Tried to Hire a Homeless Man Today

www.joebageant.com...

He tells of that huge class of unnoticed people in America, the white underclass of a thousand small towns and countryscapes, of Winchester, Virginia where he lived and by implication to Waldorf, Maryland and King George, Virginia and, well, all over the Carolinas and the Cumberland Plateau and … everywhere. America thinks it is a middle-class country. It isn’t. Joe knew.

We don't last, and there's no warranty

reply to post by psychederic

Originally posted by ThirdEyeofHorus

See this is the thing though, Americans are very often the most generous people around. .

No, you're not. The USA gives the least amount of $$ in foreign aid of any country in the world, and most of what it does gove, is 'tied aid'.
And judging by 80% of this thread, as individuals, you have all the generosity of hyenas!
I can't believe anyone believes John Stossel! The jerk is a libertarian, for goodness' sake!

Some show did something on this, wasn't MSM, but in California this guy said he could make $300 on a good day begging.

reply to post by Vicky32

No, you're not. The USA gives the least amount of $$ in foreign aid of any country in the world

Israel would beg to differ on that point.

Originally posted by onehuman
Amazing how one thread can sure teach you a lot about the world and how it thinks, as this thread has been all over the board as far as mind sets. It is obvious , just like many other threads, people dont read everything before they state their opinion. I know it is hard to read a lot of pages, Im not pointing fingers, it is just that one misses a lot.


So, perhaps this was the path I was suppose to go down anyway.And maybe just maybe, this all happened just so this post would go up to make people think.....

"Judge not, lest ye be judged." Sometimes people who come into our lives at unexpected times through unlikely paths can and DO make a difference. While I in no way condone the professional streetwise con artists, I do not randomly condemn the "true" street people who are there for whatever the reason may be. Con artists exist in all levels of society. Survival is a basic instinct in animals and humans.

Several years ago I was introduced to a semi-homeless street person. My first impression was, "Run! This guy makes Charles Manson look like a school boy!" My initial instincts weren't "in tune" to this guy and his potential as a hired hand, though I've always had a pretty good 6th sense for sizing people up. Much to my dismay, S/O hired him to do some extensive construction work. I stayed out of their business deal, initially.

In time I was consulted for opinions on different phases of the work being done. Interacting with this guy, whom I'll call Rob, was a must. Within a reasonable time frame, my fears - based on outward appearances - soon vanished. Inside this guy was a heart of gold. He fell on tough times many years before after losing a child to cancer. His family deserted him. He learned to survive through various charitable organizations before hitting the streets. The man took pride in his work. His work ethics were impeccable and he always gave a 110% effort. He was very intelligent....he could've been making as much as 3x the wages we were paying him, or collecting SSI, but that would've meant a life style he was no longer comfortable with. I learned much from him. The flip side was there were other street people who always had a story or two to tell about Rob's "secret" life. While the stories were plausible, I had to look the other way because this man's demeanor in our presence was never anything less than respectful. I learned to treat him like family. He earned and deserved my utmost respect in spite of his usual unkempt appearance. Did he manage his finances responsibly? No, but for the few times he did ask for a small cash advance with a day off, he was always good for his word. He was not, according to our experiences, a "typical" street person. He was a constant in our lives for almost 2 years. The day came when the work ran out and we had to part ways. There was a sweet bitterness to him, but to this day I think about him and pray for his well-being and safety. I will be forever grateful this man came into my life.

Originally posted by wayno
reply to post by Robin Marks

 

Since you can't tell them apart.
Neglect them all.
Or just gather all the real ones up, and put them in a camp.
Then they won't get all mixed up out in the public square.

You are either 12 yrs old or so naive that u might as well be. First off, homeless and down and out people aren't that way from birth. Some are just like normal people to start with, like eh? and then something happens to them. Sometimes like, they get better -- so what do you do, use temporary tattoos? Every generation breeds a new generation of bums. Do you just keep expanding the camps to hold them??

Jeez. As society moves ever towards the richer getting richer and the poorer getting poorer, there will be an ever growing crowd of people willing to take advantage of that. This is because those who are lucky enough to still have work, and make good money will feel guilty that there are so many without. There will be more of those in real need and more of those who take advantage of the situation to get money free from those who have it.

Camps are not the solution. Reducing the gap between rich and poor and bringing back a middle class would probably be a better solution.

Maybe you should have read some of my earlier posts. And if you read my post carefully, you'd realize I was being sarcastic. You may notice in my post I refer to a solution many times. And I say that I don't have the "final solution". I am not 12 years old. I am 44. I have a mental illness and I find the prejudice displayed on the thread to be disheartening.

What's the "final solution"?

en.wikipedia.org...

Hilter's solution for the Jewish problem was the concentration camps. But it wasn't just the Jews he was trying to eliminate. They murdered homosexuals, communists, the mentally ill, and pretty much everyone that was deemed as undesirable. I am making the direct connection to say that to dehumanize the homeless is starting down the path to Fascism. Hilter united his people by scapegoating anyone that didn't fit the German "ideal".

I find the hypocracy on this thread incredible. Well, not really. George Orwell was so smart. Most of you have swallowed the advertising hook, line and sinker. The politicians and the corportations have brainwashed you into a state of perverse priorities. Pray to the dollar. In money you trust.

So many of you are outraged by the idea that a psychopathic con-artist takes your twenty dollars. But you are being conned into giving your tax dollars to support a military machine. A machine that has stolen billions of dollars and killed millions of people around the world. The power elite have succeeded. Here you sit sniping at a bunch of two-bit thiefs instead of focusing on the real conspiracy.

You are slaves to the machine. Pawns for a dollar. Mindless puppets ready to cannablise each other.

What a brave new world.

I live in world where every year is 1984.

reply to post by onehuman


Long story short would you work your ass off for an hour for only twenty bucks, or stand around and do nothing and make the same amount, there you go thats what i'd be thinking, who's smarter than who in this picture?
To me looks like the bum has it sorted while others are slogging it out for the same result..
Just ditch your self respect and you can live for free off others generosity

I'll give you the whole idea that they make more money standing on the corner "doing nothing." Why would they want to manual labor for what maybe the same about of wage. There is no way their lifestyle can afford them the basic's needed in today's world. They have lowered their standards based on what they are willing to do. Do I feel bad for all homeless people I see? No. I just don't feel they are getting the better end of the deal no matter what. Accept that and then make a better rounded decision of weather to contribute to the messed of reality that is their everyday.

Originally posted by TriForce
Israel would beg to differ on that point.

Probably not if they can read English.

Originally posted by Vicky32
No, you're not. The USA gives the least amount of $$ in foreign aid of any country in the world, and most of what it does gove, is 'tied aid'.

reply to post by A por uvas


What you witnessed is not because the homeless guy was "pretty drunk like you" as you so ignorantly put it!

It's because MOST homeless people, Even if they have their flaws, will give their last dollar to someone they think needs it....

That's part of the reason why some people stay homeless... it's sad but a lot of the homeless are very very nice people that get taken advantage of so much that they end up on the streets.

I see a lot of people in these threads who obviously have no idea what it's like to hit rock bottom and STICK there... It's sad how hateful people are.

Originally posted by flyingfish
I thought most new that panhandling can be a lucrative,if not dishonest way of making a living.
They are called professional panhandlers.

AS I SAID earlier, all these guys are scammers. I've been homeless, and I can tell you the whole thing is a scam.
Some of these people live in really nice houses!

quite a few cases in the UK where people beg for a living then return home to a mansion...

reply to post by woghd


Something just occurred to me. If some of these people are living in really nice houses... there could be a multitude of reasons as to why they're actually out there panhandling. Maybe something critical happened that posed a need for extra cash that their current situation couldn't remedy... and the only way they could solve the problem was panhandle. I'm thinking of someone receiving some type of benefits... like unemployment insurance. There must be other situations where the gov't monitors income. Maybe they're legally disabled and on SSI. You ARE allowed to own a home and car and still receive SSI, you know... which ain't much.

If you're in a bad financial situation... your assets can also result in the denial of certain benefits... such as foodstamps etc. Think about that.

Originally posted by woghd
AS I SAID earlier, all these guys are scammers. I've been homeless, and I can tell you the whole thing is a scam.
Some of these people live in really nice houses!

The "whole thing" is a scam? So you were living in a nice house while you were homeless? You were scamming people and not really homeless that time while you were homeless? Is that what you are saying? You once lived in a nice house while you were homeless scamming people?

Originally posted by onehuman
For example if people had read, they may have come to understand that I am a "Older Woman" and not some scary beady eyed Jeffry D. type.

Maybe this homeless person is more familiar with serial killers that you are.

8 Prolific female serial killers

Being in your 60s doesn't help either.

Juana Barraza ruled the Mexican women’s wrestling circuit as “The Silent Lady,” but she became infamous for another moniker, “La Mataviejitas”—the old-lady killer

I have read about many female serial killers and the funny thing about them is that the mean age for female serial killers as far older than for men. I just watched a nice special about a woman in her 70s that rented out rooms to old homeless men, killed them, and kept collecting their SS checks. She had like 7 or 8 bodies in her garden when they finally caught her.

Not saying you are a serial killer, I am just saying if your homeless man was well read on serial killers he understood that a 60 year old woman offering 20 bucks to get in her car is still something we used to call "# that don't fit."

Originally posted by Vicky32I can't believe anyone believes John Stossel! The jerk is a libertarian, for goodness' sake!

You say that like it was a bad thing.

Originally posted by irsuccubus
reply to post by AwareOfSurroundings

 

no more pathetic than fighting over a parking space, kids soccer game, skanky chick, crappy guy, sports team, D&D game or trivia question and yet us home having folks do just that. We do awful things to eachother in the name supposedly noble causes and yet look down our noses at those who have regressed back to baser instincts. Anyone who has never lived on the streets..dare ya to try it. It sucks and can scare the f**k outta ya if you are unfamiliar with what you might encounter. Urban Outdoorsman, as I like to call them, have a unique perspective into this whole system that long ago chose to either spit them out or they simply walked away from. They get to stand outside of it, largely ignored, often sneered at and yet no one seems to get that all that talk about connection ends if it doesnt extend to even those we find distasteful. To love the unlovable is a sign of spiritual growth and we are nowhere near that place. Fight or flight should go without saying but the rest is up to you. How will you know what that person wants and what they plan to do unless you talk to them? And I mean TALK to them...not grill them about what they intend to do as you stand their with our benevolent dollar, lol.

People would prefer that the bums make things known outwardly so that they can be spared having to actually converse with these poor souls. Good ole anonymous giving. It puts money in their pocket and keeps you from feeling like a tool. everybody wins. Right? Wrong. Even as we drop some coins in a cup many are failing to realize that these are still people. People walk away and forget all about it. And anyone who uses the excuse that they are possibly criminals or crazy to disconnect themselves should hurry up and buy that farm out in cornhole county somewhere because crooks and nuts are EVERYWHERE....even our very own families

But they shower right? They dont look....scary. They dont visibly offend us. Not all of them smell like burbon with a dogcrap chaser. But where's the challenge in that? lol. I have had the privileged of being a bartender in an urban area and you meet all sorts of people with some very interesting stories. Imagine what someone might tell you if you asked them to tell you an interesting story in exchange for the money and didnt trouble yourself about what they intended to do with the money.

edit on 10-4-2011 by irsuccubus because: (no reason given)

Fighting is one thing, but that man died because of a bottle of alcohol. Let's not dismiss that just because he's homeless. If they are that screwed in the head then they need to go find help, or be demanded to be helped. Nobody should die over a bottle of alcohol.

There are scammers in every profession. what's the point? Seems like this thread is more about propaganda than information or conspiracy. Take the profession YOU are in right now. There are lazy people and scammers in that same profession. What's that say about YOU and your profession? All this really shows is that a percentage of human beings will take advantage of the system. Did anyone not know this before this thread?

Originally posted by zerotime

There are scammers in every profession. what's the point?

That is exactly what I am lost by. I see no difference between a beggar and any corporation. Some people tells lies and ask for money. Fruit stripe gum loses flavor before I get my galldurn change!!!! Life sucks like that so we can pick and chose which people asking us for money on lies and false promises we choose to indulge. Some people do not like the beggars actively asking for money. I do not like seeing Extenzz commercials every 15 #ing minutes either. Life sucks, like that and I say these people just don't give out any money and move along. Sitting around complaining about it and denigrating millions of people based on "this one time, this one guy did this one thing" really does not seem to be moving the issue in any positive directions I can see. Glad I am not the only one thinking some of that.