to be a tansient, just passing through, rather than taking up residence, so nothing will be done. So, they can't even be there at all, even for a few minutes. Homeless people thus assume the unenviable status of being beneath citizenship; the citizenship of all homeless people has essentially been revoked. Citizens with homes are still permitted to walk down the street, or enjoy public parks. If approcahed by a police officer, must all citizens now show a certificate of home ownership, apartment rental, or hotlel occupation? "Sir, please present a title to your home, or a rental contract, or vacate this sidewalk immdediately!"... "But officer, I am the mayor of Budapest!"... "No excuses, sir, everyone must meet the same requirement."... Do we smell an upper class rat here? Are the good prosperous people of the stately city of Budapest ashamed of their homeless population, and trying to hide it? Or perhaps trying to alleviate their own guilt. Its easier to avoid helping people when people who need the most help are conveniently out of sight. We Americans home owners salute the Hungarian people with houses on their courageous criminalization of homelessness and poverty. That's the way we do it in America, and even if the problem doesn't go away, at least we the prosporous don't have to deal with it or look at it.