re: Survival
The poor [in Phoenix] have no AC and its 120 degrees at times and over 100 degrees for almost half the year. Some have no plumbing any day of the year. They suffer. They suffer a lot. But they manage to survive because experience has taught them how too. The homeless here often look like blistered nuclear accident victims - but they survive on the streets in worse conditions than New Orleans provides.
You almost sound proud. "My poor people are tougher than your poor people." Unbelievable.
Tell you what: you go live with them, and like them, with as many resources available to you as to them (except, of course, for your education), for, oh, three months. Then report back on whether holding on by your fingernails is an appropriate and dignified way to exist (I won't say "live"), and whether you really, really think that this is all these blistered souls deserve out of life.
Have you no compassion? Have you no conscience?