Politics Homeless people in Oakland

Discussion in 'Blazers OT Forum' started by MARIS61, Dec 3, 2019.

  1. Lanny

    Lanny Original Season Ticket Holder "Mr. Big Shot"

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    Not necessarily. I grew up in Oswego where there weren't an awful lot of disadvantaged people. I remember this poor girl who was the same age and went to school with me. My father used to buy raw milk from a a guy who owned one cow which gave him a tiny income. I remember going with my father one day to pick up mild and seeing this same little girl peeking out the living room window from behind curtains. She always wore the same tattered dress. Now, that family was disadvantaged but we never bonded. We were half an inch above them and I had to disassociate from her or be branded in the same lower social strata. Looking back on it I feel terrible but that's the way the advantaged society that I grew up in made me. Luckily for me my father changed and realized the plight of the disadvantaged and got me on the right track to feel the plight of the disadvantaged.

    I credit my father with all my growth.
     
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  2. Chris Craig

    Chris Craig (Blazersland) I'm Your Huckleberry Staff Member Global Moderator Moderator

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    There are a lot of good people with bad luck. Yeah, like I said there are people who choose to be homeless, people who are addicted and in a bad place, who have decided it is not worth caring anymore. We don't know their stories, their pain. It is not for us to judge.

    That is part of why I felt the need to respond. Tired of seeing people look down on those less fortunate than themselves. Antipathy is a road paved by ignorance. If someone is prosperous and fortuitous then they should be grateful for their position. Using that stature to condscend is a good indication of a lack of character. It is easy to look down on others, but it is not so hard to bring oneself down to the level of those less off to seek understanding and compassion. Judge not what you don't know.

    I often hear, "I have worked my ass off, why should someone else get a free pass?" That is spite and stuffy pomp. I have worked my ass off to be where I am at. Am I well off? Not really. But, I have a home, a family, my health, all the real things to be grateful for. If those more disadvantaged then me need help, left them have it.

    There are a lot of issues that added together, have created this homelessness issue. Economics(the inequality of cost and pay), mental health, drug addiction, etc. All in all it's a failed system at play. The problem is only going to get worse, because no one wants to truly look at it. Instead the solution is to throw homeless people in jail, send them to other cities on buses, etc...anything but really trying to solve it. It is a complex problem. It will take a complex solution.
     
  3. yankeesince59

    yankeesince59 "Oh Captain, my Captain".

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    ^^^Ditto.
     
  4. tlongII

    tlongII Legendary Poster

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    All I will say is I believe there are far more people that choose to be homeless than people that simply have "bad luck" and are homeless.
     
  5. Shaboid

    Shaboid Well-Known Member

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    Everything that you said, but especially this.
     
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  6. riverman

    riverman Writing Team

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    I think anyone making blanket statements about homeless situations is being subjective. Guys get out of prison broke and homeless ...my first marriage I woke up one day and my ex drained the bank...took the car and moved thousand miles away leaving me with 6 bucks in my wallet and filed for divorce....I stayed with a friend for a week until I could get a decent job painting houses , rented a room and started over. It was having a friend that gave me shelter that first week....then if you get divorced in California...the child support requirements are tough to keep up and pay rent, bills, etc...I have a strong work ethic but not everyone could get through something like that. I think its rarely a "choice" to become homeless but it is a choice to become a drunk or lazy. Those young kids who play at being street people will get tired of the plastic tent soon enough....the people who just need to stop having withdrawals won't. Social science is complex.....lot of homeless commit crimes so they can go to jail, get shelter and medical care they don't get on the street.....homelessness increases desperation and that often leads to criminal behavior
     
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  7. TorturedBlazerFan

    TorturedBlazerFan Well-Known Member

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    Almost all of us in here are being subjective. Subjectivity can be ok, we've all got different experiences.
     
  8. Shaboid

    Shaboid Well-Known Member

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    Some of my best friends and a couple family members have been homeless at one time or another. I think there is a distinction that needs to be made. I've technically been homeless too. That involved me surfing a couple couches and then finding a gig that provided me and opportunity to have a roof over my head. I'm lucky. I count my blessings everyday that I wake up.

    Personally, I've seen opioids and heroin effect more people in my sphere of influence than anything else. Alcohol is definitely a factor too. What I have noticed, is that once one of those things get serious, it gets bad. And then it can get really bad. And then it seems like it is irreconcilable.
     
    Last edited: Dec 5, 2019
  9. Lanny

    Lanny Original Season Ticket Holder "Mr. Big Shot"

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    When I got out of the Army, I worked at Tektronix for less than $2/hr. I believe it was actually $1.75/hr. Lucky for me that my car was paid for and I found a really cheap studio apartment that was furnished with utilities included for less than $100/mo. It was with that pay that I saved up enough to buy my fiancee a 1/4 carat diamond ring. Her wealthy parents payed for the wedding. My parents paid the groom's share. When I married my current wife, my parents refused to pay a nickel for the wedding. My wife had no money so I took out of my retirement account to pay for the wedding.
     
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  10. Shaboid

    Shaboid Well-Known Member

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    Wait, did Lanny work for Tektronix??
     
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  11. TorturedBlazerFan

    TorturedBlazerFan Well-Known Member

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    Yes he did. I know a ton of people who work there!
     
  12. Lanny

    Lanny Original Season Ticket Holder "Mr. Big Shot"

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    14 years.
     
  13. Shaboid

    Shaboid Well-Known Member

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    Impressive. Should I post my resume every time I post also?
     
  14. Lanny

    Lanny Original Season Ticket Holder "Mr. Big Shot"

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    Huh?
     
  15. yankeesince59

    yankeesince59 "Oh Captain, my Captain".

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    I couldn't quite figure that out either.
     
  16. Propagandist

    Propagandist Well-Known Member

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    Funny. I thought you were being ironic.
     
  17. barfo

    barfo triggered obsessive commie pinko Staff Member Global Moderator

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    I think you should, yes. And when I am king... well, I guess my resume will look better then.

    barfo
     
  18. tlongII

    tlongII Legendary Poster

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    Just the facts ma’am.
     

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