I've read most of the posts on this site with a "homeless" tag and I wanted to write sort of a general response to most of them...because many of the people who posted seemed sort of puzzled about why we have homeless people in this country which is suppost to be the "richest country in the world.' First of all, we are quickly losing that status; as China and India climb the ladder of wealth, they will soon be replacing America as the wealthest, or so my theory goes.
Secondly, I don't think our homeless issue has as much to do with wealth or a lack thereof as it does a lack of self-esteem. I believe the problem stems from America's problem with broken homes, broken people and lost "soul" if you will...in a culture that raises babies in playpens and cribs and in front of the electronic "babysitter", the T.V., in a culture that puts more ephasis on buying plastic stuff for your kids then spending quality time with them, in a culture that puts almost no ephasis on building healthy, loving families, in a culture where drug abuse and domestic violence is experienced in one way or another by almost everyone...well there you have it. We have the prefect senerios for raising insecure kids with extremely low self-esteem.
Low self-esteem is the #1 problem I see everyday at the shelters I work at...people have poor hygene, poor social skills and drink or smoke or inject or injest themselves silly because they feel like they have little or no self-worth. They where taught this in the homes they grew up in; foster homes where they where routinely beaten, step dads who "touched" their step daughters, moms who where addicted to meth, grandparents who felt resentful because they where given the responsibilty of "raising the little bastards..." When you don't know what to expect from your parents or caregivers from day to day, moment to moment, you lose your faith in the world at a very early age. When these things happen, it is little wonder that we in America have a very large adult population who are unable to care for themselves. This does not suprise me in the least...I believe our culture has all of it's priorities backward.
Lately, when I see a dad walking down the street with his infant in a sling on his body, or a mom hugging her baby and telling him how much she loves him or a family together in public somewhere actually enjoying each other I think to myself "we may still have the remnants of hope..."
Love ya,
Carrot
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squatters
I think the biggest problem is that people assume that all homeless people want to be 'successful' and want to have a 'home'. While some do (and they make do with things like soup kitchens and temporary housing), there are a good chunk who just don't want to, and believe it is more virtuous not to own land/property.
--Mike
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Well...don't have to pay income tax, don't have to pay property tax...
In a twisted way, it kind of makes sense.
It's a shame the squatters put even more of a stigma on the homeless that actually want to make themselves better.
I've actually thought about helping do something about it off and on for quite some time. While soup kitchens are great, they don't really help the people who want out of that situation to get out. So, since I was thinking of hopefully growing my own business anyway, I figured I could work to help these people help themselves.
I'd get some inexpensive housing that would get them and their family off the streets and into their own apartments, and get them training for a position in my company. The positions and pays would range from janitorial work to more technical things (I plan to go into web design) and the pay would scale according to the skills and training required to do the job. They would be given a uniform or two (most likely in the form of a t-shirt or polo and jeans or slacks, neutral in look so they can wear them outside of the business), and would be paid during their training as well.
-- quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
Better? By buying into a corrupt, mafia-style extortion scheme on multiple levels? Yeah, right.
--Mike
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Huh?
-- quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
Taxes. Why do most people pay taxes? Because they have to. If they don't, they get thrown in jail. The mafia does something similar, called extortion. They force a person, usually a business owner, to pay them money so that the mafia doesn't kill them. Needless to say, it's illegal. But somehow, taxes, identical in spirit (both entities spend the money on something that may or may not benefit you), are perfectly legal.
--Mike
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I get it now. Never really thought of it that way (I guess it's because the only taxes that I don't get back most if not all of are sales tax).
I guess by "better" I meant that they actually want food/water and a roof over their head on a daily basis that they earned themselves.
-- quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
Many who are homeless suffer from mental or drug abuse issues. However, many that you see begging for money are not homeless.
Numerous news reports have followed beggars (from a long distance) to show them get into a nice car and drive to the suburbs. Many beggars are just looking for non-traceable money to buy drugs or alcohol. Here's a key to tell the difference. A carton of cigarettes costs around 36 bucks in my area. If you see a homeless person smoking, think of the money that is spent on that instead of on food or rent.
Sometimes a person begging is indeed homeless by a series of bad situations. Help does, indeed, exist for such people. We do not live in a country where one has to beg, such as it used to be in Afghanistan (prior to the US getting rid of the Taliban), or other such countries.
I do not enable such behavior (trying to score booze or drug money) by begging. I do, sometimes, offer to buy a meal for someone begging for money, and I've been met with violent aggression. They clearly do not want money for food.
For the REAL homeless, it is a horrible condition, but there are many charity programs available if they choose to change their situation. One does not need to remain homeless.
Here's a key to tell the difference. A carton of cigarettes costs around 36 bucks in my area. If you see a homeless person smoking, think of the money that is spent on that instead of on food or rent.
I smoked when I was homeless, however, I did not purchase the cigs I smoked. Most of the homeless I know pick up butts off of the ground, then when they've got about twenty or so butts they purchase a package of Zig-Zag wrappers and make some "rollies" or homemade cigs by opening all the butts and collecting the tobacco and rolling new cigs out of the dregs of the old cig butts.
So really, this is not a great way to assess who is really homeless and who is not. You really never can tell who is homeless just by looking at them...I know some homeless women who stay very clean and made-up and have nice clothes and then I know some kids who live in the suburbs with their parents but they dress in rags and go downtown to beg for change...appriences are very deciving. If you want to help the homeless, don't just give someone money on the streets...instead, volinteer at a shelter or soup kitchen...believe me, this is much more effective then giving a random person who may or may not be homeless money.
Love ya,
Carrot
Good theory. Homelessness on account of a flawed culture and lack of self-esteem. You make a very believable argument. It definitely seems possible.
I especially like your closing quote: "may we still have the remnants of hope..." Sure, we're not perfect and nobody is. Certainly we can still have this hope for better times.
Great entry, Carrot!
I doubt there are no more beggers in Afghanistan now that the US has done away with the Taliban...poverty has not instantly disappeared in Afghanistan (in fact, some reports I've read suggest that Afghanistan is now experiencing MORE poverty then it was when the Taliban was in charge...)
It is true, however that in the US there really is no need to beg...unless of course you are too mentally ill to even know where to look for a soup kitchen or too paranoid to line up with other homeless people to get a meal (some people are that mentally ill, believe me.) Most towns and cities in the US (even really tiny-weenie towns,) have at least one church or food bank to help feed the homeless and the impoverished folks.
I have to admit, the only times I begged while homeless was to score money for drugs and alcohol, not for food. Food is abunant when you are homeless (it isn't usually very nutrious food, but it is food.) Drugs and alcohol is a little harder to get...so we begged for money for those things. Sometimes we told the people we begged from that we where using their money to get drunk...othertimes we told lies. DO NOT GIVE THE HOMELESS YOUR MONEY...INEVITABLY IT WILL BE SPENT ON DRUGS OR ALCOHOL..(unless of course you wish to help these folks get drunk..sometimes on cold nights, the only thing between them and freezing to death is a bottle of vodka...)
Love ya,
Carrot