I might argue that sympathy and tolerance is how we got this problem in the first place. Societies that shame homeless out on the streets (regardless of whether they are legit in need or not) tend have less homeless - or they hide themselves away better and stop bothering people.
Then charities can focus on the ones that can actually use the help to better their lives. I definitely feel for people momentarily down on their luck, especially when it's because of shitty government policies that put them out of work.
I watched a documentary once about a lady with kids that got kicked out of her apartment because it was condemned and didn't have the means to get another.
She was couch surfing at friends houses, sleeping in her car, hitting up the different social services, using computers at the library to apply for jobs, etc. At the end things ended up working out.
I suspect that there's something seriously wrong with the homeless in filthy clothes begging on the corner. A normal person will exhaust every option to avoid that fate.
A lot of it comes down to your connections and possessions prior to becoming that way. Like, your lady still owned a car and had friends willing to let her sleep there (along with her kids I'd assume).
That's minor to someone like us, but for a homeless person that's a fucking massive leg up. It means having the time to go out and apply for jobs/services instead of wasting it looking for a place to stay and protecting your corner.
Also its a woman with kids, which means she by default had a massive bone thrown her way in terms of actually getting those jobs/services approved. There is a reason why the filthy clothes begger is near always a man. Because all those homeless resources get used up for the women and her children, of which every town has a junkie whore with 8 kids lined up at every kitchen, long before any man even gets considered.
I have no sympathy for a lot of the losers on the streets, as most got their by their own failings, but there is a reason why a documentary was made on a woman with kids going homeless. Because its able to maximize your pity/sympathy, which is the same way it ends up "working out" for her and not the filthy begger.
They are basically all on drugs, and I think I would be at that point, too. For all I know, they fought for a long time with their demons and just exhausted every available avenue. Drugs are almost always part of this cycle of deterioration, but obviously most drug users don't end up here, either. So there is always something underlying it. If they weren't messed up before, by the time you see them years into the lifestyle, they're pretty far gone.
The ones you see begging on the corner are the ones that have the "best" places staked out and will totally scrap with others who try to encroach on their territory - don't be fooled by their "poor frail me" appearance.
What's wrong with them is that they'd rather waste their life away getting high/drunk and don't care how much it inconveniences the rest of us. "Carry me," is their motto.
Sympathy is how we ended up with asylums closed, which is the actual cause of a majority of the homeless population. A place to hold all the junkies and severely mental ill of the world, rather than just leave them on the streets.
Asylums were often horror shows that well earned the sympathy it evoked, but closing them with zero followup plans just left people who still needed to be controlled and held around but now they are out able to hurt the common populace.
Shame might work on the 1/10 who are lazy or weak minded, but the majority of them are severely mentally ill or junkies who are too far gone from reality to have dignity.
I agree entirely. I simply understand why people were against them at the time, because there was a legitimate problem in terms of how they ran.
Its just a perfect historical example of why rushing to solve a problem with emotion and empathy can make it worse for everyone, something anti-gun people should learn one day.
I don't know where you're supposed to live, but you don't have a right to live on other people's land or to camp on most common land. There are definitely places where you can go and no one will care. That is where most of the people who are today homeless should go. All able bodied people should. A lot of people claim to be disabled. it's hard to know what they could do if they tried, if you don't make them try. I think just about everyone can be more than a burden to the people around them if they choose it.
I might argue that sympathy and tolerance is how we got this problem in the first place. Societies that shame homeless out on the streets (regardless of whether they are legit in need or not) tend have less homeless - or they hide themselves away better and stop bothering people.
Then charities can focus on the ones that can actually use the help to better their lives. I definitely feel for people momentarily down on their luck, especially when it's because of shitty government policies that put them out of work.
I watched a documentary once about a lady with kids that got kicked out of her apartment because it was condemned and didn't have the means to get another. She was couch surfing at friends houses, sleeping in her car, hitting up the different social services, using computers at the library to apply for jobs, etc. At the end things ended up working out.
I suspect that there's something seriously wrong with the homeless in filthy clothes begging on the corner. A normal person will exhaust every option to avoid that fate.
A lot of it comes down to your connections and possessions prior to becoming that way. Like, your lady still owned a car and had friends willing to let her sleep there (along with her kids I'd assume).
That's minor to someone like us, but for a homeless person that's a fucking massive leg up. It means having the time to go out and apply for jobs/services instead of wasting it looking for a place to stay and protecting your corner.
Also its a woman with kids, which means she by default had a massive bone thrown her way in terms of actually getting those jobs/services approved. There is a reason why the filthy clothes begger is near always a man. Because all those homeless resources get used up for the women and her children, of which every town has a junkie whore with 8 kids lined up at every kitchen, long before any man even gets considered.
I have no sympathy for a lot of the losers on the streets, as most got their by their own failings, but there is a reason why a documentary was made on a woman with kids going homeless. Because its able to maximize your pity/sympathy, which is the same way it ends up "working out" for her and not the filthy begger.
They are basically all on drugs, and I think I would be at that point, too. For all I know, they fought for a long time with their demons and just exhausted every available avenue. Drugs are almost always part of this cycle of deterioration, but obviously most drug users don't end up here, either. So there is always something underlying it. If they weren't messed up before, by the time you see them years into the lifestyle, they're pretty far gone.
Drugs should be legalised but then you have to have an IQ 120+ to get a drug license. Of course that wouldn't help but it's an ideal I'd aspire to
There is a hell of a lot more I'd gate behind an IQ license, starting with motor vehicles and internet access.
The ones you see begging on the corner are the ones that have the "best" places staked out and will totally scrap with others who try to encroach on their territory - don't be fooled by their "poor frail me" appearance.
What's wrong with them is that they'd rather waste their life away getting high/drunk and don't care how much it inconveniences the rest of us. "Carry me," is their motto.
Sympathy is how we ended up with asylums closed, which is the actual cause of a majority of the homeless population. A place to hold all the junkies and severely mental ill of the world, rather than just leave them on the streets.
Asylums were often horror shows that well earned the sympathy it evoked, but closing them with zero followup plans just left people who still needed to be controlled and held around but now they are out able to hurt the common populace.
Shame might work on the 1/10 who are lazy or weak minded, but the majority of them are severely mentally ill or junkies who are too far gone from reality to have dignity.
The horror show didn't stop. It is instead live on the streets, and the former asylum-dwellers are now victimizing other people.
I agree entirely. I simply understand why people were against them at the time, because there was a legitimate problem in terms of how they ran.
Its just a perfect historical example of why rushing to solve a problem with emotion and empathy can make it worse for everyone, something anti-gun people should learn one day.
I don't know where you're supposed to live, but you don't have a right to live on other people's land or to camp on most common land. There are definitely places where you can go and no one will care. That is where most of the people who are today homeless should go. All able bodied people should. A lot of people claim to be disabled. it's hard to know what they could do if they tried, if you don't make them try. I think just about everyone can be more than a burden to the people around them if they choose it.