[cold ethyl]

Originally Posted by sskkc

I see those "giving trees" all the time. When they're for senior citizens and say things like "Sanka" and "A book" or "Sweater", I pick one up.

But I absolutely despise people who have the GALL to sign up their children and let them write things like "Nintendo DS GAME" or "XBOX GAME" - the final year that I participated in one of THOSE trees, most of the ornaments asked for Playstation games and DVDs... WE didn't even own a DVD player yet!

Last year, one of my friends volunteered to help with the distribution of gifts to some of these "poor" people... many of their homes were nicer than hers. Most of them weren't home. Of the four that were, one was eating McDonalds with her kids for dinner, two had more gifts for her 2 kids (before the drop off) than her 3, and the last one said she wouldn't take anything that didn't have a gift receipt.

"Poor" people in America have more than people like us... who work for a living, and don't beg for handouts for my children. I know there are people out there with a legitimate need. But they aren't out there begging, or using their children to play on people's sympathies.

Completely agree on this. Many years ago I noticed a trend of people asking for stuff that I didn't even have or could afford. It made me so angry that I just stopped doing the whole Giving Tree thing all together. I know the truly needy people shouldn't suffer just because of a few greedy ones, but I just can't bring myself to participate anymore. On a side note -- I once approached a man who was obviously homeless & hungry, begging for money outside of a restaurant. I offered to take him inside the restaurant and buy him something to eat. He said no, and that he just wanted money. What - so you can go blow it on your drug or alcohol problem? Why would I be an enabler like that? So that was the last time I ever tried to help someone in that situation. Sad that he ruined it for everyone else, but I'm not about to contribute to someone's drug problem

[dance_or_REBEL]

Wow reading these posts, I've never seen so much hostility towards the homeless. One time when I was walking on the strip, I gave a guy 5 bucks to a homeless person who approached me, and got yelled at by some stupid local Phillipino guy. He said I shouldn't be that giving to these people, and that I support the homeless problem by giving money to spangers(people who beg for change). This must be a Vegas thing, but where I come from Nyc, we take way better care of our homeless situation than here. All people do here is complain about it and sweep it under the rug. Sure there's some that take advantage of the system, but there's many who don't. Who are we to judge. And to all those complaining about the giving tree. ****. If you were a poor kid/tween/teen obviously you would wish for an IPOD, or a ds, or cell phone. They just want what's in style, their not being selfish, their FREAKING POOR. I've donated, blackberry, instruments, and other items to poor kids, even if I don't have them. That's what giving is about. To assume that all these kids are taking advantage of the giving tree, you're just being a stereotypical ignorant Nevadan.

[las vegas drunk]

Originally Posted by dance_or_REBEL

Wow reading these posts, I've never seen so much hostility towards the homeless. One time when I was walking on the strip, I gave a guy 5 bucks to a homeless person who approached me, and got yelled at by some stupid local Phillipino guy. He said I shouldn't be that giving to these people, and that I support the homeless problem by giving money to spangers(people who beg for change). This must be a Vegas thing, but where I come from Nyc, we take way better care of our homeless situation than here. All people do here is complain about it and sweep it under the rug. Sure there's some that take advantage of the system, but there's many who don't. Who are we to judge. And to all those complaining about the giving tree. ****. If you were a poor kid/tween/teen obviously you would wish for an IPOD, or a ds, or cell phone. They just want what's in style, their not being selfish, their FREAKING POOR. I've donated, blackberry, instruments, and other items to poor kids, even if I don't have them. That's what giving is about. To assume that all these kids are taking advantage of the giving tree, you're just being a stereotypical ignorant Nevadan.

Las Vegas is very conservative in nature, While NYC is very liberal. That is why NYC takes much better care of their homeless. Read this article below.

reviewjournal.com -- News: 'ILLEGAL TO BE HOMELESS': Las Vegas: 'meanest' ci...

[barocko7]

Originally Posted by las vegas drunk

Las Vegas is very conservative in nature, While NYC is very liberal. That is why NYC takes much better care of their homeless. Read this article below.

reviewjournal.com -- News: 'ILLEGAL TO BE HOMELESS': Las Vegas: 'meanest' ci...

This has nothing to do with being conservative or liberal, it`s the selfishness and greed of the individual person and the lack of a more socialized institution to help and oversee the various problems and needs of the unfortunate in our society.
Handing out a Hamburger or a few bucks to someone, isn`t solving anything at all. The System has to change, then the people have a chance to change themselves.

[LIS123]

Originally Posted by las vegas drunk

Las Vegas is very conservative in nature, While NYC is very liberal. That is why NYC takes much better care of their homeless. Read this article below.

reviewjournal.com -- News: 'ILLEGAL TO BE HOMELESS': Las Vegas: 'meanest' ci...

I don't think this is quite right. NY is a high tax, Big Government state run by leftists (even quite a few with 'R' after their name). NV is more of a libertarian state, both fiscally and socially. It has a much lower tax burden than NY state and spends less on services.

It has been shown that conservatives donate more to charity than liberals.

LV is not 'very conservative'; it's 'Sin City,' for crying out loud!

[las vegas drunk]

Originally Posted by LIS123

I don't think this is quite right. NY is a high tax, Big Government state run by leftists (even quite a few with 'R' after their name). NV is more of a libertarian state, both fiscally and socially. It has a much lower tax burden than NY state and spends less on services.

It has been shown that conservatives donate more to charity than liberals.

LV is not 'very conservative'; it's 'Sin City,' for crying out loud!

I disagree completely. I have been down on my luck multiple times in my life. Multiple times, I have been taken in by various people and helped by various people. Every time someone helped me it was a liberal democrat. In fact, it was because my conservative republican father was always kicking me out of the house. This also goes for my clients when I was a nursing assistant. I could always tell what party they were. The liberals would pay for me when I went out to dinner with them, and let me eat food out of the fridge. The conservatives were the opposite. The articles say otherwise, but I have never met a conservative yet who was not selfish, and only cared about themselves.

[mojavedxer]

Originally Posted by las vegas drunk

I disagree completely. I have been down on my luck multiple times in my life. Multiple times, I have been taken in by various people and helped by various people. Every time someone helped me it was a liberal democrat. In fact, it was because my conservative republican father was always kicking me out of the house. This also goes for my clients when I was a nursing assistant. I could always tell what party they were. The liberals would pay for me when I went out to dinner with them, and let me eat food out of the fridge. The conservatives were the opposite. The articles say otherwise, but I have never met a conservative yet who was not selfish, and only cared about themselves.

WOW I hope you have flame retardant undies on to survive that last comment.

[las vegas drunk]

Originally Posted by mojavedxer

WOW I hope you have flame retardant undies on to survive that last comment.

I just reviewed my comment, and it is the God's honest truth. If you notice I said all conservatives that I have met have been selfish. I never said all conservatives are selfish. I am sure that are some that are not, I have just not met any personally. I have deep disgust for their values for a reason. One in particular was my father. He was a Rush Limbaugh loving right winger to the core. When I was 16, all my friends, who had liberal parents, had their cars bought for them and their insurance paid for. My dad of course, who did have the money by the way, made me get a job, and buy my own car AND pay for insurance, gas etc. This of course caused my grades to slip badly, which is still affecting me to this day. He never gave me anything, and even when I was homeless out here in Vegas, he would not even pay for a bus ticket back home. My dad even told me that if he won powerball lottery, he would not give me or my sister one penny. Also, I had a girlfriend years ago had conservative parents. Her parents were millionaires, and they still made her pay for her truck, insurance, AND college. She had to work full time AND go to school full time. We did not last since I could never see her, and she was so burnt out it was killing her which made her mean and uptight. I could go on and on, but I hope you see my viewpoint now.

[dynimagelv]

and she grew up to be a resopnsible adult with a high paying job.

[barocko7]

Originally Posted by dynimagelv

and she grew up to be a resopnsible adult with a high paying job.

.....and she turned mean and uptight!

I don`t think you got the message our friend was trying to bring over. Theirs much more than just a high paying job toward becoming a responsible, loveable person.
Selfishness and greed are part of the basics of becoming a good capitalist in this society. It`s a devastating factor of why America is so divided within. It would`nt wonder me at all if oneday a new revolution breaks out in this country.