Starbucks and Amazon will not help homeless

Silvio Dante

Active Member
Hey, you're the one who mentioned statistics.
You said that one third are mentally ill.
How many have extensive criminal records?

Let me guess... it's not their fault? :dunce:
A quick chat to some of the homeless in the UK and you can quite clearly see the majority have significant mental health problems. Speaking from a genuine experience here:

One night out a few years ago (I was only 19 years old) walking down the town centre I hear "Got any spare change mate?" and as I looked, it was a girl I used to go out with at school, I shit you not. Within the space of just a few years of leaving school, she was homeless on the street.

When I sat with her and asked what happened, she told me her last permanent residence was the local mental health hospital and that she was discharged onto the street once given a prescription, which she couldn't pick up because she had no fixed address.

She has no criminal record. I went to school with this girl from birth... what did I see over 16 years?

Her mother walked out when she was about 3 years old, so she grew up without a mum, only her dad. In her house was 6 brothers, and no sisters. Her father didn't work... her childhood was chaotic from start to finish with no stable environment to grow up in. As a result she had trouble at school and in the end teachers just branded her a "trouble-maker" and gave up on her. Throughout it all I remained one of her closest friends as she always still had a smile and an attitude that things would get better. I lost touch with her once we all left school.

Was that her fault? Did she wilfully choose to end up homeless on the street?

From that day on my perception of homeless people changed forever. You have no idea if you've never experienced it first hand... especially when you see it happen to somebody you know like a sister (it can happen to anyone) there will always be one or two professional beggars and shysters on the street, but I can assure you, at least here in the UK, the VAST majority of homeless people have been failed by all of us both state institutions that are meant to intervene and provide a safety net, and the ignorant attitude of the general public who stigmatise them further by saying it is a choice or "they're criminals" whilst only offering vitriol instead of a helping hand.

I am not a religious person at all but I have never ever been able to shake the feeling that when my time comes, I will be judged for what I did next. After chatting to the girl for some time, I walked away and said goodbye.

That was probably the most inhumane thing I ever did. I could have picked her off the street there and then and had her come and live with me... what did I do? Nothing.

What do we all collectively do? Nothing. We all think it's somebody elses (or the individuals) problem to deal with, and so the cycle continues.

Anger, rage and the finger of blame is the refuge of the lazy.

Compassion is the hardest discipline to master...
 

Rob Roy

Well-Known Member
A quick chat to some of the homeless in the UK and you can quite clearly see the majority have significant mental health problems. Speaking from a genuine experience here:

One night out a few years ago (I was only 19 years old) walking down the town centre I hear "Got any spare change mate?" and as I looked, it was a girl I used to go out with at school, I shit you not. Within the space of just a few years of leaving school, she was homeless on the street.

When I sat with her and asked what happened, she told me her last permanent residence was the local mental health hospital and that she was discharged onto the street once given a prescription, which she couldn't pick up because she had no fixed address.

She has no criminal record. I went to school with this girl from birth... what did I see over 16 years?

Her mother walked out when she was about 3 years old, so she grew up without a mum, only her dad. In her house was 6 brothers, and no sisters. Her father didn't work... her childhood was chaotic from start to finish with no stable environment to grow up in. As a result she had trouble at school and in the end teachers just branded her a "trouble-maker" and gave up on her. Throughout it all I remained one of her closest friends as she always still had a smile and an attitude that things would get better. I lost touch with her once we all left school.

Was that her fault? Did she wilfully choose to end up homeless on the street?

From that day on my perception of homeless people changed forever. You have no idea if you've never experienced it first hand... especially when you see it happen to somebody you know like a sister (it can happen to anyone) there will always be one or two professional beggars and shysters on the street, but I can assure you, at least here in the UK, the VAST majority of homeless people have been failed by all of us both state institutions that are meant to intervene and provide a safety net, and the ignorant attitude of the general public who stigmatise them further by saying it is a choice or "they're criminals" whilst only offering vitriol instead of a helping hand.

I am not a religious person at all but I have never ever been able to shake the feeling that when my time comes, I will be judged for what I did next. After chatting to the girl for some time, I walked away and said goodbye.

That was probably the most inhumane thing I ever did. I could have picked her off the street there and then and had her come and live with me... what did I do? Nothing.

What do we all collectively do? Nothing. We all think it's somebody elses (or the individuals) problem to deal with, and so the cycle continues.

Anger, rage and the finger of blame is the refuge of the lazy.

Compassion is the hardest discipline to master...

If she wants to get off the streets she will find a way. If you want to be compassionate, you will find a way.
 

UncleBuck

Well-Known Member
If she wants to get off the streets she will find a way. If you want to be compassionate, you will find a way.
If you try to kick black people out of stores you will be arrested because it’s illegal ya fucking racist
 

schuylaar

Well-Known Member
A quick chat to some of the homeless in the UK and you can quite clearly see the majority have significant mental health problems. Speaking from a genuine experience here:

One night out a few years ago (I was only 19 years old) walking down the town centre I hear "Got any spare change mate?" and as I looked, it was a girl I used to go out with at school, I shit you not. Within the space of just a few years of leaving school, she was homeless on the street.

When I sat with her and asked what happened, she told me her last permanent residence was the local mental health hospital and that she was discharged onto the street once given a prescription, which she couldn't pick up because she had no fixed address.

She has no criminal record. I went to school with this girl from birth... what did I see over 16 years?

Her mother walked out when she was about 3 years old, so she grew up without a mum, only her dad. In her house was 6 brothers, and no sisters. Her father didn't work... her childhood was chaotic from start to finish with no stable environment to grow up in. As a result she had trouble at school and in the end teachers just branded her a "trouble-maker" and gave up on her. Throughout it all I remained one of her closest friends as she always still had a smile and an attitude that things would get better. I lost touch with her once we all left school.

Was that her fault? Did she wilfully choose to end up homeless on the street?

From that day on my perception of homeless people changed forever. You have no idea if you've never experienced it first hand... especially when you see it happen to somebody you know like a sister (it can happen to anyone) there will always be one or two professional beggars and shysters on the street, but I can assure you, at least here in the UK, the VAST majority of homeless people have been failed by all of us both state institutions that are meant to intervene and provide a safety net, and the ignorant attitude of the general public who stigmatise them further by saying it is a choice or "they're criminals" whilst only offering vitriol instead of a helping hand.

I am not a religious person at all but I have never ever been able to shake the feeling that when my time comes, I will be judged for what I did next. After chatting to the girl for some time, I walked away and said goodbye.

That was probably the most inhumane thing I ever did. I could have picked her off the street there and then and had her come and live with me... what did I do? Nothing.

What do we all collectively do? Nothing. We all think it's somebody elses (or the individuals) problem to deal with, and so the cycle continues.

Anger, rage and the finger of blame is the refuge of the lazy.

Compassion is the hardest discipline to master...
you are seen as failed and not worthy. one moment you can be a productive member of society the next an interloper of it.

this can happen with the snap of a finger beyond your control.

in America most of us can't scrape together $500 for an emergency.

we've gone to pay for play here in the states.

you get your 30 days with buffer of 48-72 hours and the lights are off.

Florida power and light spent $7B to be able to remote access from corporate because it was too much of a pain to come out anymore- so many get shut off that money was the investment against us.

i often wonder how that money could've been better spent for health or feed the poor homeless within my state?

i heard this this morning:

you don't know if someone's roof is leaking unless you step inside their house.

May God Save The Queen and bring back GOT as a prequel.
 
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Silvio Dante

Active Member
If she wants to get off the streets she will find a way. If you want to be compassionate, you will find a way.
There I agree - sure enough (with help from the local government) she is off the streets now, last thing I heard, but only through a lot of help and she's highly unlikely to have a successful and fulfilled life.

I have improved my own circumstances that my own living standards and income means I can afford to be more compassionate than 5 years go.

The onus is on all of us to work at improving ourselves with the opportunities presented to us - but we must not be so quick to blame others for their circumstance either. Where and who you were born too is still the single biggest factor as to the type of life you're probably going to have. Those who work out of poverty into success are very much in the minority.
 

Dr.Amber Trichome

Well-Known Member
Seattle's city council meetings have become must see reality TV.

Housing the homeless.

Sounds better than leaving them on the streets, doesn't it? What's the best way to pay for it?
Gather the homeless and and have them work cleaning up parks and highways and other public places that need to be cleaned . They can also be bused to pick strawberries and other produce. Yes?
 

schuylaar

Well-Known Member
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/amazon-apos-questions-apos-growth-085906697.html





So, at the end of April, the Seattle City Council released draft legislation that would force companies with revenues of over $20 million in the city to pay 26 cents for each hour worked by a Seattle-based employee, or roughly $540 per head per year. This “head tax” was to apply over 2019 and 2020, generating $86 million a year for social programs, before turning into a 0.7% payroll tax. (The annual proceeds of the tax were originally calculated at $75 million before the council revised its estimates.)

However, with Mayor Jenny Durkan threatening to veto the tax because she was concerned about its impact on employment, the measure had to be watered down to pass.


“This legislation will help us address our homelessness crisis without jeopardizing critical jobs. Because this ordinance represents a true shared solution, and because it lifts up those who have been left behind while also ensuring accountability and transparency, I plan to sign this legislation into law,” said Durkan.

Three-fifths of the money raised will go to building new, affordable housing, while the rest will fund emergency services for the homeless.
They have stockholders to worry about,not the dirty poor. It's the new world we live in, I seem to remember a video of two Kardashian sisters driving around Miami making fun of the homeless.
in case you missed this gem from last night:


and he's right..rather vote for the Ali Babba guy because next you're gonna see pitchforks and torches..
 
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zeddd

Well-Known Member
A quick chat to some of the homeless in the UK and you can quite clearly see the majority have significant mental health problems. Speaking from a genuine experience here:

One night out a few years ago (I was only 19 years old) walking down the town centre I hear "Got any spare change mate?" and as I looked, it was a girl I used to go out with at school, I shit you not. Within the space of just a few years of leaving school, she was homeless on the street.

When I sat with her and asked what happened, she told me her last permanent residence was the local mental health hospital and that she was discharged onto the street once given a prescription, which she couldn't pick up because she had no fixed address.

She has no criminal record. I went to school with this girl from birth... what did I see over 16 years?

Her mother walked out when she was about 3 years old, so she grew up without a mum, only her dad. In her house was 6 brothers, and no sisters. Her father didn't work... her childhood was chaotic from start to finish with no stable environment to grow up in. As a result she had trouble at school and in the end teachers just branded her a "trouble-maker" and gave up on her. Throughout it all I remained one of her closest friends as she always still had a smile and an attitude that things would get better. I lost touch with her once we all left school.

Was that her fault? Did she wilfully choose to end up homeless on the street?

From that day on my perception of homeless people changed forever. You have no idea if you've never experienced it first hand... especially when you see it happen to somebody you know like a sister (it can happen to anyone) there will always be one or two professional beggars and shysters on the street, but I can assure you, at least here in the UK, the VAST majority of homeless people have been failed by all of us both state institutions that are meant to intervene and provide a safety net, and the ignorant attitude of the general public who stigmatise them further by saying it is a choice or "they're criminals" whilst only offering vitriol instead of a helping hand.

I am not a religious person at all but I have never ever been able to shake the feeling that when my time comes, I will be judged for what I did next. After chatting to the girl for some time, I walked away and said goodbye.

That was probably the most inhumane thing I ever did. I could have picked her off the street there and then and had her come and live with me... what did I do? Nothing.

What do we all collectively do? Nothing. We all think it's somebody elses (or the individuals) problem to deal with, and so the cycle continues.

Anger, rage and the finger of blame is the refuge of the lazy.

Compassion is the hardest discipline to master...
Keyboard compassion, irl you are gtf. Why the lecture, feelz?
 

Dr.Amber Trichome

Well-Known Member
I can see REI getting in on this too. it will created more jobs for REI to create more tents and sleeping bags. Starbucks has just launched a new food line. It’s all organic and fresh . it gets made in the mornings and at the end of the day it gets picked up to be donated to the homeless.
 

schuylaar

Well-Known Member
how about we stop dropping bombs?

this way we won't have to dive for the stale Panera cookie with the frosting all fotched up and other leftovers.
 
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Fogdog

Well-Known Member
Gather the homeless and and have them work cleaning up parks and highways and other public places that need to be cleaned . They can also be bused to pick strawberries and other produce. Yes?
And evict if they won't and they go back on the street? That wouldn't be much of a solution for homelessness.

We are talking about the chronic homeless, a population that is riddled with all sorts of problems related to the reason why they couldn't hold down a job. 30% are mentally ill, 60% with a drug problem, others deal with other issues. Imagine managing the work program you discuss. What does the state do if a person won't cooperate?

The objective isn't to be nice and help these people because of a goody-goody reason. The homeless population in Seattle are living in parks without adequate sanitation, causing problems in the neighborhoods and a burden in hospitals. The city can't just break the camps up because laws prevent breaking up these camps without a place for the people living in them to go. The objective in Seattle's proposed plan for the homeless is to address cost and quality of life issues caused by those camps in a humane way.

Sure, offer a voluntary work program that helps get these people back into the work force that pays them for their work makes a lot of sense.
 

Rob Roy

Well-Known Member
There I agree - sure enough (with help from the local government) she is off the streets now, last thing I heard, but only through a lot of help and she's highly unlikely to have a successful and fulfilled life.

I have improved my own circumstances that my own living standards and income means I can afford to be more compassionate than 5 years go.

The onus is on all of us to work at improving ourselves with the opportunities presented to us - but we must not be so quick to blame others for their circumstance either. Where and who you were born too is still the single biggest factor as to the type of life you're probably going to have. Those who work out of poverty into success are very much in the minority.
Judge every person as an individual. Help those you are inclined to help, help themselves. If they can't help themselves, help them if you are able to and inclined to.

Governments don't really "help", not in the same voluntary way you or I could. They first have to take something from others, under threat of force, before they can "give" anything to anyone. There are better and less violent ways to help people. I seek and practice those ways, since a peaceful world is a worthy goal.
 
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