The quotation marks provide a clue.

@Infoguy211 So would people in the city. It's a shame. So many people are one paycheck away from being homeless

A good point!

In the PNW. I shit you not, there are hipsters in the tent communities because they 'don't want to support capitalism' or because they 'want to learn something' like those white people who go to some African country and take selfies with the locals and think they're 'helping.'. They're just giving the conservatives more ammo.

@Wellspring Please provide a source to support your statement or it is just your personal opinion, which you are entitled too of course.

@Wellspring yes. Please provide a source to that statement.

@Wellspring You couldn't be more wrong. I volunteer a lot of my time at a homeless shelter, and they go through a screening process for warrants, drugs etc.just to make sure every one there is safe.
These people are not lazy. Many people have lost their jobs, and or homes because of medical problems, and many other reasons.

And if you want a source, here you go: [pinellashope.org]

Let's accept your statement of some being stupid. Then what? Who hires the 'stupid'? How do we expect them to care for themselves? Make good choices if they aren't mentally capable? Whose responsibility is it to ensure their safety and health? I'd have to say our current system is failing miserably if not criminally.

@weelittleone

Maybe they could be politicians.

I had this all written and it disappeared when I went to verify that marlayne is a woman. I wanted to comfort her and assuage her guilt because what she said is partly true, which you acknowledge.

I in no way would withhold aid from those who are trying, who are seizing the day. There are many avenues for those people and they generally succeed. In this vein, an idea I favor is to have a lifelong subsistence income for all citizens, funded by a massive public trust fund, managed by government on behalf of the people. That way all would be treated equally and those with handicaps would not be abandoned.However, such a plan would take many years to implement.

A great many poor homeless people are addicted to drugs and alcohol. You cannot make them change. Give them stuff and you merely enable their behavior. The desire to change would have to come from them, which brings the question: If they are living for their addictions, then why do you want them to change? Could it be that it is you who has the problem? On the day they decide to change they’ll reach out for help, and that help is there, waiting to be given.

Believe it or not, a lot of “homeless” people are living their dreams. They enjoy being outside and they relish their freedom from structured jobs. They might get by on occasional day labor or by panhandling, but IMO they are not to be pitied or judged Ill.

That leaves the mentally ill, and I fully support public treatment for them and assistance with living expenses if they need it. I wish there were better ways than to give psychiatric medication. Counseling by professionals is needed, but even more, they need friends who will treat them with respect and love. I don’t have figures, but a large percentage of mentally ill people do get well.

I’m not in agreement that our system is totally broken. I live in a rural Alabama county, and we have a health department dedicated specifically to helping those with mental illnesses. Also I know of many people who receive public assistance. The question is how much should be done, and how it will be paid for.

@Wellspring such an expert!

@Wellspring I can tell it will be a lousy one.

Most of america is one illness away, one mistake, one layoff away from homeless.

"There are many avenues for those people and they generally succeed."
There are actually, laughably few. The ones that do exist have some seriously insane and piccune rules that take deep research to decide which ones would apply to your situation and which ones you qualify for. And that is if you can find out the help even exists. It is not like there is a central database for all the places that offer help. You have Zero idea of what you are talking about. My father died while living on the streets.
Since I've grown up I've done research into this. You have no idea what you are talking about and are apparently lacking in basic compassion. Please tell me how one is supposed to get a job, without an address (which is required) or without a shower every day, or without a means to get to the actual job, or any of the other hundred little things you take for granted. It is incredibly easy to fall out of society. Look at how many people our prison system chews up and spits out, making a large portion of the population unemployable. Look at all the mental health facilities that no longer exist, leaving the vulnerable out on the streets. Look at how quickly an illness in the family leaves a family on the streets. How many of our elderly have had their life savings ripped out and now are facing homeless. How difficult it is for children or women to escape abuse and majority of the reason is fear for their lives and fear of homeless? (both valid, statistically, fears)

@CommonHuman In that you have researched the problem and have such intimate involvement, I’m sure that you know more about it than I do. My opinions are based on my limited experience—what I’ve observed and learned from talking with people who live outside.

The avenues I was thinking of were not government type bail-out programs. Right now in my area there are multitudes of people who have lost their houses. They are scrambling around, living in tents or refuge centers, eating at soup kitchens, etc. Most of them will improve their lots day by day, and eventually regain a reasonable standard of living. There is a lot of community involvement, but the biggest thing in their favor is that most of them are buoyed by positive attitudes. They can see their way out.

I try to promote optimism whenever I can. It sort of irks me when people make hopeless, pessimistic appraisals of life situations—display victim mentalities and blame wealthy people or society at large or “capitalism”.

@WilliamFleming how will they positive their way to having a shower to attend work every day or even an address to fill in on an application?

... 'Multiple?' Oh, bloody hell. ?

@memorylikeasieve yeah and i am kicking myself for not following the clues. the meaningless lies, the confession early on that he had blackouts, the mood swings.... i just should've known. he was my best friend. but in my defense i think he hid it well despite the clues. i know when he told me about the blackouts he didn't know, himself. he was an extremely intelligent man. hell, we both saw and read sybil. i think by the end (he died less than half a year after the incident i described) he knew. he had to have known for a while by that time. but i didn't. i figured it out later, and when i did, it was a light bulb going off. it explained EVERYTHING.

g