To my fellow christians. What is your lame half-way exscue for not helping homeless

**Sekhmet** · 01-04-2008 05:44 AM

Originally Posted by Replicon

Aah, ya got me. I didn't provide a source, therefore I made it up

j/k. Seriously though, it's been several years, so I probably wouldn't be able to locate that article. But here's one that cropped up:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/liv...icle_id=446315

Of course, I think it's safe to expect a pretty huge deviation. On wikipedia, there's a much lower number. Another place I googled referenced a PBS survey that stated the average daily income was $56, ranging from $15 to $100 or so. Again, I searched for that particular one on pbs' site, but could not find it.

Thank you for the link.

Originally Posted by Replicon

But here, let's make an estimate: Let's say you're a beggar and you beg one person every 18 seconds. That's a lot of time to say "got change?" That's 200 people in one hour. If 10% of them give you a quarter, that's $5 an hour. If you're also getting a cheque from the government, then that puts you above minimum wage, easily.

Not all homeless recieve government assistance and not all of them beg. I seriously doubt that begging brings in so much money on a regular basis anyway. If begging is such an easy way to make lots of money without working hard then how come more people are not "choosing to be lazy?"

Originally Posted by Replicon

What I left out was what can be inferred: This person wasn't homeless. She was renting. Also, I wasn't making the point that she COULD buy a home, just that the notion of giving up the free money trumped the obvious "can't afford" answer, which really surprised me. I realize that's more anecdotal than a formal study, but it irks me everytime someone asks me for change, and I can see their ipod sticking out of their pockets. Just to be pre-emptive: NO, I am NOT saying that's everyone. But it happens enough to me that I notice.

Fair enough. I agree that it is irksome to be asked for change by people who have better shoes or gadgets than I. Cell phones don't bother me though, because they are fairly cheap and experience has taught me that very often street kids have cell phones so that they can sell drugs or their bodies to survive. But begging for change with an ipod in hand? Oh heck no!

Originally Posted by Replicon

It's just an idea. Instead of getting all riled up, feel free to provide an alternate solution. I'm all ears. You might notice, for one, that I didn't specify said conditions. Maybe the opportunity can be freely offered to everyone, and the ones that actually take it are the non-lazy ones (barring medical issues).

I was all worked up in my last post, so please forgive me. I certainly do not have all the answers to solving the homelessness problem, but I do become upset when I see people saying the main reason the homeless are in their current living condition is because they are merely lazy. It is an unbelievably arrogant negative stereotype, coming mostly from people who have never been forced to face the uncertainty of the streets, nor even considered the mulitude of factors that contribute to the reality of the situation.

Originally Posted by Replicon

Then, they're dictating their own conditions for whether they're lazy, based on whether or not they go for the reachable (but non-zero-effort) fruit that's being all but handed to them. You say to everyone who will listen, "Here's an introductory job... it's not going to be fun. You're going to be shoveling shit all day. In return, you get salary, a discount on living expenses, and a fresh start." I'd actually be very interested to see who would take it and who wouldn't.

For the most part, I agree with this. In the city I live in, there are organizations in place to help the homeless learn better life and work skills so that they can be slowly get off of government assistance. The irony is that these organizations are not government funded and either cannot remain in place for long or are insufficient for dealing with the realities of homelessness - mainly that the majority of homeless people, to some degree, are mentally ill.

Originally Posted by Replicon

Also, just so you don't get the wrong impression, I'm not saying they're bad people. And while I don't give them money, if they ask for money for food, and I happen to have groceries, I'll offer an apple or two. Sometimes they take it. Other times, they say "no, I only take cash."

What if they need cash to pay bills? How can you pre-determine what they need the change for? Anyways, thank you for taking the time to respond. Peace.

**lonestarx** · 01-04-2008 12:19 PM

To the OP your missing the point... what makes us reedeemed? what makes us saved? the lost to become chosen? Remember being CHRISTIAN doesnt make us perfect, or not sinful. Were still apart of the lost but found the truth. Were no better than homeless or the rich. So there should be no excuse BUT just because we didnt give to one doesnt give right to judge. Give and you'll recieve. I hope you see my point brother if not I'll try to explain more

God Bless.

**Universal Mind** · 01-06-2008 04:48 AM

Originally Posted by Sekhmet

Not all homeless recieve government assistance and not all of them beg. I seriously doubt that begging brings in so much money on a regular basis anyway. If begging is such an easy way to make lots of money without working hard then how come more people are not "choosing to be lazy?"

I have never been homeless or begged, but I have had drug addict friends who did. They said you can make around $120 a day begging in a major downtown area. I remember sitting in my car a while back and watching a begger at a stoplight in Baton Rouge. It blew my mind how much green I saw going from cars into his hands. Something hilarious is that there was a corporate CEO in New Orleans a while back who used to spend his lunch breaks disguised as a homeless person and begging for money in the French Quarter. I would do it for a living if it weren't so embarrassing.

**lonestarx** · 01-07-2008 11:53 PM

lmbo. They showed on TV a homeless person, that begged and begged, near the middle of the day, he walked and walked, looked around and jumped into a mercedes benz and drove off. Now thats wrong lol

**Siиdяed** · 01-07-2008 11:55 PM

Originally Posted by LucidFlanders

On AIDS

They ought to quit them AIDS, it's doing them no good at all. Lousy tramps.

. . .

**Carôusoul** · 01-07-2008 11:57 PM

Tell them to get a job.

**Siиdяed** · 01-08-2008 12:02 AM

Go home, you lousy bums!

...they aren't going to be offended by this, because if they have internet access they aren't really very homeless, are they?

That said, I don't help the homeless because it would be financially impossible for me to help all the impoverished people of this world. There are too many charity cases for me to donate to them all. Which is why I don't give any money to charity.

...hmm.

**Xaqaria** · 01-08-2008 01:11 AM

Originally Posted by Universal Mind

I have never been homeless or begged, but I have had drug addict friends who did. They said you can make around $120 a day begging in a major downtown area. I remember sitting in my car a while back and watching a begger at a stoplight in Baton Rouge. It blew my mind how much green I saw going from cars into his hands. Something hilarious is that there was a corporate CEO in New Orleans a while back who used to spend his lunch breaks disguised as a homeless person and begging for money in the French Quarter. I would do it for a living if it weren't so embarrassing.

Not just embarrassing, but useless as well. What is the point of merely perpetuating your own existence, or worse, asking others to perpetuate it for you without reason?

**Carôusoul** · 01-08-2008 01:17 AM

i have actually taken to asking beggars for a legitimate reason why they don't have a job and aren't trying to make something of their life.

American psycho style.

**Grod** · 01-08-2008 01:23 AM

Well one thing the homeless are good for

If you tip them they'll buy alcohol for you

**Carôusoul** · 01-08-2008 01:26 AM

Originally Posted by Grod

Well one thing the homeless are good for

If you tip them they'll buy alcohol for you

How old do you look?

**Grod** · 01-08-2008 01:28 AM

Originally Posted by Carôusoul

How old do you look?

I look about my age. So I can't pull it off

It's much easier

**Carôusoul** · 01-08-2008 01:31 AM

Czechoslovakia doesn't exist; hence there are no bums to ask; hence you don't exist.

Hm. I was in Slovakia this morning; I then went to Prague; capital of the czech republic.

Czechoslovakia doesn't exist. I am living proof.

**Grod** · 01-08-2008 01:33 AM

Originally Posted by Carôusoul

Czechoslovakia doesn't exist; hence there are no bums to ask; hence you don't exist.

Hm. I was in Slovakia this morning; I then went to Prague; capital of the czech republic.

Czechoslovakia doesn't exist. I am living proof.

You don't exist.

**Carôusoul** · 01-08-2008 01:35 AM

Originally Posted by Grod

You don't exist.

It looks like team Grod's blasting off again.

**Grod** · 01-08-2008 01:40 AM

Originally Posted by Carôusoul

It looks like team Grod's blasting off again.

Ding

**ClouD** · 01-08-2008 04:55 PM

If we were all homeless, the world would be such a place.

**lonestarx** · 01-09-2008 07:32 AM

there was a intresting fact in my UTT book my teacher gave us... One billion pple on earth of I think it said 5billion are either homeless or in extreme poverty AND that with the wealth in our time we can end poverty and suchforth in our lifetime... just found it strange.

**kichu** · 01-09-2008 08:05 AM

Originally Posted by Sekhmet

I am really surprised and disappointed in some of you, my fellow DV members. I know some of you are young but your level of ignorance is astounding if you truly believe that homeless people choose to be so because they are merely lazy.

Yup.

**Universal Mind** · 01-09-2008 08:12 AM

Originally Posted by Xaqaria

Not just embarrassing, but useless as well. What is the point of merely perpetuating your own existence, or worse, asking others to perpetuate it for you without reason?

What is the point of living without a useful career? That is a whole new topic there. There is a whole lot more to life than career. Plus, I could give some of my begging money to charity. Hey, I could beg for money on behalf of the homeless, but charge a 90% collector's fee.

But I should have mentioned that begging in a con artist kind of way for money I could just as well actually earn is sociopathic in addition to being embarrassing, and that is another reason I would not do it. But outside of those two variables, it sounds like an awesome way to live.

Originally Posted by Sekhmet

I do become upset when I see people saying the main reason the homeless are in their current living condition is because they are merely lazy.

I have lived downtown twice, and based on what I have seen, I would say the vast majority of homeless people are either drug addicted or mentally ill. But there is that small minority of them who despise society and the way society works and just don't want to play the same game most of society plays. Some of them will actually ridicule working people and call them "slaves" and laugh about it, never showing any sign of drug addiction or mental illness and never expressing the slightest bit of desire to get a job. Those are the ones who don't act that desperate for your money and who don't sound like they are in La La Land. They will go on like that for years and years. I have no sympathy for those. The rest of the homeless problem can be fixed pretty easily, I think. There was a time when the government was at liberty to take the words of cops and have certain homeless people evaluated mentally. If it was determined that they were too out of touch with reality to function in society in a healthy way, they were institutionalized and later sent back out into the world and monitored if their treatment was successful. That got protested out of existence, unfortunately, on the grounds that it was an infringement on civil liberties. Now it takes family members or criminal proceedings to get people into mental institutions, unless the homeless person starts the process on his own. As for the drug addicts, they would be able to function much more easily if we ended the war on drugs. If their drugs did not cost way beyond what a regular job could afford them, they would in many cases keep their jobs. But the outrageously expensive status of illegal drugs has people giving up on working in cubby holes and turning to lives of prostitution and begging while living in boxes. Legalizing drugs could mop up that part of the problem really well, though not completely.

**Xaqaria** · 01-09-2008 02:23 PM

How is 'merely perpetuating your own existence' equal to 'living without a useful career?'

Of course there are many ways to live a full and productive life without a useful career; like raising children. Merely perpetuating one's own existence is living just for the sake of being alive.

Also, as much as I am for the legalization of most drugs; I'd just like to point out that the only way the legalization of drugs would effect the people you are talking about would be to hurry along their fatal overdose. If you think that is solving the problem then; well I guess thats one way of looking at it.

**Universal Mind** · 01-10-2008 05:00 AM

Originally Posted by Xaqaria

How is 'merely perpetuating your own existence' equal to 'living without a useful career?'

Of course there are many ways to live a full and productive life without a useful career; like raising children. Merely perpetuating one's own existence is living just for the sake of being alive.

Then why do you think people who beg, even mentally stable ones who have the the general luxuries of modern society, are merely perpetuating their own existences?

Originally Posted by Xaqaria

Also, as much as I am for the legalization of most drugs; I'd just like to point out that the only way the legalization of drugs would effect the people you are talking about would be to hurry along their fatal overdose. If you think that is solving the problem then; well I guess thats one way of looking at it.

In cases where that is true, the fatal overdoses were coming any way. Until then, they will not all be living in the gutter.

**Valdyr** · 01-10-2008 12:05 PM

Originally Posted by Lucid_boy

To my fellow christians.

This should be addressed to all people, Christians, muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Wiccans, agnostics, deists and atheists. Everyone in society should help the needy when they are able.

I am not able to donate a lot of money because I am only sixteen and only have a part time job, and I don't have money to spare. However I always drop change into a homeless person's hat/cup/tin/whatever in the city, and I have put money in charity tins at the supermarket and stuff like that.

**ClouD** · 01-11-2008 02:50 PM

Originally Posted by Valdyr

This should be addressed to all people, Christians, muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Wiccans, agnostics, deists and atheists. Everyone in society should help the needy when they are able.

I am not able to donate a lot of money because I am only sixteen and only have a part time job, and I don't have money to spare. However I always drop change into a homeless person's hat/cup/tin/whatever in the city, and I have put money in charity tins at the supermarket and stuff like that.

Seriously...I'd rather live on the street than with you.

**Valdyr** · 01-11-2008 03:23 PM

What's that supposed to mean?

Thread: To my fellow christians. What is your lame half-way exscue for not helping homeless

LinkBack

Thread Tools

Display

Bookmarks

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions