Why do we ignore the homeless?

I'm too cynical, obviously.

 

I wouldn't say that. It's not a bad thing to have doubts about an issue. I call that critical thinking - which is good. But it's also refreshing to discover there are still people in the world that actively strive to make the world a better place - one person at a time.

In truth, most folks ignore the homeless. I live downtown, so I see how this happens every single day. At least you tried to make a difference. Most don't even try. It's a tough call.

QP

 

I totally agree. And that's why I stayed at a homeless shelter, just so I could get off the streets. BTW, this was in Chicago. I lived in that fair city for most of my life. The shelter was far from clean or safe, but at least (as long as I agreed to attend church services) I didn't have to beg for spare change. Not having a home was bad enough. :sunny:

QP

 

i still don't believe high crime and hard drug abuse rates in black ghettos are due to a government conspiracy. if something's gonna change my mind on that, it's gotta come from a very good source. not something that looks like a conspiracy website. sounds to me like an excuse to lay blame elsewhere.

 

-my old boss when confronted with panhandlers would offer them a job, it usually scared the shit out of them, although I do beleive he ended up hiring a couple.

-Giving to people you can see face to face is way better then donating to charity. You should research any charity you donate to because sometimes they keep more money for themselves instead of helping out those who need it.

-my family knows people who work at a soup kitchen. Whenever something good comes in they take the good food home with them and leave the crap food to give out. It's quite sickening.

-The federal goverment ships in drugs, they've been caught before.

 

ummmm, when did i say anything about crime? i said crackheads b/c that is the concept that soemone else brought up.

and as far as crime, not necessarily a conspiracy, since it was blatant de jure institutional racism that caused much of the problems that we see in minority communities.

 

still sounds like a failure to take responsibility mixed with a little irrational conspiracy to me. like the murderer who blames his abusive daddy.

 

Some of them are lazy, but some just found themselves in a bad situation. Especially with the economy now it's very difficult to get a job.

 

like i said. you will never know until you live that life.

there is a personal choice element to everything, but those choices are made within a certain situation and a certain context. many homes are single parent, coupled with poverty, low education, low healthcare, bad housing, bad food. it all adds up.

live it, or shut the fuck up.

 

I think one of the best ways to help the homeless is to buy one of those newspapers they sell for a buck. They get to keep 75 cents for each paper sold. Not only does this help to feed and house them, but it also helps them to regain their self-esteem. Plus many of these homeless newspapers have very good articles in them - written by homeless writers. Some even publish poetry and artwork. So you really do get a lot for your buck. And it's money well spent.

QP

 

True. That's why it's a mistake to stereotype them.

QP

 

As one of the old folks on the board I can remember a time when there were hardly any homeless. I grew up in the fifties and the sixties. You saw a few hobos but they chose the lifestyle. I think your first paragraph pretty well outlines why there was such a time. My folks and their folks had experienced a depression and a war. Two wars for many of them. And an influenza epidemic in the middle of it. They understood about looking after each other. They didn't suffer from the "me first" attitude so many do today. They provided through their taxes for mental hospitals, old folks homes, county hospitals with sliding rate scales, free public education, etc.. They understood by pooling their resources through taxes they could provide for the least among us. And I think they felt it as a personal responsibility.

Then here in California we elected Ronald Reagan and trickle down economics was born. It's a failed experiment, but not many are willing to admit that. Inflation set in and we were all so busy trying to make ends meet and get ahead we relegated the homeless down two notches from human.

 

I can see your point. It makes a lot of sense to me - but I lived it. I guess understanding comes from actually having been there. :sunny:

QP

 

Good for your boss.

 

Maybe this link is reputable enough for you:

http://www.justice.gov/oig/special/9712/ch01p1.htm

I realize you are too young to remember the Iran/Contra hearings and trials. One more thing we have to thank St. Ronald for.

Interpret it as you will, I know how many of my generation interpreted it. We knew about the CIA first hand. They got us into Vietnam and they kept us there. Your generation has the Afghanstan war and Iraq. I only wonder what keeps most of you beating the drums of war.

 

Good on you. That's the only reasonable response you can make to the "me first" people.

 

i have a hard time believing you've ever lived in a black ghetto. most pretty white girls who spend time there end up a bit racist rather than overly sympathetic. sounds to me like you've just spent a lot of time listening too much to preachy black conspiracy theorists.

check out gardner's link. seems a little less sensationalist

rather than blaming "the man," maybe many of the problems in the black community root from a failure to assimilate.

 

dude, that went wayyyyy too far. fuck you.

black people aren't the only ones that live in low income neighborhoods. i'm not racist, and i've always had a bleeding heart for the oppressed and downtroden. i don't listen to any conspiracy theory. i am an intellectual and i can think for myself. so, assimilation is the answer? what the fuck would "they" assimilate to?

you're just another person that hides their symbolic racist ideals with their idea of individual social mobility.

 

well i guess you obviously haven't "lived it" then.

"they" would assimilate into the rest of society rather than only associating with and being influenced by people of their own race.

i think it's possible that many of the economic and social problems root from their own self-inflicted social immobility, yes. am i racist? no. but i'm not overly politically correct either. i'm a realist.

 

Ah, Ronnie Reagan. My favorite person in the whole wide world. Not. It still amazes me that he initially refused to admit there was an AIDS crisis. I often wonder how many men and women went to an early grave - due to his ignorance. And he still got his very own postage stamp.

QP

P.S. You are right about the failed experiment. Reagan should have stuck with acting.