There are indeed homeless people in the U.S., just like everywhere else. And we do a lousy job of supporting them. But in a city of 10,000,000 people a tent city of a few hundred is pretty small. Ratio-wise, we probably have more people sleeping under the bridge here in Colorado Springs.

Unemployment is not (yet) a big problem here. It's pretty easy to get a job even if you have low skills, and apartment rents are quite low. There is certainly a threshold of employability that you must meet, but assuming reasonable health, one can cover the rent. A two-bedroom apartment goes for about $600 a month. If you're making ten bucks an hour as a laborer, you can cover it...

In the U.S. economy, being employed is key. That's how you get your insurance, your credit cards, your car and house loan, etc. Unemployment is a personal financial disaster, and a big jump in the unemployment rate is about the only thing that's going to move us towards 1930s-style quasi-socialism...