dagblog - Comments for "The Hopelessness of Homelessness - A Guest Post"

Your friend is very wise and

Danny Cardwell — Sun, 13 Sep 2015 04:17:35 +0000

In reply to The Hopelessness of Homelessness - A Guest Post

Your friend is very wise and compassionate.

I just got done watching a

trkingmomoe — Sat, 12 Sep 2015 20:19:16 +0000

In reply to Thanks so much for sharing

I just got done watching a hour long report done by the local paper about homelessness in Sarasota. I am not going to post a link to it because local politics leave a lot to be desired. The official count for Sarasota is 1500 people. But someone who works with the homeless said it was 3 times that. I live 7 minutes from Sarasota and I can tell you we have a few thousand here next door to Sarasota. They are here because it is easier to survive the winters also because this was ground zero for the housing melt down. The economy never recovered.

Thanks so much for sharing

Ramona — Sat, 12 Sep 2015 19:51:01 +0000

In reply to Most of the time, people

Thanks so much for sharing that, Momoe. "Homelessness" isn't an abstract, and they're not all druggies--though some of them are.

On Maui, we saw many homeless men living in caves at the ocean shore. Every now and then the police go through and kick them out, just so they can say they've done something about the loitering. (The rich mansion-dwellers above complain, even though there has never been any real trouble with them.) So they kick them out in the morning, and by nightfall they're back. And so it goes until someone else complains, or until their bosses tell them it's that time again. We've heard that the police even leave food, clothes, and toiletries. (There are showers in the parks nearby.)

Most of the time, people

trkingmomoe — Sat, 12 Sep 2015 19:36:02 +0000

In reply to The Hopelessness of Homelessness - A Guest Post

Most of the time, people think of homeless being just a New York City and LA but it is also a problem for most of South Florida. I have written before knowing homeless people by first name bases in my area. I think about them now because they had to move from their camp area because that property has been sold and being developed. I did see one in front of a discount grocery store and we had a little visit. This was several miles from here.

For you that spend time with face book you have in the last couple of months seen my area's most famous homeless person.

That led to this.

He has cleaned himself up with the help of others. This was covered on the local news 2 weeks ago.

This is not was usually happens, but it does show these people should not just be ignored. They have still have much to offer society.

(No subject)

trkingmomoe — Sat, 12 Sep 2015 18:57:27 +0000

In reply to The Hopelessness of Homelessness - A Guest Post

Begging permits? Jeez, can

Ramona — Fri, 11 Sep 2015 21:26:29 +0000

In reply to Just the other day the local

Begging permits? Jeez, can we do anything more to make them feel like maggots? There's a woman in Detroit who fills her van with blankets and hands them out on cold nights. It's no long-term solution, but she recognizes that the homeless are human beings and they get cold at night. Of course, there are others who do what they can but they can never do what the governments could do on a large scale, if only they would.

There is that on-going campaign designed to make liberals feel bad about helping anyone. They call us "enablers" and warn us that any time we give the poor anything we make them lazy. It's all our fault, and it's astounding how many people keep spouting that--even people who don't have a pot to piss in, themselves, but as long as they have a roof over their heads they're better than the homeless.

Individual "freedom", that's the ticket. Oh, and the homeless like being homeless, so we liberals should quit sticking our noses into other peoples' business.

Hard to believe that some

Ramona — Fri, 11 Sep 2015 21:15:00 +0000

In reply to For more than eight years, I

Hard to believe that some cities actually make laws forbidding the public feeding of homeless people. And others put sharp spikes under bridges to keep them from sleeping there. This is a national problem and needs to be addressed by the Federal government. As long as they ignore it, hoping the states will take care of it, nothing much will change.

But there are positive signs--way too little and way too late, but it's something, anyway.

Just the other day the local

wabby — Fri, 11 Sep 2015 18:46:31 +0000

In reply to The Hopelessness of Homelessness - A Guest Post

Just the other day the local news ran a piece about a panhandler named Kevin Gaudio who had physical and mental issues. If you watch the video, the physical issues are very apparent.

Two years ago a federal judge overturned a state law prohibiting panhandling in Michigan deeming it unconstitutional and violating free speech.

Since then, local ordinances overriding the overturned state law have been popping up all over the place banning begging on the streets by citing public safety issues.

Making the poor get begging permits (which is what some places have done) is not the way to make the poor go away.

For more than eight years, I

Richard Day — Fri, 11 Sep 2015 17:15:38 +0000

In reply to The Hopelessness of Homelessness - A Guest Post

For more than eight years, I have had a place to live.

Of course I had decades with residences, large and small that I had earned.

The threat of homelessness, just the damn threat gave me nightmares that persisted for years.

The nightmare would involve me finding myself in some house where I did not belong.

The fear was incredible.

Rudy and other mayors 'took care' of the problem of homelessness. All you have to do as a society is to HIDE THE DAMN PROBLEM.

Get 'them' out of Times Square (along with the other miscreants like prostitutes). Just get 'them' out of view.

See no evil, as it were.

There are parts of this nation where the homeless can find a way, where the homeless have access to bathrooms and ovens and beds. And there are parts of this nation where there is no access.

We need to discuss these issues.

Thank you.

I've about stopped being

Ramona — Fri, 11 Sep 2015 15:00:00 +0000

In reply to Thanks for this.

I've about stopped being polite about Republicans. They don't deserve an ounce of respect. But the Democrats are much too quiet about this problem, too.

This should not be happening to anyone, and no, it's not just people with addictions. But sometimes this very hopelessness causes people to turn to drugs. Anything to keep from having to deal with this kind of reality. We keep talking about it without doing much to change it. It's not as if there aren't solutions to homelessness or hopelessness--we just have to care enough to make an effort.