It Takes A Village To Raise An Adult 6

This is what needs to be done.  And here are some ideas of how it could be done:

We could begin by restructuring the way we think of support services.  Welfare, children's aid, disability pensions, forensic counselling and publicly funded mental health services are all about damage control.  Inroads need to be taken to prevent the damage.  This won't be possible in all cases but it needs to be explored.  People, and I mean all people, need to have a clear and concrete sense of belonging and participation in their community.  This privilege is largely enjoyed by homeowners and people on higher and more comfortable incomes.  Two things need to be done here:

1.  Aggressive measures need to be taken towards income equality.  We have lived under the meritocracy myth long enough.  Not everyone is going to make it by the sweat of their brow or by their university credentials.  A competitive social hierarchy that has roots in slavery and feudalism is going to do absolute nothing to address income inequality and, oh, too much to worsen it.  There has been a lot of talk recently about providing everyone with a guaranteed annual income.  This is a marvellous idea.  It's effectiveness would depend on how much this income is going to be and if it can be successfully indexed to the cost of living index.  If everyone's housing and food needs can be successfully met with a little left over for a savings account this would be ideal.  Which brings me to the second thing:

2.  Housing.  In our culture, home ownership is the ultimate symbol of success, of having made it, that you now have the full credentials required to be a participating citizen in your community.  This is, oh, such utter classist, even castist, nonsense.  Whether you are rich, poor, or middle income, if you live here then you belong here.  If you are First Nations, White, Chinese, Latino or Caribbean, if you live here then you belong here.  Whether your family has been here for one hundred generations or if you are fresh off the boat from Sri Lanka or fresh off the plane from Syria, you belong here.  Whether you own or rent, you belong here.  Whether you have a roof over your head or you are street homeless, you belong here.  Even if you are addicted to drugs you belong here.  If you are mentally ill, LGBTQ or straight, you belong here.  Even if you are atheist, Christian, agnostic, Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist, or you happen to worship at the Shrine of the Flying Pigs, you belong here.

If we are to become a healthier, more proactive society that fosters and promotes healthy, happy and successful individuals and communities we are going to have to work, and work bloody hard, to create a place where everyone has a sense of belonging.  Where everyone has an equal voice.  Where everyone feels valued.  Where everyone is valued.

Money doesn't talk, but it screams.  And our ears have been deafened by the screaming roar of insatiable greed.  We have to start reclaiming our cities, our country, our society.  We need money, yes, in order to survive and get things done, but we need even more, equal access to wealth and resources, especially if we want everyone to belong.

But we don't want everyone to belong.  Only the rich, the property and home owners, the successful, the meritocrats.  But meritocracy is one of the many consuming myths of our society.  It suggests that only those who work hard enough deserve their piece of the pie.  What they are not telling us is that everyone works hard, simply at staying alive, staying employed, caring for their families and loved ones and friends, caring for the environment.  Most of these people never become wealthy.  Many stay renters and never earn enough for a down payment.  So then, only if you have succeeded by the backward values of consumerist culture can you honestly say that you worked for it.  If you worked even twice as hard washing dishes for a living and wiping the behind of your ailing father you cannot make that claim because you haven't become rich?  What absolute HORSESHIT!!!!

Housing needs to be revisited and claimed as a fundamental human right in this country and every possible resource must immediately be made available to those who are most in need of stable housing.  And every single person ought to have the right to own their place, even if it's a social housing apartment, if home ownership will help cement one's place in the community.