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If they stop drinking, using drugs and/or maintain an established program for medication, positive progress could be made.
Having been homeless myself at a point in my life I have always found it extremely interesting that when one of us "homeless" people are down on our luck we need "medication".
I also know there are some people that need medication but in my opinion it's gone overboard. Not everyone that is homeless needs meds, is a drunk or a drugee.
I do agree, many people become homeless from addictions but not ALL. There are so many variables involved on the road to being homeless that it becomes too easy to stereotype homeless as alki/drug addicted, lazy, bums. If they would just pick themselves up by their bootstraps, take their meds and get a job, everything would be wonderful. Ok, I'm sarcastic.
One of the main reasons people nowadays find themselves homeless is because there are no jobs that pay enough to maintain a residence, buy food and health care. (forget the idea of a vehicle, insurance and the fact rent is sky high and how will they get to work) There isn't anything wrong with them other than they are out of work. Maybe the shop they were working in closed and shipped overseas where labor is paid in cents, not dollars.
From what I've seen many of the people that start down that road of meds wind up more screwed up than when they started. Just an observation.
What is with medicating everyone? I see it in the kids too these days...what the heck is going on with medicating so many kids?
It's as if we're saying, "here, take this...there is no hope for the future, there are no jobs, no college for the poor, and no luck...take this pill, it'll all be better. Now, come back next month so we can "evaluate" you because those meds might just f you up a bit.
"...the moral test of government is how that government treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the elderly; those who are in the shadows of life; the sick, the needy and the handicapped. " ~ Last Speech of Hubert H. Humphrey
"A nation's greatness is measured by how it treats its weakest members." ~ Mahatma Ghandi
If it's privately provided without taxpayer expense and the property owner is fine with it (and has enough insurance to cover any mishaps which may occur on the property), I say go for it.
If it's privately provided without taxpayer expense and the property owner is fine with it (and has enough insurance to cover any mishaps which may occur on the property), I say go for it.
One of the main reasons people nowadays find themselves homeless is because there are no jobs that pay enough to maintain a residence, buy food and health care. (forget the idea of a vehicle, insurance and the fact rent is sky high and how will they get to work) There isn't anything wrong with them other than they are out of work. Maybe the shop they were working in closed and shipped overseas where labor is paid in cents, not dollars.
It's as if we're saying, "here, take this...there is no hope for the future, there are no jobs,no college for the poor ...
Funny - I have a job that does all those things. That must not be the issue. The issue is that if you don't have a marketable skill, you are screwed. So whose fault is that? Whose fault is that you expected to scrape through HS (or drop out) and find anything other than a minimum wage job? Or if you went to college and majored in art history, or geography, or any other non-STEM major and now can't find a job, whose fault is that?
Now, not everyone is cut out for a four year degree. But to say there is "no college for the poor" isn't exactly accurate. To bring this full circle, ACC has 285 degree programs, many skill granting. For example, in two years, for right at $5K in in-district tuition, you can become a medical lab tech. Median salary $40K (in Austin), full benefits, and no danger of your job bring shipped overseas.
There is one more path to a career or college - for FREE. You can join the military. Give your country four years, get thirty six months of full in-state tuition AND living expenses. Maybe that you get a marketable skill in the military. But at the very least, you get college fully paid for. So there IS college for anyone willing to serve their country.
I tell folks all the time that you have to understand Texas history to understand public policy decisions to this day. Texas was founded by people looking for opportunity - whether they were Prince Solms' Germans, the Irish in San Patricio, the Tennesseeians (many running from their debts!), the Czechs, and on and on. This was a land of endless opportunity, and remains so to this day. Texans are VERY supportive of people trying improve themselves, but have almost no sympathy for people who want to stand around and complain. Don't want to see them perish - one of the reasons we have hospital districts for the medically indigent. But the Texas attitude carries forward from the 1800s - if you don't work, you don't eat.
[quote=scm53;24642799]Funny - I have a job that does all those things. That must not be the issue. I'm not sure where you're saying.
The issue is that if you don't have a marketable skill, you are screwed. So whose fault is that? Whose fault is that you expected to scrape through HS (or drop out) and find anything other than a minimum wage job? Or if you went to college and majored in art history, or geography, or any other non-STEM major and now can't find a job, whose fault is that? I understand the point of view that places all of the "blame" on the individual, I just don't agree with it. I think it's a mixture of things, systemic and personal. Also, I don't know how old you are but in the "old days" there used to be good paying jobs for people with a High School diploma and even those who dropped out, (apprenticeships). Now those jobs are "contracted out" to the cheapest bidder with the cheapest workforce. Those jobs used to pay enough to have the "American dream", kids, house, car and even health insurance!!
Now, not everyone is cut out for a four year degree. But to say there is "no college for the poor" isn't exactly accurate. To bring this full circle, ACC has 285 degree programs, many skill granting. For example, in two years, for right at $5K in in-district tuition, you can become a medical lab tech. Median salary $40K (in Austin), full benefits, and no danger of your job bring shipped overseas. I agree with you on some of this and my statement that the poor cannot go to college was blanket and wrong. There are programs for training, many in the health care industry. You're right.
There is one more path to a career or college - for FREE. You can join the military. Give your country four years, get thirty six months of full in-state tuition AND living expenses. Maybe that you get a marketable skill in the military. But at the very least, you get college fully paid for. So there IS college for anyone willing to serve their country. You are also right about this. The only thing I would advocate is for every poor person that joins we draft one from the upper echelon to join as well for the experience.
I tell folks all the time that you have to understand Texas history to understand public policy decisions to this day. Texas was founded by people looking for opportunity - whether they were Prince Solms' Germans, the Irish in San Patricio, the Tennesseeians (many running from their debts!), the Czechs, and on and on. This was a land of endless opportunity, and remains so to this day. Texans are VERY supportive of people trying improve themselves, but have almost no sympathy for people who want to stand around and complain. Don't want to see them perish - one of the reasons we have hospital districts for the medically indigent. Texas history didn't start there but I see your point.
But the Texas attitude carries forward from the 1800s - if you don't work, you don't eat. Not everyone can work, or find work. Not everyone can find work that sustains a family complete with the necessities of life: food, clothing shelter, maybe health insurance? But I understand the view that considers the latter a luxury, not a necessity.
Also, I'm not convinced it's a "Texas attitude" because Texas has much more of a history than from the 1800's. I'm still not clear on what group the "Texas attitude' is.
Since we have turned this into a homeless thread...
My older brother is just one step up from being homeless. I am trying to figure out what to do when the day comes that he IS homeless. In some ways, he is brilliant (he got some obscenely high score on the SAT back in the day); however, he has some social idiosyncrasies that make him...a bit odd . He has marketable skills and makes money to pay for his food and lodging, and gets basic medical insurance via his work (tech related). He has not owned a car in over 20 years. It is very hard for him to find employment if he loses a job (one company went bankrupt, the last moved too far away to commute w/o a car), but he has managed so far.
Anyway, he interacts with quite a few homeless people, some of which are in programs similar to this one. Whereas his vices that take his money are tech related (computer stuff), many, if not most, of these people have addictions that are injurious to health as well as the wallet - drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, etc. He has seen untold numbers get into re-housing/job placement programs only to fail and end up homeless and unemployed again. Some are quite intelligent, many could work and be self-sufficient, but almost all have similar social 'disorders' that make it nearly impossible. Part of the blame is on them, part is on their upbringing (or lack of), and part is because society requires you to conform to reap its benefits.
Anyway, the cost of living is not so high from a purely monetary standpoint - if you had the ability to 'toe the line'. This is what my brother does. No cell phone, no TV, no car, no pets, no game systems. He does have internet, though (his addiction). He finds work and above minimum wage. I think minimum wage for a 40 hr week comes out to around $1,300 a month and you will essentially be income tax exempt at that level.
Funny - I have a job that does all those things. That must not be the issue. The issue is that if you don't have a marketable skill, you are screwed. So whose fault is that? Whose fault is that you expected to scrape through HS (or drop out) and find anything other than a minimum wage job? Or if you went to college and majored in art history, or geography, or any other non-STEM major and now can't find a job, whose fault is that?
So what exactly happens when everyone or most people have a degree that is well-paying and in an employable specialty? That's right--people like you get pushed out of their jobs, because there is now more competition for the same jobs. The answer is not to increase the number of people applying for limited specific jobs, but to make most jobs capable of sustaining a reasonable lifestyle. I'm not saying $40k, but the current minimum wage is just frighteningly difficult in terms of providing survival, especially with kids.
Quote:
Now, not everyone is cut out for a four year degree. But to say there is "no college for the poor" isn't exactly accurate. To bring this full circle, ACC has 285 degree programs, many skill granting. For example, in two years, for right at $5K in in-district tuition, you can become a medical lab tech. Median salary $40K (in Austin), full benefits, and no danger of your job bring shipped overseas.
Again, what happens when more people get this degree and apply for this job? The job salary may decrease, people may again be unemployed, and so on. See my explanation above, this can't be the answer overall--it only works on an individual level, but that is not how societies work.
Quote:
There is one more path to a career or college - for FREE. You can join the military. Give your country four years, get thirty six months of full in-state tuition AND living expenses. Maybe that you get a marketable skill in the military. But at the very least, you get college fully paid for. So there IS college for anyone willing to serve their country.
Not everyone can join the military, because not everyone has the physical, medical, and mental status to pass the requirements. Please tell me how many of the homeless addicts you see on a daily basis would be accepted into the military--oh, and don't forget that a history of being in the mental hospital disqualifies you immediately.
I don't think this RV park is a terrible idea, but I do need to hope it provides an opportunity for technical skill development to give them some chance at employment opportunities. They may also need to relocate, because trying to survive in Austin on minimum wage is just painful...although, lacking transportation, I don't even see how that will be possible for them.
Funny - I have a job that does all those things. That must not be the issue. The issue is that if you don't have a marketable skill, you are screwed. So whose fault is that? Whose fault is that you expected to scrape through HS (or drop out) and find anything other than a minimum wage job? Or if you went to college and majored in art history, or geography, or any other non-STEM major and now can't find a job, whose fault is that?
Now, not everyone is cut out for a four year degree. But to say there is "no college for the poor" isn't exactly accurate. To bring this full circle, ACC has 285 degree programs, many skill granting. For example, in two years, for right at $5K in in-district tuition, you can become a medical lab tech. Median salary $40K (in Austin), full benefits, and no danger of your job bring shipped overseas.
There is one more path to a career or college - for FREE. You can join the military. Give your country four years, get thirty six months of full in-state tuition AND living expenses. Maybe that you get a marketable skill in the military. But at the very least, you get college fully paid for. So there IS college for anyone willing to serve their country.
I tell folks all the time that you have to understand Texas history to understand public policy decisions to this day. Texas was founded by people looking for opportunity - whether they were Prince Solms' Germans, the Irish in San Patricio, the Tennesseeians (many running from their debts!), the Czechs, and on and on. This was a land of endless opportunity, and remains so to this day. Texans are VERY supportive of people trying improve themselves, but have almost no sympathy for people who want to stand around and complain. Don't want to see them perish - one of the reasons we have hospital districts for the medically indigent. But the Texas attitude carries forward from the 1800s - if you don't work, you don't eat.
And shall we discuss mental health issues? Have you tried to work with the state to get someone into a mental health facility? Have you read about how bad most of them are? Do you know how little funding is actually available, and how it is always the first item usually cut by our conservative legislators?
As a recruiter for a large company I'd also like to reinforce that luck, upbringing, and timing play a tremendous role in the development of an individual. You drastically underestimate the influence one person or event can have on one's ability to navigate their life and career forward. Education is great but unless you have someone that directly or indirectly exposes you to how to market your skill then is extremely difficult to get a decent job- or any job. I see people every day that are doing everything they can but it is a competitive world and sometimes good people lose out. Sure, I work hard and am moderately intelligent but I've also been tremendously lucky and I think that may account for success almost more than anything else.
My older brother is just one step up from being homeless. I am trying to figure out what to do when the day comes that he IS homeless. In some ways, he is brilliant (he got some obscenely high score on the SAT back in the day); however, he has some social idiosyncrasies that make him...a bit odd .
Sounds like Aspergers Syndrome, now being called Autism Spectrum Disorder. I know quite about this, because it runs in my family, 5 generations that we've documented. One of my siblings has genius IQ, but severe social disability, barely managing independent living. High IQ coupled with very low social aptitude is one of the typical presentations.
Nevertheless, I'm not a professional, but I suggest you see if you can get him to get a professional assessment NOW, that may help him avoid possible homelessness LATER. His insurance may cover at least a preliminary diagnosis. If not, a psychological evaluation, including full testing could be done for maybe $1,500 in Austin. If his condition, whatever it might be, is considered to be a disability, that could give him access to programs and therapies which might help, as well as give him various legal protections in case he hits a challenge he can't manage on his own.
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. He has marketable skills and makes money to pay for his food and lodging, and gets basic medical insurance via his work (tech related). He has not owned a car in over 20 years. It is very hard for him to find employment if he loses a job (one company went bankrupt, the last moved too far away to commute w/o a car), but he has managed so far.
