Faux compassion is only worsening homeless crisis

https://www.pe.com/2018/02/14/faux-compassion-is-only-worsening-homeless-crisis/

I have about as much patience for obfuscators as I do for the superficiality of group think, when it comes to issues effecting society at large. Empathy is wonderful in personal relationships, however, this changes fundamentally when concerning the innumerable or broad swaths & subsets of people.

One of the members here mentioned his time on skid roe LA & what amounted to be a subtle romanticized accolade for those addicts 'free thinking soles living free outside the bounds of societal norms'(paraphrase can't remember exactly). I've got news for you. Addicts, city council members, indigents, Doctors & even the mentally ill do not get free license to behave outside of the law, with impunity. Alas, we exist in an imperfect world where the law isn't always applied blind or evenly; none the less, we are all under the law & all protected by the law.

Rational compassion is not being exercised when it comes to the homeless, to the illegals coming here at great peril. Empathy, outside the bounds of established law, is directly responsible for thousands of lives broken with unnecessary lingering addiction, anguish, slavery, rape, death, pedophilia & murder (all because of the 'bighearted' empathy of the endorsing clueless, the insatiable drive for political power & the economic advancement of illicit corporate usury)

We all sort of understand how literal fences, metaphorical boundaries, standards & discipline actually engender a sense of security, peace & harmony in children. Apply this philosophy on the streets & across the land; it really isn't much different than in the real world (hardly unprecedented, that's how its always been, lol).

Tell me what virtue there is in sending your 'empathetic' message of come to us (illegals), live outside the law among us (homeless) defying local & federal law. Is it not, in part, your responsibility that on the way to the US 'coyotes' shoot a few of their charges, creating a diversion for drugs going across. You 'bighearted' people bear no culpability as mothers & fathers part with their child to cross a thousand perilous miles with a coyote, who rapes them and sells them into sex slavery. Of course not cus bighearted liberals don't think of unintended consequences of superficial group think...

I am more than happy to be the lightning rod for you who feel that I (as a proponent of reasoned compassion),('tough love' & consequences for ones actions) & (cognizance of society at large, not just the downtrodden)
Am a B--ch on wheels, lol. I'm more than OK w/ that!

 

Somehow I don't think that homeless Vet with PTSD or a paranoid manic/depressive give a flying **** about what you think.
And you strike me as someone who would complain just as much about the added taxes if we have to lock them all up in prisons or
mental institutions. Sometimes, there are no easy answers.

 

I favor trialling giving anyone who is destitute 5 acres of farmable land and some basics to start out. If they can live there successfully for 5 years they get outright ownership.

 

@Sahba* might watch Through a Blue Lens, a video made by Vancouver (Canada) Police of their interaction with heroin addicts.



There aren't a lot of easy answers.

 

Ser my message above.

 

I don't think they would last. It takes some responsibility, sound planning, and delayed gratification to be able to make it as a farmer.
In the old days out in the West, drunks and those less savoury characters tended to become miners, while more decent middle class people settled in farming areas. This probably left in indelible imprint on the gene pools in these different states. States that were traditionally mining states have much higher levels of poverty than states in Midwest that were traditionally farming states, despite the fact that both farming and mining have not really be prominent parts of the job sector for the past hundred years. I don't think there's anything else that could explain this phenomena. For example, just compare Utah which never had any important mining, and tried focusing on farming, to the two states on either side, Nevada and Colorado, which initially became populated due to mining booms.

Also, unfortunately most of the most productive farmland, where water is available, is already taken. You might be able to hand out half acre lots in some place like the Western part of South Carolina.

Even during the era of homesteading, they were mostly handing out land on the high plains that wasn't exactly the best area to farm, because of the short growing season and limited amount of rainfall. Lack of trees on the plains also made it more challenging to build one's own shelter.
I'm just saying, if you build a little village for them out in Nebraska, you are going to have to supply some basics like water and timber (still shouldn't be too expensive) and maybe some very basic medical care (like the type they have in Cuba). Also a bus service would also be very helpful. Bags of flour and some dried beans aren't too expensive either. You're also going to have to exempt these homeless people from state building codes.

Bamboo is pretty sustainable to harvest so maybe send them bamboo as the material to build with. They could build mud patch on bamboo framework. Maybe start a bamboo farm in some economically depressed region of Ohio.
It's a lot faster growing than trees. (It just probably wouldn't grow in Nebraska too well because it wouldn't get enough water and Nebraska can be a bit too cold)

The other option (and I'm not sure you want to go there) is to bring back the share cropping system in the Mississippi Delta region. At least it doesn't take any wise planning to share crop.

 

Some people cant be helped, I understand that.

For those who can, those who are simply down on their luck and want a new beginning - I imagine theyd jump at the chance to earn the American dream.

A property of your own, enough land to support you and your family, a new start thats not just free ****.

For the hardcore heroin addicts maybe we could give them 5 acres of poppy fields haha

 

That's funny.

People that can't function normally in society you expect to turn into farmers?

Wow

 

Two types of homeless. This only works for the latter kind.

For the former i favor poppy farm collectives they can sit around and smoke opium on.

 

Build an island somewhere off the coast and let them all go there to live by themselves outside of society.

Keep it well supplied with drugs and let them do their thing.

Then we don't have to deal with the ones that want to live that way.

Win/Win

 

I prefer to teach them how to run a small business if they have skills. A friend of mine used to teach people to build residential cedar fencing.

 

Give them the drugs if they behave.

 

How about they can use the drugs if they go to the village, living out in the middle of nowhere away from everyone else?

(Also males and females of reproductive age separated so there won't be any children who have to suffer the consequences of their parent's actions)

Building a free village and providing drug treatment (if they want it) would be cheaper than putting them in prison.

 

Thats also a good idea, apprencieships are a good path to good honest work. Nothing beats self employment.

In either case, we seem to be in agreement that where possible, where people are simply down on their luck rather than mentally or physically unable, assistance should take the form of teaching them to fish instead of giving them a bucket of fish once a week.

A path to self sufficiency instwad of free **** with no strings attached.

 

That's a bit strong - enforced sterilization is the way to go.

Permanent rehabilitation on hand for anyone who wants to make use of it is a good idea too. And if they make it, reverse the sterilization when they're allowed back into society.

 

Somehow I suspect the finer points of a good plan for the homeless will get lost in the implementation phase.

It's kind of like a genius writer, who knows exactly what he's doing, and the story gets handed off to some other people who don't know what they're doing to try to adapt it into a movie.

 

Impossible to make a living farming 5 acres of land. Truly bad idea.

 

To make a living yes, to provide for your family's needs no. 5 acres is a large plot for food and veg. Chickens, pigs, fish, citrus, leafy greens, potatoes, honeybees, water bore.

That doesnt mean you'll be able to buy a lot of nice ****, but it beats dumpster diving. Especially in providing you with dignity to move forward and make a life for yourself.

I'd be open to larger plots if you have suggestions.

 

I wonder how many bums on the street served in combat and were irreparably traumatized by it?

1%?

5% ?

Its not a big number

So for the rest what is their excuse?

 

They say Greenland is lovely this time of year

 

The appropriate purpose of government should not be to give things to the homeless. It should be to protect citizens from them. Charities should give things to the homeless. That is how we do things around here. We have a private homeless shelter that doesn't allow drugs. Police round up any homeless and take them there. They also move any that don't improve while in the shelter to the city border and send them on their way. We don't feel sorry for homeless here. We provide a way to improve their life and get rid of them if they don't.

 

I agree, and ideally I'd prefer that, but we live in a world where this is not going to happen. In the interests of mitigating the damage to my back profit I prefer to give people opportunity rather than generic free ****.

 

Most won't leave.

You want to put them in jail. Why didn't you say so?

Giving them a maintenance dose if they otherwise behave and helping those willing to get off the stuff makes more sense to me. It's cheaper than chasing them down, then locking up or exiling them.

 

There are people with skills who don't know how to parlay them into a personal business.

Absolutely. I spent many years teaching high school students and adults how to start their own business. The guy who taught people how to build residential cedar fencing got the idea from me. He really ran with the idea, took my materials on teaching people how to come up with ideas and create business plans, and got a program going.

Participating in a skills program like the one I taught should be voluntary. Able-bodied types should be required to do community service work to get financial help. Participating meaningfully in a skills program (not loafing) could be accepted as a form of community service, but there should be a requirement individuals not just go through the motions. Slackers can spend their time cleaning up road sides.

Those too young, too old, or too ill to work should get our help.

 

At the very least they'd have to be almost entirely self-sufficient.
With rises in efficiency these days, independent farming isn't very profitable. A lot of family farms have been forced out of business.
They can't compete with humongous corporate farms employing undocumented migrant farm labor.