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Old 03-19-2018, 09:01 AM
 
Location: Seattle
8,155 posts, read 8,203,606 times
Reputation: 5957

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Let's take care not to vilify all homeless people. The rising cost of living/housing/lack of healthcare coverage is pushing some really decent people to this state. I personally went through a really tough financial time about 20 years ago, ate out of a food bank for about 6 months. I can tell you that although I never gave up and have a flourishing business now, I met some kind people and learned a lot about compassion and humility when I was waiting in line at that food bank.
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Old 03-19-2018, 09:03 AM
 
Location: Malibu CA in Summer, Key Largo FL in Winter
3,599 posts, read 2,858,995 times
Reputation: 6676
The smart one make more money begging than a hard working janitor doing 8 hrs of honest work. Do not feed the pigeons.

There is always janitor or construction sight cleanup work in booming Seattle, some companies can't fill the spots even for over 15 hr since some of its is outdoor work.
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Old 03-19-2018, 09:59 AM
 
Location: PNW
455 posts, read 594,638 times
Reputation: 1100
Quote:
Originally Posted by The Last Starfighter View Post
Dude
I'm just here to say your username is awesome.

Victory or Death!
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Old 03-19-2018, 11:29 AM
 
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
44,105 posts, read 80,174,082 times
Reputation: 56930
Not all homeless people are the same, by any means. I have interacted with people in Tent City 4, for example, which is currently located in Sammamish on a church property. They are mostly working people who just cannot afford the first and last month's rent, are doing their best to save it up. The camps have rules that are enforced, and they respect the community they are in. I also walk through the homeless on the sidewalks in Seattle on Pine St. near Westlake on the way to work, and observe their drug transactions, fighting, garbage and abnormal behavior. There are some that are not likely to ever get a job and a place to live, some that actually prefer being homeless, but others that just fell upon hard times and are trying hard to get back on track.
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Old 03-19-2018, 02:07 PM
 
Location: PNW
455 posts, read 594,638 times
Reputation: 1100
Quote:
Originally Posted by The Last Starfighter View Post
Thanks bud. Some throwback type stuff right there, heh.
No doubt I actually have a Star League t-shirt also.
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Old 03-19-2018, 07:19 PM
 
Location: Seattle
1,369 posts, read 3,299,020 times
Reputation: 1499
The "homeless" problem should really be called a "drug addiction" problem.

Pretty much every homeless complaint I read about on the Internet is not really about homeless people, its about drug addicts.

Yes, I realize there are economic homeless and people who have been driven out by rising prices. But they are, by in large, not the people harassing people on trails, pooping on the streets, stealing and chopping bikes, and creating the problems people complain the most about online and in person.

We need to separate the problem of drug addiction from the problem of lack of residences for economically disadvantaged people. Giving drug addicts money and a house will not solve their problem. Forcing "down on their luck" law abiding citizens to live with drug addicts is, at best, a poor solution, and at worst, downright inhumane.
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Old 03-19-2018, 07:31 PM
 
Location: ✶✶✶✶
15,218 posts, read 30,410,064 times
Reputation: 10846
Quote:
Originally Posted by drshang View Post
We need to separate the problem of drug addiction from the problem of lack of residences for economically disadvantaged people. Giving drug addicts money and a house will not solve their problem. Forcing "down on their luck" law abiding citizens to live with drug addicts is, at best, a poor solution, and at worst, downright inhumane.
They're two different groups that need two different kinds of help.

I don't know that anyone who is not addicted to drugs ever makes the decision to live on the street just to get free stuff. They might say that they just like taking freebies, but what they're really trying to say is they take it so they can spend what money they get on dope.
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Old 03-20-2018, 12:35 PM
 
Location: Seattle Eastside
638 posts, read 525,818 times
Reputation: 1492
Quote:
Originally Posted by rupp-certified View Post
All that "compassion" and five bucks will get you a latte from Starbucks!
Compassion actually gets you a lot more than that. You can put in actual effort and work and raise actual money and make actual policy to create a solution that goes beyond sweeping up a camp. They do it in some countries. This has been done.

For the record, I support the Eastgate shelter. The Eastside is a lot less liberal and also a lot older than Seattle proper. But that doesn't mean we don't have anyone trying to address the issue over here.

The point of my reply is to say that this isn't an abstract issue, "homelessness". The issue is that we have a lot of people, human beings, without homes.


Foster alum, the disabled, drug users (highly coextensive with foster alum, tragically), displaced people, transients, and of course, the favorite bugaboo, the mentally ill, who comprise an enormous diversity of capabilities, not to mention, the poor.

It's true, it's not just poverty, but then... sometimes, that's all we can fix. You can't fix stupid and some people on the street are just stupid. They can't do the skilled work required of them. Their jobs have been mechanized and they will never, ever be needed again because they are stupider than a computer and slower and weaker than a robot. They have no economic value.

The only value they have is intrinsic human value. The intrinsic value of life and of human beings. We support them out of compassion, pure and simple. The poor will always be here.

And frankly, given that your main issue is that they're spoiling the view, a tiny pension and little apartment block with a daily minder to help them get meds seems like a small price to pay. Don't worry, we'll all chip in.
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Old 03-20-2018, 12:44 PM
 
Location: ✶✶✶✶
15,218 posts, read 30,410,064 times
Reputation: 10846
Once we finish automating fast food and the trucking industry, watch the surplus population boom instantly.
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Old 03-20-2018, 12:52 PM
 
Location: West Coast
1,889 posts, read 2,183,251 times
Reputation: 4345
Lol @ people thinking the increase in homelessness is due to the rapid COL increases... so by that logic people would choose to stay homeless in Seattle because it’s soooo incredible (lol) rather than live a normal life somewhere in the Midwest or south. It’s going to drive a lot of people out and start to keep people from coming, but the increase in homelessness is due primarily to the insane leftie gov and their incessant need to increase drug availability in the area
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