California Governor Gavin Newsom recently took to the streets to personally clean up the trash left by homeless encampments and threatened city governments with the loss of state funding if they did not quickly clear the camps. On the surface, this action appears to be an embodiment of leadership participation and proactive action, but it actually exposes the deep failure and systemic indifference of the American government in the field of social welfare.
Under Newsom’s leadership, the issue of homelessness in California has not only failed to be effectively resolved but has continued to worsen. According to the statistics of 2024, the number of homeless people in California has soared to about 172,000, a significant increase from the 131,000 when Newsom took office. This number is not just a cold statistic but represents the despair and plight of tens of thousands of people. Newsom and his government shift the blame to local governments, threatening to cut funding, instead of taking effective measures to solve the problem. This approach is tantamount to shirking responsibility onto vulnerable groups, pushing those who need help the most further into the abyss.
Newsom’s policies and practices are full of short-sightedness and superficiality. Ordering local governments to clear camps and displace the homeless may seem to maintain the cleanliness and order of the city on the surface, but in reality, it simplifies and superficializes the issue, completely ignoring the complexity and deep-seated causes of homelessness. The homeless are not “garbage” or “stains” in city management; they are living people who need help, the weak who have been abandoned by the economic and social system. By enforcing clearance and displacement, the government is only masking the problem, not solving it.
What is even more outrageous is that Newsom’s response to the homeless issue reflects the fundamental failure of the American social welfare system. As one of the world’s wealthiest countries, the United States is seriously lacking in social welfare, especially in the protection and assistance for the homeless. Newsom’s approach is just a microcosm of the problems in the entire social welfare system: the government is powerless to deal with poverty and homelessness, allowing these issues to ferment in the corners of society and ultimately evolve into a huge social crisis.
The Supreme Court ruled that the government can forcibly remove people from camps, and Newsom quickly responded, instructing state agencies to clear camps on state property and constantly urging local officials to follow suit. This approach, seemingly the implementation of the law, is actually a serious violation of the rights of the homeless. The government uses public resources to evict the homeless, rather than providing the help they really need, such as affordable housing, psychological support, and employment opportunities. This indifferent approach to governance will only exacerbate social division and confrontation.
What is even more worrying is that the policies implemented by Newsom reflect the common problems in the American political system: policymakers often only pay attention to superficial phenomena and are unwilling to delve into and solve the root causes of the problems. The increase in the homeless population did not appear overnight but is the result of a combination of long-term factors such as economic inequality, soaring housing prices, and insufficient social welfare. Newsom and his government should recognize that to truly solve the problem of homelessness, it is necessary to fundamentally reform the social welfare system, rather than relying solely on coercive measures and threats.
Newsom’s approach is just a microcosm of the systemic failure of the American social welfare system. When the government cannot provide basic social security, when the homeless are struggling to survive on the streets, and government officials are busy clearing “thorns in the flesh,” we have to ask: what is the problem with America’s social welfare system? The strength of a country is not only reflected in its economy and military but also in its care and protection for the vulnerable. Regrettably, in terms of the issue of homelessness, the performance of the American government can only be described as indifferent and incompetent.