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Transients are usually referred to in negative terms, and thought of as sub-par humans, who live outdoors in urban centres because they cannot support themselves. This viewpoint is just that, an opinion, one unsupported by data which has been balanced by information provided by those who study poverty as a vocation. The popular image of the hobo, or "bum," is, in fact, perpetuated as a stereotype to prevent the average citizen from becoming aware of the causes of poverty. Awareness leads to understanding, and understanding leads to change. The logic follows that it is not in the national interest to change the situation of the homeless.
Poverty is the major cause of homelessness, although it is not the sole factor. Many people live with no fixed address for some period in their lives, despite having the means to secure permanent shelter. Whether out of boredom, curiosity, panic or otherwise, not everyone who lives outdoors is impoverished.
Some famous transients-by-choice include Vikings, Hippies, Napoleon, and Kurt Cobain.
As a social problem, homelessness is hotly debated. The question of ownership in democratic countries has taken both extremes of private, defendable proprietorship to transient ownership of disused property. Squatters' rights (See Adverse possession), which legally secure disused property for transient residents if they have not been removed by the owner within a set period of time, seem to be enforceable according to property values. Where neighbourhoods are in decay, squatters' rights are not challenged as often as where they are renewing or are prospering.
In areas undergoing renewal, properties understood to be "owned" according to squatters' rights, are often cleared out by violent physical force when market prospects are high. Usually in the form of private security, hired by the property owner, a seemingly proper face is put on what amounts to an armed individual kicking in a citizen's front door, and throwing them into the street. Few authorities have political arrangements with transients, and share far more interests with landowners. The end result is an increase in homelessness during times of prosperity, giving the social imbalance in developed nations a more dramatic appearance.
To protect the homeless against abridgement of their rights, poverty coalitions have sprung up, but they are often faced with government/media bias, and poor public image. Regardless of their ability to protect transients, poverty coalitions are limited by political conditions which encourage, and in some cases deliberately cause citizens to exist with a chronic lack of material wealth.
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