| fratermus <nntp2015.fratermus@spamgourmet.net>: Aug 20 01:11PM On Fri, 19 Aug 2016 10:34:01 -0700, Beaver_Fever wrote: > They tried porto-potties downtown LA about ten years. Became havens for > drug use and prostitution, which is a bit inexplicable to me. Even my > dick wouldn't stay hard in a skid row shitter. LOL Didn't know about the LA test; thanks for the info. > Now if I can make my goal of $100,000 in the bank, I am going to hobo in > style. I also want to go to Gathering Of The Juggalos at least once in > my life. Sounds like a blast. It looks like I'll be able to retire in a few years at 59 on a small pension. I have always wanted to boondock in the Southwest so I am researching a small RV in which to live and travel. I might meet you at an ICP show. :-) |
| fratermus <nntp2015.fratermus@spamgourmet.net>: Aug 20 01:35PM On Fri, 19 Aug 2016 16:38:03 -0700, wilma6116 wrote: > I'm glad you like Portland, but the 'homeless' population is getting out > of control. The downtown is full of aggressive panhandlers, open > intoxication, and increased violence. It's an interesting thought that they should be controlled. :-P I did see many beggars but all the ones that interacted with me were pleasant. I concede that it may have been an exception and not a typical experience. I am not sure I am opposed to open intoxication, assuming they break no other laws. If we wanted to be consistent we'd also criminalize being generally stupid or a loud talker in public. Full agreement about the violence; I am non-aggressive (although armed) and would prefer that others be non-aggressive, too. > The Springwater Trail, a 40 mile > bicycle path encircling the city, has become lined with homeless camps. Sounds like a good use of space. Assuming they are otherwise law-abiding. > The freeway embankments are open trash dumbs as the 'homeless' just > throw their trash to the bottom of the hill. Anyone littering is in the wrong (homeless or otherwise). > Many fires from open fire > pits. I wonder if this is an opportunity to workshop with the homeless about traditional hobo cooking setups that do not have open fire. Thinking something like the the first setup in: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgMk-jhA974 although I would cut a small door out of the bottom for adding fuel to the fire. I think this would greatly reduce runaway fires, and would reduce the amount of wood needed to cook. > These 'homeless' communities are becoming permanent, they seem to be the > seeds to slums that one sees in Mumbai and Manila. I have no problem with permanent homeless communities. They are *communities*, albeit with rough conditions. Recently Dallas destroyed a homeless camp that was living under IH45, basically because it was upsetting for homed folks and visitors to see the homeless. There had been some violence there, but it's a short distance to homes in South Dallas where violence and murders are commonplace. I don't see Dallas destroying *those* communities. > and quality of life for those who are paying a mortgage, and those > but-for-the-grace-of-God-go-I unfortunates. Not to mention the tuffs and > thugs who prey on both. I do understand your point. Here's a thought experiment, not one that conforms to reality. Consider the homeless camps in the same locations with the same people. But they are as well-behaved as a typical person living in a house or apartment. What would be your reaction to their presence in those circumstances? Real question, one I am pondering right now. I am trying to understand the underlying basis of our collective reaction to homelessness. I don't have a firm grip yet on what informs my own opinion. :-) |
| Bob F <bobnospam@gmail.com>: Aug 20 07:20AM -0700 On 8/20/2016 6:35 AM, fratermus wrote: > Real question, one I am pondering right now. I am trying to understand > the underlying basis of our collective reaction to homelessness. I don't > have a firm grip yet on what informs my own opinion. :-) One of the problems of the homeless is that a number of homeless people have significant mental problems. Not a large percentage, mind you, but enough that behavior problems may stand out. Some of those people might have been institutionalized in previous times, but that seems not to be an option any more. So they are on the street, without care or treatment in many cases. |
| The Real Bev <bashley101@gmail.com>: Aug 20 12:42PM -0700 On 08/20/2016 06:35 AM, fratermus wrote: > understand the underlying basis of our collective reaction to > homelessness. I don't have a firm grip yet on what informs my own > opinion. :-) Around here a lot of the homeless are mentally ill. My automatic reaction is to not make eye contact and walk quickly past. If importuned for spare change, I politely say "No thank you" which makes no sense at all but might confuse them for a moment. (I was once told that a good thing for bicyclists being chased by dogs to yell was GET OFF THE COUCH! for the same reason. ) A woman walking with a toddler was attacked by a loon with a hunk of rebar a quarter mile from my house. The loon then went to a nearby McDonald's and hit somebody there with the rebar. It took 10 minutes for the cops to show up. When you can't distinguish the loons from the merely homeless, you have to assume that they're all loons. -- Cheers, Bev "One's chances of winning the lottery are not appreciably improved by actually buying a ticket." |
| The Real Bev <bashley101@gmail.com>: Aug 20 12:45PM -0700 On 08/20/2016 07:20 AM, Bob F wrote: > have been institutionalized in previous times, but that seems not to be > an option any more. So they are on the street, without care or treatment > in many cases. 1. It costs money. 2. According to lawsuits by (I think) the ACLU several decades ago, it violates their civil rights to lock them up unless they are provably a danger to themselves or others. I approve of the ACLU, but just because something is right doesn't make it pleasant. -- Cheers, Bev "One's chances of winning the lottery are not appreciably improved by actually buying a ticket." |
| wilma6116@gmail.com: Aug 20 02:24PM -0700 On Saturday, August 20, 2016 at 6:35:07 AM UTC-7, fratermus wrote: > I do understand your point. I don't think you do. > Real question, one I am pondering right now. I am trying to understand > the underlying basis of our collective reaction to homelessness. I don't > have a firm grip yet on what informs my own opinion. :-) My problem with blue tarp cities can be summed up by a few pictures. Look for pictures of the slums of Mumbai. Is this how we want to have a growing portion of our population to live? Will this become acceptable? These encampments are breeding grounds for disease. They are fire hazards. They instill a sense of hopelessness, that breeds crime and a lack of respect for others. The camps are ecological disasters, chemicals and waste is discarded easily as possible with out regards. And then it comes down to me, where I don't feel safe using public spaces, my property is not safe, I even have to make sure I don't dally putting my trash to the curb, because the trash pickers will be coming on to my property to go through my containers and take what they find- trash or otherwise. As technology increasingly makes workers obsolete, we should be looking to give everyone universal income, with the understand we are all entitled to food enough, shelter, and basic medical care. |
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