before 1975 (or there about) they weren’t homeless, they were bums. But homeless sounds more PC. panhandlers, hobo’s (travel the trains) and just plane too lazy to work..
And before the mid 1980’s, we didn’t have all the crazies and druggies on the streets, incapable of taking care of themselves. They were in institutions where they were taken care of.
But the ACLU thought that wasn’t right. So they sued and got them released.
Like the rich Seassholes who sleep in gated communities feeling so good about those they allow to sleep in the mud, the ACLU jackassess cozy themselves down at night thinking they’ve done such a gooood deed by turning those incapable of caring for themselves out onto the streets and thereby subjecting the citizenry to their crimes and filth.