Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

I Used to Be Homeless

yahoo.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

241–250 of 320 posts

Re: I Used to Be Homeless

#241

Post by wjossey »

darpa_escapee wrote: post #235
wjossey wrote: post #170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for taking the time to provide background data. This is all really great. I'm skeptical of the percentages you shared, not because I think people are liars, but that rooting out causative effects is complex, especially in self-reported cases. I have an aunt who was homeless for the better part of a decade. If you had spoken to her during this period of time about why she was homeless, she would have said many…

Research that goes beyond self-reports echoes the sentiment that homelessness is overwhelmingly an economic issue. That's not to understate the impact that health, substance abuse and domestic violence play, either. This is important to recognize, because families are falling victim to homelessness due to loss of jobs, insufficient income and the rising cost of living. You could probably shake a few alcoholics out of…

Reading more on what you shared, and a more contemporary study [1], I think the issue is that when I say "homeless", I'm talking about the chronic homeless in unsheltered situations in Los Angeles. Many of those who are also commenting here live in LA & SF, where we have the largest number of unsheltered homeless in the US, per capita.

All that being said, this survey seems to be absolute junk (the mayor survey, which is cited elsewhere). The survey instrument is at the bottom of the page and is remarkably subjective / at the whims of the reviewer. The word "alcohol" shows up once in that whole report. As does the word "drug[s]".

[1] https://endhomelessness.atavist.com/mayorsreport2016

Re: I Used to Be Homeless

#242

Post by not_real_acct »

ska wrote: post #74
deckar01 wrote: post #70

> I was overqualified for most minimum wage jobs. The author lost me here. I have taken jobs way below my expectations to make ends meet. I got startlingly close to not making rent, but I took a job that barely got me by and rode it out until I was able to move to a company that understood the value of my experience.

The author may just have meant that he was rejected from such jobs due to being honest about his education when asked, which is a fairly common practice.

I started a software company out of college. By the time I was 25, my car had been repossesed and I'd been evicted from my condo. I had $400 to my name, that I'd intended to use for rent.

I bought a bicycle and got a day job doing credit card collections for a bank.

That was my 'big break'; I still work for a bank, but now I write the software. I worked my way up.

One afternoon I was talking to someone from human resources, and she mentioned that they didn't want to hire me for that job, back when I was 25. Why? Because I'd scored so high on the entrance exam. Basically they thought it was pointless to hire me because I was overqualified. Yet I was homeless at the time, having been evicted from my condo!

Re: I Used to Be Homeless

#243

Post by reaperducer »

closeparen wrote: post #32
athenot wrote: post #4

> People often ask me what they can do to help the homeless and I always say, "Just look around you!" When someone has so little, it doesn't take much to help. You can start by not judging the homeless. This indeed where it all starts. There are so many voices telling us that these people aren't human, but deep down these rationalizations are just trying to cover the uncomfortable emotion we feel when we see a fellow…

This may work when the concentration is low. I’d estimate 15-20 homeless people on the daily walk between my front door in SOMA and the Muni Metro. Often in relatively dense tent encampments. I’d feel pretty weird giving to one and not the others on the same block. Especially since it’s probably the same people day in and day out. It’d take some serious preparation before going out the door to pack enough for everyon…

If only there were some sort of professional, centralized entity to collect some of our money and distribute it equitably.

Here ya go: https://www.catholiccharitiessf.org

I used to make regular donations in person when I was able to. It’s eye-opening to see what they do.

One day a random woman walked in because she’d pooed herself due to a medical condition. She was immediately whisked away to be showered, given clean clothes, and fed. No questions asked.

Re: I Used to Be Homeless

#244

Post by lliamander »

bllguo wrote: post #238
RobertRoberts wrote: post #222

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been poor most of my life. It's not discriminatory against the poor at all. I lived in a van with my wife, and we didn't steal. There were people in the parks that would steal, and the police would come after them, not us. I speak from life experience. You are helping spread a deadly lie. I challenge anyone to prove me wrong. Go be genuinely poor, it's really easy to do. Just use a tiny amount of money to live o…

You seem to be taking this personally. I don't see how your personal experiences address the claim that the poor are disproportionately inclined to commit petty crimes

I don't think he's disputing that crime and poverty are correlated. I think he's disputing both the idea that poverty causes crime and the idea that cracking down on petty crime hurts the poor.

There are many people who are poor due to unfortunate circumstances, but more than likely, if a poor person commits crimes, it has less to do with their poverty and more to do with other factors that caused both their poverty and criminality. We may have reasons to feel sympathy for or try to help the criminally inclined poor, but showing them leniency doesn't usually help them.

It also doesn't help poor people in general, because typically the victims of poor criminals are other poor people.

Re: I Used to Be Homeless

#245

Post by Nomentatus »

toasterlovin wrote: post #240
Nomentatus wrote: post #228

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Any classification that's actually defined by behavior, such as "drive drunk" as opposed to "streetpeople" is perfectly fine by me, as I think would be obvious. Both streetpeople and homeless are highly heterogeneous groups, so I don't think this affects my point. Which is that your one-to-one mapping is literally stereotyping. Just back off a little, so that you're only complaining about those you're really angry at…

Do you have a preferred term for the people I am trying to refer to? Specifically, the people who live in public spaces and visit mayhem upon the surrounding community? I am asking honestly. Such a term would be very useful in furthering the discussion around the “homeless”. That was my intention in using the term “street people”. Also, “street people” is a class that is defined by behavior. They are people who live…

Just say "some of." Location isn't behavior and certainly isn't objectionable be itself, nor were you making that objection. At this point at least one of us is cavilling, so I won't reply further.

Re: I Used to Be Homeless

#246

Post by bhelkey »

not_real_acct wrote: post #242
ska wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The author may just have meant that he was rejected from such jobs due to being honest about his education when asked, which is a fairly common practice.

I started a software company out of college. By the time I was 25, my car had been repossesed and I'd been evicted from my condo. I had $400 to my name, that I'd intended to use for rent. I bought a bicycle and got a day job doing credit card collections for a bank. That was my 'big break'; I still work for a bank, but now I write the software. I worked my way up. One afternoon I was talking to someone from human res…

I think the fear was that you would take the job and then leave ~6 months later for a better one.

Re: I Used to Be Homeless

#247

Post by shadowxs76 »

milesvp wrote: post #145

This article reminded me of a childhood experience of mine. At some point when I was in high school my dad brought home a homeless man to live in our house. At first it seemed weird, but I understood that we were in a position to help so I got over the feeling that our family was different for helping someone from the street. Then it started to feel weird that this guy completely bunkered down in his room. The few ti…

That was, to put it mildly, exceptionally generous of your dad and mom. Very few people would go that far in helping a complete stranger. And what happened to the homeless man eventually?

Re: I Used to Be Homeless

#248

Post by RobertRoberts »

bllguo wrote: post #238
RobertRoberts wrote: post #222

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been poor most of my life. It's not discriminatory against the poor at all. I lived in a van with my wife, and we didn't steal. There were people in the parks that would steal, and the police would come after them, not us. I speak from life experience. You are helping spread a deadly lie. I challenge anyone to prove me wrong. Go be genuinely poor, it's really easy to do. Just use a tiny amount of money to live o…

You seem to be taking this personally. I don't see how your personal experiences address the claim that the poor are disproportionately inclined to commit petty crimes

I don't disagree that they are "inclined" to commit petty crime, just like the rich are more inclined to cheat on their taxes. (when is that last time you heard a poor person rant against the inheritance tax?)

But, I disagree that your social status decides guilt.

Rich/famouse/politicians shouldn't get away with crimes they commit based on their status anymore than a poor person should. Crime is crime. Just because the judge/police/whoever feels social pressure to not enforce the law means everyone else suffers.

Feeling pity for someone's situation does not absolve them of their actions. Personally knowing poor/homeless people gives me a perspective that they aren't total victims and that they don't deserve absolution based on status. (just like the rich don't)

Re: I Used to Be Homeless

#249

Post by RobertRoberts »

lliamander wrote: post #244
bllguo wrote: post #238

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You seem to be taking this personally. I don't see how your personal experiences address the claim that the poor are disproportionately inclined to commit petty crimes

I don't think he's disputing that crime and poverty are correlated. I think he's disputing both the idea that poverty causes crime and the idea that cracking down on petty crime hurts the poor. There are many people who are poor due to unfortunate circumstances, but more than likely, if a poor person commits crimes, it has less to do with their poverty and more to do with other factors that caused both their poverty…

I would add that sometimes, getting really in trouble is what helps some younger people straighten up in life. It's a disservice to the poor to ignore their crimes against others.
Post reply on HN