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I’ve had tunnel vision lately, and at the end of the tunnel is a new song I am writing about homelessness called, “People on the Streets.” It’s inspired by my work with The Giving Spirit, an L.A. based non-profit that distributes survival kits to the homeless in Los Angeles. There is another event coming real soon on June 11-12, 2011, so I guess it is appropriate that I am inspired to work on this now.

There're people living on the streets

Since last weekend I have been recording guitars and the various other layers in Pro Tools. I’m finally at the point where I can use Pro Tools to capture most of the ideas I have, it’s a great program with a steep learning curve, in my opinion, but now that I’ve got the basics of recording and mixing down it’s all downhill from here. Now it’s just a matter of making the music. Nice.

Here are the lyrics for People on the Streets:

I had a little conversation

Thought about my situation

And the people living on the streets

Outcast and forgotten

Extreme reality

It’s not a movie, and it’s not TV

Put your fears aside

Put your judgment aside

They’re just trying to stay alive

They’re just trying to survive

Food is a basic human right

Put a shelter over everyone in sight

Put your fears aside

Put your judgment aside

They’re just trying to stay alive

They’re just trying to survive

Food is a basic human right

Put a shelter over everyone in sight

Hopefully soon I can share my song. I tried to give it a walking-down-the-street vibe with a nice rhythm section. I still have to work on the arrangement a little and I’m still trying to get a vocal take that I like so wish me luck on that, and hopefully the end result will be a nice song that honors the homeless and makes us think about the issue a little.

Most of us feel it is right to help those who are homeless, but there are still a few who believe that the homeless should be left to help themselves. In order be clear on why we help we must ask, Why is it right to help the homeless?

Helping the homeless is right because it is a compassionate act, and compassion is a virtue of the highest order. To help the homeless is to demonstrate a concern for the welfare of others without judging them or blaming them for their circumstances. Compassion doesn’t blame a victim but seeks to offer assistance no matter what the situation.

To help others when they are down is a model of good behavior that inspires others. This leads to possibly other acts of kindness. Because of the simple truth that in order to be happy, harmful acts should be minimized and helpful acts should be maximized, we can say that helping the homeless out of compassion is an act that would benefit, not only the individual, but all of society.

Those who believe that the homeless should help themselves might object to offering help because they believe it may cause a dependency, or that leaving people on their own may be good because it teaches personal responsibility. But there is a big difference between offering assistance in small, or even large, ways, and creating a co-dependent relationship. We should not overlook the benefits of helping others for any judgments we have about the way a person should manage their life. The way we conduct ourselves in our own lives is much more important.

We will create a better world by acting in more peaceful and compassionate ways, therefore helping the homeless is right because it brings us all great benefit.