On Homelessness in Nevada: Spinners Aren’t Winners

It seems that the local homeless, broke, and hopeless find themselves on a street corner one way or another. Some may plead through car windows, others will linger around bus stops and gas stations, but why has struggling become acceptable public scenery in Las Vegas?

It is easy to point at all the gambling in this city and make assumptions about people, but it’s still hard to believe there isn’t a better solution to helping people get off the street. Currently Nevada boasts the highest unemployment rate in the country alongside an omnipresence of cash feasting vices. A large portion of those unemployed have strayed from the possibility of ever being hired which means the current problem can only escalate.

Is it the city’s fault for not backing up claims to fix this illness? Or are the numbers skewed by desperate people attracted to the casino atmosphere? Reno, Atlantic City, and other gambling cities can endorse the same problems in different concentrations. Ultimately anywhere there is lots of gaming and sinful pleasures, there are real socio-economic downfalls just surrounding the most cash-heavy areas.

With so many pandering at once, it seems that the general attitude in Las Vegas is that some level of complete failure is acceptable. At least that’s the impression many tourists are getting from the poor and downtrodden on and around the Strip. It’s not just the center of town where beggars are buzzing. Every busy corner in the city has become an acceptable conduit for poor people to plead for change in traffic despite the city’s best efforts.

It’s not just the homeless however, there’s a definite plague of apathy when it comes to the job hunt in Nevada. A staggering amount of local businesses pride themselves by putting low paid ‘sign spinners’ near busy intersections distracting busy traffic for commercial attention. Some of these businesses will use teenage students looking for part time work, while others will give just about anyone a sign to hold since they’re already standing on the corner fulltime. The common ground between these young sign spinners and the homeless is that they all find it acceptable to call standing on the corner an occupation.

If some people can survive this dangerous way whether begging or spinning, that won’t solve the eventual problem that people can’t feed themselves with handouts and spinning a sign is hardly a skill. There must be a solution that looks better on this city, and gets help to those who need it the most. Perhaps getting the right people away from the casinos is a tangible solution, then again, how does one separate the truly downtrodden from the ordinary gambler? The ugly truth is that many of those dollars pandered go return to the casinos that employ most of the city. That’s why it’s important for all Las Vegans to appreciate this growing problem and know that there are many ways to help the homeless without involving traffic.