211–220 of 254 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why would society want to reward people who go to great lengths to defraud others?
It's just something we tell ourselves to assuage our embarrassment at getting conned.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Seriously, man! I'm broke as hell!
Serious question: this is what an emergency fund is for, no? You can earn the same income and spend the same dollar amount over your life, but if you build up a buffer of 6 month's expenses, you are no longer chronically broke. This is what I was taught at an early age. Why is this advice not more commonly followed? It's not about being rich or poor or having a high or low income. The advice is truly agnostic to thos…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> This should be a solvable problem in my opinion we are a rich country and we can afford to feed and shelter everyone. The problem is figuring out what to do about the homeless people who refuse to accept shelter and other forms of government assistance. What are you going to do, arrest them? That's been tried in San Francisco and it went badly. If you force them to move they will set up camp somewhere else, so that…
It is not a matter of "refusing shelter" it is a matter of refusing the strings that come with the Shelter. Like the story says most shelters have a litany of rules that most reasonable people would find objectionable. Some even require you to attend religious services, or preform some other act. Then you have the one that refuse pets (homeless people will not and should not have to give up their pets) then you have…
There are good programs but man, it's become fucking business.
If you're a PHP/Javascript programmer today, that's your future at age 50.
Yikes. You're a great HN contributor but please don't do this here.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I can't remember, but he says he grew up in Beaverton. He looked maybe 40-50 years old. In fact he did say his SSI was given due to some kind of illness he has.
I just googled my guy. He is homeless but he's in Salt Lake and apparently in jail, unable to post the $200 he'd need for a $2000 bail for assault on a police officer and illegal camping in a public park. Crazy to think that this guy was tuning PF firewall rules thirteen years ago. Mental illness is a bitch. We need to make it easier to get conservatorships.
This man I talked with, one of our conversations was about the daily offerings of free food in Portland for essentially anyone willing to show up. He listed off several places, praising the eggs and waffles at one place, but dismissing the bland oatmeal of another. It gave me hope to see him happily reminiscing the generous efforts of those willing to offer their time, skill and supply.
I think it's important to understand that the homeless are more like regular people than we want to admit. There are some sweet and kind people who try really hard to maintain, and there are some bastards who are fine, or even excited, to ruin it for everyone. The question is, how do we identify those willing to work hard at rehabilitation, against those who are happy to commit real crimes against people? How can we offer them cheap housing and meaningful work?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I don't have much sympathy for anyone who chooses to work in the arts... One must see the risks taken, and that the rewards are unpredictable. You have different goals in life than other people. Please try to be aware that the path you've chosen is not the only right one. Some people have different goals. Some people even have the cognitive ability to regard the goal of fulfillment in life and creativity as more im…
You can have whatever goals you like, but that doesn't entitle you to live in an area you can't afford.
This is a failure of city planning and should not be excused or ignored as if this fialure was inevitable.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Portlander here, I used to work right by the food carts downtown on 10th and Alder. The hospital bracelet guy is one of regulars, he's been running that schtick for literally years. There's a cast off characters like him who are fixtures there. I'm not against compassion for the homeless, but after running into a few of these repeatedly, I tend to refrain from supporting them directly and give to local charities inst…
I wouldn't be surprised if this was a scam, but I'm not convinced. Between my own experiences interacting with the homeless and scammers, seeing his fresh physical wounds (including staples in his head), and the weird amount of knowledge he had about physics and obscure computer operating systems, I just don't see it. If anything, he deserves my help just for being so thorough.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's not just rich assholes, a surprising majority of the population want all evidence of poverty out of sight in their lives. Santa Cruz made it illegal just to sleep visibly in public in an attempt to criminalize homelessness so they could hide the problem.
Sorry, but things aren't that simple in Santa Cruz. The reality is more complicated. Currently, there is an SF/Seattle style camp that has sprung up on the entrance into town. The current city council is made up of a majority that sides more with homeless uses than the concerns of others including families. The first 5 (bi weekly) city council meetings of the year have been stuck on what to do with this camp that has…
> I've talked with many at a coffee shop (no longer open) over the last half dozen years.
The Perg I presume? I spent many days working from that place with my car parked for free in the adjacent now-pay parking lot.
Santa Cruz has changed a lot in the last ~6 years.
I used to visit regularly from SF, practically every week, when there was still free parking downtown with The Perg and LOGOS used books to patronize. Nowadays there's practically nothing there of interest to me personally, not worth paying parking for, on top of the long drive anyways. The last few times I made the drive down there the high point was the strawberries from Swanton farms en route.
It's more than just an assault on the homeless. The city has transformed quite a bit in general. Much of its hippy/artsy/punk culture has diminished and everything is trying to be more sterile and bourgeoisie IMHO.
LOGOS and The Perg closing marked the end of an era.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
What’s the problem with someone of sound mind ( i.e. not due to mental illness or addiction) living on the streets by choice? The only issues I have are that sanitation is a problem, and the places we force them into are not safe for them, or for non-homeless people, for that matter. Would you criminalize someone who’s eternally “backpacking through Europe,” metaphorically speaking? No one should be forced to live on…
When I lived in Santa Clara there was parking in front of the row of townhouses where I was renting. Most days I would park directly in front of my unit, some days one or two spots away. Then one day a very old rusted camper appeared in front of a house 3 doors down, parked out front. No idea how it got there, and it had no car or truck attached to move it. About 6 weeks later, a second one in front of the first. Now…