Why do we ignore the homeless?

arty: WINNER! arty:

 

I'm going to stand by what I said earlier:
personally, i do not ignore the homeless.

however, if we're talking about US society for instance, there is a culture of poverty in the US. Poverty is racialized and wealthy americans are more willing to give to private charities where they can choose the recipients (read: people that look like them) rather than have a large welfare state that helps people of color. it fucking sucks.

All the posters that keep saying "Oh, they're mean old alcoholics and crackheads" are completely oblivious to the plight of minorities in the US. Crack was put in black neighborhoods by the government during the beginnings of the "war on drugs". Minorities as a way of escapism often turn to drugs and alcohol, minorities of any color in any sort of oppressive situation. The fact is that minorities do not have the support system that whites do, and therefore often get no help from medical professionals for drug problems. Not to mention, they have no health insurance.

Wake the fuck up!
Go live in the ghetto for a year and see how racism seeps into every crevice of humanity. There is no way to escape it, and people like you continue to perpetuate your symbolic racism disguised as traditional american individualism.
Get off your god damn high horse!

 

OMG we get it, you're from Chicago so you know shit.
C H I C A G O

 

proof? sounds a whole lot like crackpot conspiracy to me. (no offense)

 

Begging for money or food to me seems like such a humiliating thing to do, and I really feel sympathy for every person who does it, even if it's a drug addict or an alcoholic.

And Stacy, sorry for the neg rep, but I just really can't stand you for some reason.

 

i`ve spent many yrs homeless & still am sometimes. anything ya wanna know about it? just ask. sorry i didn`t read this whole thing. not enuff time. we had a horrible thing happen in chapel hill nc several yrs ago. several black men who lived indoors & got crazy checks all complained about street musicians takin "their" "customers" away. the city listened to them rather than the musicians who had been there ad infititum. no more street musicians. this has a been awhile, so maybe some1 came to their senses, but i found it ridiculous. by the way i`ve never begged for money. nor do i ever want a crazy check. in some ways it`s truly easier to live on the streets, cuz ya don`t have to actually work if ya don`t want to. but that has a bad side to it. ya get in a rut. i have a friend who never wants to own a bicycle again cuz all his have been stolen. i`ve talked him into a ratty old single spd bike if one comes along. he was too proud for that once. & when i try to steer him away from the soup kitchen he goes into convulsions. i have another friend who is worse, he won`t even go to soup kitchens, he`d rather starve. he only goes to mcdonalds all day nowhere else. ppl have given him several thousand dollars over the yrs. & these are relatively nice places on the streets. i`ve got more sense than to go in a ghetto, what truly would be the point? tho i have been in ghettos. last ghetto i was in was cherry hill in baltimore. i was quite minding my own business when a black thug came up said i don`t go in your neighborhood, fact was i @ the time i didn`t have a neighborhood. & besides he could go in alot more neighborhoods than i could.

 

the San Jose Mercury News did a series of articles on the subject of CIA/DEA agents selling cocaine to Crips and Bloods in LA. http://www.narconews.com/darkalliance/drugs/index.htm

 

before i'd start believing something like that, i'd need to read it from a more reputable source than "dark alliance." and a few corrupt officials doesn't make a government conspiracy.

 

that's just a link to the actual text of the articles. it may not be published by that site.

 

id have to be reading it off the san jose times or whatnot's website before i'd consider buying it.

 

it is! did you even click the link or judge the link by its name?

 

i clicked the link. read the first half of one of the articles. even checked out the san jose mercury news website. it says the san jose mercury news (which seems like a decent enough source) published the article. the fact that i didn't read it on the san jose mercury's site itself though makes me skeptical.

 

well, you could seek out the original text if you think for some reason they would purposely change the text, which would in effect be plagiarism. c'mon dude.

 

I agree with that, but I think it is in fact incorrect to sympathize with every person. Some people do reap the seeds that they sow.

 

i agree, there is always an element of personal choice. but, decisions are made based on situation and environment.

 

Thank you. My irritation is that we so frequently lose sight of what the goal is: Making sure people have quality of life. It doesn't mean you have to like them.

 

In case I have not yet told you: I think you are a remarkable person.

QP

 

Don't you think she was laying it on a bit thick?

 

Good point. :2thumbsup: Again, there are many reasons why a person ends up homeless. I never did understand why most folks think it's always due to drug/alcohol abuse. Sometimes this is the case. But not always.

QP

 

Actually, her comment was like a breath of fresh air. She seems like a very generous and intelligent person (IMO). :sunny:

QP