Austin Under Siege!!!

reply to post by pirhanna


Well, back in the 90's in Florida (of all places) I saw several ex military men who served in WWII. They were "bums". Some had mental illnesses (either brought on by PTSD from their experiences or other) which made them unable to hold a job or function at all.

Granted, you do meet some (like the credit card guy in your story) who will try to rip you off. But the rash generalization in your post really makes me sick to my stomach. And people wonder why the world is going to hell in a hand basket.

It's because of people like you. Politicians, cops, random Joe's on the street not giving a crap about their fellow man. Screw WHY they're in the situation, the fact is they're in it and they need help out. Not everyone will be willing (or able) to get out. But you can't generalize all of them as lazy bastards who don't want to work for what they get.

I actually thought it was about the gang rape OU put on texas

Originally posted by pirhanna
Austin is under siege........... by BUMS. I bet you thought this was going to be about the Occupy movement

(not sure the best forum for this...)

I am generally a progressive libertarian so some of you might be surprised at how much I loathe bums. I was once much more well-wishing and had some empathy, but now I don't. If you don't live in Austin (or maybe San Francisco) you just don't understand.

What we have here is a bumocalypse!! I can't take it any more!
Yesterday I had one chase me in the grocery parking lot, then lean against my window asking for money then when I backed up he ran in front of my car and laid across my hood asking for money, blocking my way. A couple months ago I had one screaming at me for not giving him a dollar as I was gassing up my car. Then he acted like he wanted to fight me because I told him I didn't want to listen to his bull**** story he had just told three other people in the parking lot. Dude I heard it. I know you're lying. I'm not giving you my money. Thursday night, a bum kept following my girlfriend asking her for a dime. Finally he said "eff u" when we didn't give him one, then he bitched about having to use his credit card to buy a drink. HIS CREDIT CARD!!!!

God I hate bums. It's a social ill that we have to find a way to fix, because they all move to my city and won't leave anyone alone. They are on EVERY corner all day begging for money. How about you go collect some cans and make some beer can ashtrays to sell or something?? No?? You just want people to give you money for being lazy. For choosing to be professional bums.

I understand how hard it is right now, but this is ridiculous. The bums literally CHASE you down the street. They stand in free parking spaces and motion you in and then pretend they are a parking attendant to charge you. They make up stories about their wife having a baby right then and having no gas money. Two days later, you see them again and they are saying the same thing. Go make something. Go clean something. Leave me alone you stinking bums.

Can we put these people to work to earn their pay or what?? Don't we have bridges that need building or streets that need cleaning or something?

It's like that south park episode here, the one where the bums all migrate to south park and turn into zombies asking for change. Except they all migrated to Austin! They are probably wandering into my gf's apartment complex right now so drunk you can't understand what they are saying and if you ask them to leave you alone they go into BUM RAGE.


And you don't want BUM RAGE. Seriously.

(Note: I do not consider all homeless to be bums. You might be surprised to find out that more than half the bums in Austin have homes)

Please please, do something with these bums.
Sincerely,
A concerned citizen in Austin.

edit on 8-10-2011 by pirhanna because: (no reason given)

Your oooozing sympathy could freeze hell over, God forbid you ever become homeless.

you sad horrible people ...so thats it... us than them eh.people are people,we arent all wired the same,some struggle more than others..i'll leave my digust at that for i dont want to write an essay...

i finished work a few months back,pulled up at the bottle shop with my mate to grab a case of the good stuff,we pulled pulled up and there was homeless guy,old bloke,locally they call him goggles,he was poorly rugged up,u could see he was freezing,it was pissing down rain and windy,my mate straight away says to me .."im giving him 10 dollars,i matched his money,so my mate gets out walks up to the guy and handed out the 20 to him,...the guy freaked out at first,he was so shocked for being approached he thiought he was going to be attacked..when he realised what was happening he accepted very graciously,my mate also game his jacket.....not much to us but i bet it made a world of difference that night for him....

i felt awful seeing this guy especially when it was so obvious of the phisical and mental abuse the guy cops from the general public...

peace

What's the OP whinging and ranting on about?

These bums are off their a$$ actually doing something unlike yourself bemoaning the situation on an internet forum.

Pot calling kettle black.

Doesn't this post belong in the Rants forum?

Just curious..

reply to post by Chadwickus


i thought it was a great comparison, that shows if you dehumanise a section of society enough, it justify's treating people in a inhumane way and o.k.'s it to everybody. but if others were treated like it, it would not be o.k.

inorder for the germans to do what they did they had to dehumanise the jews, now i do not think it is simular in terms of rounding them up and killing them is concerned but the dehumanisation is spot on.

dehumanisation is needed where the homeless is concerned because people might actually start questioning why fellow human beings are treated as such, but since in the eyes of many they are not human and something to be poked fun at, people can ignore them and feel better about their own lifes with preconcieved opinions about homeless people and about how it is all their own faults and they deserve it.

this way we do not have to question why some people have 75% of the pie whilst others have nothing on the other end of the spectrum.

it is not in the interest of the rich for this to be questioned or to have any compassion for people who are the victims of the system that keeps them on top.

America = soon to become bumf#%ck paradise. Rejoice!!!

Originally posted by superman2012
Feed the homeless to the hungry and solve two problems at once!

Soylent Green is.......PEOPLE!!!!!
2nd

reply to post by pirhanna
It'll just get worse. With the economy dropping, there will be a growing "army" of people. Some will retain their nobility and honour, others? Well it won't be pretty.

Originally posted by jdb51
reply to post by Screwed

 

I just think the OP is talking about the ones who become aggressive when you don't (or can't) give them money. Being homeless and panhandling is not an excuse for being rude, and frightening people. However, if more and more of our society continues to become desperate to feed their children or pay for heat, this will become more commonplace. When you can't find work, or have no money for food, clean water, heat, shelter, just where do these people go to for help? What do you do when you become desperate? Unfortunately, there are so many people using social programs in these times, there just isn't enough money to help everyone. Donate to your local food bank, go through your coat closets and donate unused, outgrown coats to homeless shelters. Next year, it could be you....

edit on 8-10-2011 by jdb51 because: (no reason given)

I know Austin. It is a haven for bums and started with the hippies. They are attracted to the students at UT that give them some of daddy's money. I worked (a job) in the campus area. Most of those bums are hardened criminals that have no respect for private property OR themselves. The next beer or hit is all they want.

As for the decent people that find themselves in somewhat similar situations, they should be asking themselves how they got that way, was it nature, nuture or a bad consumer philosphy that got them in that position?

But regardless, this social problem is going to get worse. I was told that my grandfather during the Great Depression said that if he, a carpenter, had to, he would steal to feed his children. Wouldn't we all say that? Today, it is a good time to start thinking about the collapse of society and culture and how you can best survive. If you haven't a clue about what CAN happen, rent the DVD of "The Road," and think about your place in the future. It will be about pure survival, not what data plan you will pick for your new phone.

There are professional bums that make a pretty decent living... The ones that have always made me angry are the ones smelling of liquor and smoking a cigarette that have hit me up for a buck or two so they could have bus fare to get home to their wife and kids and when I tell them that I honestly do not have any money respond that "You would give me money if I was white" I was on a morning paper box route and having to empty them of coins and the guy was insisting I steal from my employer to give him the money... I run into an other type that wants to throw a mess of misquoted Biblical scripture at me. One followed me into a Mexican bakery and picked up a religious tract in Spanish and pointed to a picture of Christ and started jabbering. I just stared at him and went about my shopping.. When I had paid for my Pan Dulce I handed him a couple of bucks and when he started up again with the God stuff I told him to tell the next Christian you see that an atheist handed you 2 bucks.... It is seldom that I have seen a rich Christian that can spare a buck or two for a street person, but plenty of poor Christians or atheist I have known will be feeling guilty for not having more money to give....I've been cold, wet, hungry and without sleep for days at a time and hate to see another person in that kind of situation.

There are professional bums that make a pretty decent living... The ones that have always made me angry are the ones smelling of liquor and smoking a cigarette that have hit me up for a buck or two so they could have bus fare to get home to their wife and kids and when I tell them that I honestly do not have any money respond that "You would give me money if I was white" I was on a morning paper box route and having to empty them of coins and the guy was insisting I steal from my employer to give him the money... I run into an other type that wants to throw a mess of misquoted Biblical scripture at me. One followed me into a Mexican bakery and picked up a religious tract in Spanish and pointed to a picture of Christ and started jabbering. I just stared at him and went about my shopping.. When I had paid for my Pan Dulce I handed him a couple of bucks and when he started up again with the God stuff I told him to tell the next Christian you see that an atheist handed you 2 bucks.... It is seldom that I have seen a rich Christian that can spare a buck or two for a street person, but plenty of poor Christians or atheist I have known will be feeling guilty for not having more money to give....I've been cold, wet, hungry and without sleep for days at a time and hate to see another person in that kind of situation.

reply to post by Screwed


Well it's easier then breaking it down into
Crack head
alcoholic
gambler
coke head
dope head
ice head
plain old lazy
mentally disturbed
homeless etc etc..
Not all homeles are good people down on their luck, Alot of homeless are just lazy drug addicts who dont want to do anything. Basically doing a drug to the point that it destroys your life IS YOUR OWN FAULT.

Is it not strange that in this western liberal world that we have the basic human right to marry a pet donkey but no human right for shelter?

Methinks we have our priorities skewed with all of this human rights bollocks.

I went to school with this guy ( eons ago) who was perfectly normal, became an electrician after he left, worked hard, regular guy. He unfortuantly had a car accident which, i suspect, damaged his brain as he became a bit unusual following the accident. About a year later i ran into him in a supermarket and heard his life story since i'd last seen him.

He'd ended up living in a tent in a wood, the local kids and some adults would regulary physically attack him, when ever he was in town people would verbally abuse him. One night a group of people dropped a concrete fence post through his tent while he was sleeping - another trip to the hospital.

The whole thing made me realise two things - People can be hideous to those considered outside the social norms, there's no sympathy from the general public for those suffering from mental illness, it's almost like the middle ages still. I also realised that once someone gets in that state it's very hard to pull them out of it.

Poor guy ( 10 years later) is still wandering around in a daze, totally failed by all social services and basicaly left to fend for himself.

Not all bums are there through fault of their own.

Round'em all up and send them to johnston atoll like the brit's did with austrialia either they will build or die!

I lived in Austin 4 years ago, and I was homeless, Heck I moved from Michigan to Texas and was homeless, the wife and I, before moving to Texas, looked up the place we were going to stay in Texas at the local library (for free) at the time we were living a homeless shelter in Michigan.

We found a homeless shelter in Temple, the destination we had chosen, after 4 days of driving, and the little money we did have running out, we finally arrived, to find the place we were looking for had closed and had become a daycare.

No Job, little money, no one and nothing to help us. We started looking for government assistance, for a week we wnt from one place to the next, to no avail. We went to church, and met some one that gave us a (slim) lead, a program called family promise, it sounded awesome, we would sleep in churches and look for work during the day, Great, one caveat, you had to have children, we have none. Our luck was with us, there were no families currently using the system, so they said we could join the program with the understanding that, if a family with children came along we would be "booted" from the program. in any case we were out of the program in less than 30 days, and we told that to the administrator of the program when we had our intial interview, his reply was that no one had ever gotten out of the program in less that 90 days.

The "bums" of Austin are a problem. The homeless are not so much. when we lived in Austin we ended up homeless again and moved west. We have been knocked down a few times but have not given up. That's the key, don't stop keep moving.

When we left west Michigan, they would require a 2 year college degree even to be considered for a gas station cashier, not because they wanted smart people, but just to narrow the field of prospective employees. That's WHY we left (the company I worked for closed)

The Worst part about being homeless is there ARE places that will help you, but finding them an getting into them is extremely difficult. You can get stuck in the go here go there they will help you runaround. I Never give Money or food tot he Homeless, I have driven them to churches that give free lunches, I have driven them to homeless shelters, I have even given a few Job applications.

Give a man a fish and he has a meal, give a man a fishing pole and he can have food for life............

Now how do you think families or broken families felt and were treated in the Great Depression?

I typically lean far right to balance out this ship that's listing far left. But if YOU are suddenly homeless, you'd lose your mind and find ways to escape, some relief from your new reality.

Think if it this way, the government has burned off Trillions of negative ROI dollars. None of the Job or Stimulus programs have helped jobs, instead they've bloated government and siphoned off money to big banks and corrupt Unions. More rules and regulations and threats of taxes have stopped businesses from investing in new projects (which need workers). Instead of letting real estate crash and regrow, they've created a 'soft landing' of continuing decline to save the value of bank held assets and the solvency of banks, delaying construction jobs.

In the US 131 Million are employed out of a population of 310 Million, same number as were employed in May 2004 when the population was 292 Million. That's 18 Million more people, and with about 40% employed, there are 8 Million without jobs that normally would be working. Where will they go?

Blame the White House and Congress for stealing your future money, spending it stupidly, and undermining free capitalism.