This essay written by Jonathan Kozol talks about the common mind set that all the homeless people in America are crazy. Most Americans believe that homeless people are former patients of mental hospitals and most of the time have mental diseases. They use that as an excuse to why there are so many homeless people: because they are mentally unstable. The article points out that the people who really have interaction with the homeless people around them do not agree with this theory. They do not believe that the homeless people are crazy, but unfortunate. They just missed out on opportunities of making life easier and having enough money to move out of the streets. Diseases are also a big thing that cause people to become homeless. Addiction and other disease cause people to not be themselves and have to spend a lot of money to treat themselves. This article concludes by expressing how homeless people feel about the labels they receive from the wealthier part of society and claim that we as a society should be more interested in helping them.
This essay is very interesting because it makes the reader see homeless people from a different perspective. It makes the reader think about the question in topic: are homeless people crazy? Kozol approaches the topic in a way that doesn't offend the readers that believe that the homeless are crazy, but that makes them think about it. The article does not present any obvious logical fallacies, because in every instant the reader makes realize the flaws in the argument being discussed, but not in a manipulative way. Overall I believe that the article was extremely well written. It presents their argument and them develops the reasons why to believe the argument.
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