Homeless In America

Humanity is undergoing major change, we hope for the better. Change is the product of cycles, as natural as day and night, birth and death, creation and destruction. 

Nature, while efficient, is not necessarily tidy — witness the caterpillar molting into a chrysalis on the way to a butterfly. There is then the element of trust, that the phoenix will indeed rise from its ashes, that the net will appear as we take the leap of faith.

One lesson of the Fourth Turning is that hinges in history may indeed be messy, often ugly — witness the effects of the current pandemic and its fallout. We see a culture in transition, from the recent spate of mass shootings, substantial police reforms, domestic abuse, mental illness, drug addiction, aggressive panhandling, and homelessness, often taking refuge in our parks and under bridges. 

The rebuilding of London, Munich, and Hiroshima took decades after the end of WWII. People emerged, tentatively at first, from their basements and bunkers to lick their wounds, count their dead, and access the damage before contemplating a new reality to rebuild their lives physically, emotionally, politically, and economically. 

Whether it be a shooting war, cold war, cyberwar, or a war against a virus, the first step in creating the new reality entails taking stock of what hit us, and assessing the appropriate response.

From inception, Boulder has attracted the best and the brightest citizens whose vision gave us the University of Colorado, Chautauqua, the Greenbelt, and the Pearl Street Mall, just to name a few. 

Councilman Bob Yates is one such visionary. We feel honored Bob has accepted our invitation to discuss the matter of homelessness. Bob will share his vision on what is possible and will suggest practical actions, keeping in mind the balance between the meaningful enforcement of our laws, in light of our duties as our Brother’s Keeper. Our goal is not to criminalize homelessness, but to avoid turning the unhoused into criminals by housing them in jails. 

We owe it to ourselves to engage in this important conversation as we address our collective post-traumatic healing process. Please join us live online at highland.institute on May 3rd at 6:00 pm to listen to what Bob has to say and how you plan to engage with us on this important topic.

— Sina.