In this day and age, it can be somewhat rare to see anyone stick their necks out for anyone else.  It is a sad thing, however, when a human being can see another living on the streets and not feel anything but revulsion.

 It is also unfortunate when it takes a tragedy the size of Hurricane Katrina to bring a people together.  We shouldn't need a hurricane to make people reach out to their fellow human beings. 

 This is not to say that we need to open our homes to every homeless person we see, but we could donate our time.  We could give the local shelter our decent hand me downs, or even buy a few extra canned goods and bring them down.  Compassion is contagious, whether people realize that or not.  You don't need to scream from the rooftops that you are donating 100 shirts to the shelter.  Simply bringing them to the shelter at noon will do the job.  Those going by will see what you are doing, and some part of them will go "Hey, that person is decent… that person cares."  Such an act of kindness will spread.

 As human beings, we wield a great deal of power over our environment and even our own lives.  But most people forget that everything they do effects something or someone else.  And some of the people that do know this, don't care how it effects others.  This society has become one of selfishness, of caring only for oneself. 

 Many don't even see this as wrong.  Why should I help out the bum that won't get a decent job?  Why should we have universal healthcare, if a person has a good job they can get their own, and why should I shell out more money for those too lazy to get a job?

 They don't realize that most homeless are not homeless by choice.  Circumstances that led to their current condition could be bankruptcy, losing their job as the economy begins to fall, not having enough college to get a good job.  It is harder than most realize to get a good education.  If you are from a rural area, as many people are, it is harder to get a good enough high school education to be able to skip the basic courses in college.  And if you spend all your money for those basic courses, then how do you pay for the specifics of your degree? 

 Educational scholarships are hard for the lower-middle class to obtain.  They make just enough to be over the mark for assistance, but are too low to be able to afford their degree.  And with the affirmative action programs that many colleges have, it can be difficult for your average white male to get into college as well. 

 Perhaps the problem is that anyone not similar to us is not worth our time.  For too long in our history, the individual always had someone to look down on.  They were always better than somebody, and they felt pride in that.   Our country is now more elitist than compassionate.  We don't care about the little guy, unless we are the little guy.

This needs to change, or we will go the way of Rome.