San Diego's Band-Aid for the homeless

All of this is commendable. Whether we're talking about tax breaks to foster private investment in the inner city or taxing cigarettes and alcohol, government should use whatever tools it has to encourage positive outcomes and discourage negative behavior.

And renting housing units to the homeless is, for society, clearly a desirable outcome.

But the initiative doesn't stop there. It would also provide hundreds of housing vouchers and actually place some of the homeless in permanent housing. That is a whole other matter.

Human nature dictates that people put more value in things they earn rather than what's handed to them on a platter. Besides, public giveaways -- even at the local level -- can often empower government while fostering dependence among those on the receiving end. Finally, while it's hard to believe that anyone chooses to be homeless, there is a debate raging over whether some people -- at least in those cases that don't involve mental illness or drug abuse -- choose to remain homeless. Giving them permanent housing is less like a safety net and more like a hammock.

Don't kill the messenger. Why would anyone choose to remain homeless? No one ever said that human beings were totally rational people.

But the biggest problem with the city's new homeless initiative is that it puts a Band-Aid on a bullet wound, while skirting the real issues that are helping fuel aspects of this crisis because they're messy and tough to deal with.

Like the fact that people need job training and employment opportunities. Or the fact that, in a city with an outdated public transportation system, people need cars to get to work -- and cars cost money to own, register, fuel, and maintain.

Or the fact that rents keep soaring, and salaries haven't kept up -- issues that a Republican mayor, like Faulconer, with possible aspirations for statewide office, isn't likely to force with his donors in the business community.

I would guess that most Americans who have a roof over their heads rarely if ever give the homeless a thought. That has to change. This is everyone's problem to solve. And quick fixes aren't much of a solution.

I'm willing to believe that the city officials who conceived of San Diego's anti-homeless initiative, and the homeless advocates who are applauding it, think they're doing the right thing.

They probably have good intentions. But you know where that road leads.

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Ruben Navarrette's email address is ruben@rubennavarrette.com.