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Does anyone else notice a parallel between the reaction of right-wingers on this case and their positions on abortion? This man was apparently a vet. The kind of person these folks would shed crocodile tears for had he come home from overseas in a coffin. However, now that he's back and an urban eye sore to them, why, "Let's bust the sub-human pig for vagrancy! Throw him in jail!!!" It's a bit like their relationship with the abortion issue. Oh, do they care about that fetus when it's in the womb. Flash forward a few years when that child is in need of public assistance, and that precious life has now become a leech on society.
What fine human beings they are. Fine Christians, to be exact.
Mr. Hillman is nothing more than another eccentric individualist expressing himself. He really should wear those shoes before he steps on broken glass or gets frostbite. Would there be any liability issues if he were injured or killed because somebody mugged him for those boots?
You silly nay sayers, the very best thing you could do for him is to buy a case of Mad Dog 20-20..... To a guy like that is is the same thing as that acorn is to the squirrel in the cartoon movie Ice Age.
Mentally ill is tame...... Guys like that are totally baked and living on alcohol only...... There is no real brain function other than get more as cheap as possible booze and drugs, Guys like this don't care which, and mix both.
AND he should be off the streets as a toxic waste item..... Only God knows what he has..... If sclerosis of liver doesn't kill him, probably gangrene will.
1. I am not going to make that happen. Neither is anyone else. If you read to the bottom of my post you would see that I said it was unenforceable and that it would never happen.[/b]
2. If you have a family member who is in such dire straights that you know they are living on the streets only a few weeks from the holidays - and you don't want to help them - then you should look inside yourself.[/b]
3. You don't know anything about me and therefore your supposed point is mute. Instead of caring for your hurting family member you would rather impose him or her (or them) onto the rest of society. Again - check yourself and then talk to me about compassion[/b]
I was disgusted before I got to the bottom of your post.
You have no idea of the relationships that the person has, you can't force someone to do anything. Many people don't live near their "families" - do you really think that all families are simple, that they'r all Ozzie and Harriet? If so, you've got some learning to do.
I know that you don't know the difference between moot and mute.
You don't know anything about the homeless person, or their families, and you're making judgments on them.
Yet you complain when I do the same to you, and you to me.
I don't have to check myself, I know who I am and I don't do things without thinking them through.
BTW, I don't think that I'm so important that all of my words need to be bolded.
Last edited by chielgirl; 12-03-2012 at 10:30 PM..
I once heard a wiser man than I, and a genuine Christian put it like this when someone questioned giving money to the homeless, lest this person use it for booze: "Maybe that drink is what gets him through one more night." What have I lost?
On the flip side, what have I gained? I'll tell you. A hope that the money I gave brought a little happiness to someone who has probably endured untold nasty looks on that day and on most days and is on the periphery of society. That hope counts for a lot.
I'll tell you one other thing: Cultures change through good acts modeled for others. When people see others consistently behaving in enlightened ways, it begins to catch on. We did not change cultures of intolerance through laws, we changed cultures of intolerance through repeated acts of compassion and resistance to injustice.
I really don't believe those nasty people constitute a majority. Make a few of them think. Just a few. Start there and then build on it.
That's certainly a positive way to look at it....
What if that last few bucks you gave him turned into the drink that turned into the stumble onto the subway rails that got him killed??
I guess you can say since he was miserable it was euthanasia??
At the end of the day, MOST of us want to do the "right" thing. But people are to caught up with stuffing the "right" thing into a small box. There are many ways to coming to an end.
And....sometimes you just have to leave the garbage on the side of the road to get cleaned up.
Believe it or not, there ARE such things as "lost causes". No amount of investment can help some people.
Although this man stated he was grateful for the shoes he cannot wear them because he is afraid he will be beaten by someone trying to steal them. What a discerning commentary on our greed driven society.
Although this man stated he was grateful for the shoes he cannot wear them because he is afraid he will be beaten by someone trying to steal them. What a discerning commentary on our greed driven society.
And I actually want to give him the benefit of the doubt here. Bums have their own society within society. They live in a vacuum. And I guess when you are around a bunch of destitute people, anything looks like food.
So, maybe there is more to learn from this story.
The way I see it, the cop did a good deed. But all he was doing was treating a symptom.
I once heard a wiser man than I, and a genuine Christian put it like this when someone questioned giving money to the homeless, lest this person use it for booze: "Maybe that drink is what gets him through one more night." What have I lost?
On the flip side, what have I gained? I'll tell you. A hope that the money I gave brought a little happiness to someone who has probably endured untold nasty looks on that day and on most days and is on the periphery of society. That hope counts for a lot.
I'll tell you one other thing: Cultures change through good acts modeled for others. When people see others consistently behaving in enlightened ways, it begins to catch on. We did not change cultures of intolerance through laws, we changed cultures of intolerance through repeated acts of compassion and resistance to injustice.
I really don't believe those nasty people constitute a majority. Make a few of them think. Just a few. Start there and then build on it.
This is a great post.
I couldn't care less if the homeless person I give money to spends it on booze and drugs. It's not my place to dictate what they do with the money after I give it to them. If you give it, let it go. Giving it with conditions and power plays is not giving. Feeling superior by only giving them what you deem appropriate is not giving. Although you may not see it, because of their general state, they do crave a bit of dignity and letting them make their own decisions about what to do with their gift is one way of giving them a tiny bit back.
The reality is that a drunk who lives on cheap booze cannot live without the cheap booze until they are medically detoxed off of it. You aren't doing them any favors by giving them food instead of booze. Withdrawal will kill them faster than starvation.
And the little bit of happiness and dignity that one gets from random strangers can indeed be the spark that turns it around for some. Regardless, the way you judge says a lot more about you than them. (Using the general you here, just to be clear.)
Yep, alcoholics can go into seizures and die from alcohol withdrawal. Cold turkey is not the way to go for a hard core alcoholic.
Quote:
Originally Posted by FinsterRufus
This is a great post.
I couldn't care less if the homeless person I give money to spends it on booze and drugs. It's not my place to dictate what they do with the money after I give it to them. If you give it, let it go. Giving it with conditions and power plays is not giving. Feeling superior by only giving them what you deem appropriate is not giving. Although you may not see it, because of their general state, they do crave a bit of dignity and letting them make their own decisions about what to do with their gift is one way of giving them a tiny bit back.
The reality is that a drunk who lives on cheap booze cannot live without the cheap booze until they are medically detoxed off of it. You aren't doing them any favors by giving them food instead of booze. Withdrawal will kill them faster than starvation.
And the little bit of happiness and dignity that one gets from random strangers can indeed be the spark that turns it around for some. Regardless, the way you judge says a lot more about you than them. (Using the general you here, just to be clear.)
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Fear
