some people are poor by choice. In my experience, many panhandlers only try to avoid dying outright. Beyond that, there is nothing more they want from life but a cheap buzz, a warm dry place to sleep (optional), and maybe some clean socks. Some might call that mental illness, but whatever. I figure it's enough to make sure they don't die from exposure or starvation. It's up to them if they want to die of liver disease. If they want a different life, it should be possible to give them one, but in my experience, most actually prefer scraping by on the left-overs of civilization. All the power to them, I guess. It's not a life I want, but I can't see how it causes a problem for me vs. housing them somewhere. It's certainly cheaper to let them sleep in the vacant lots than warehouse them.

 

I don't want to support others because they are stupid, irresponsible, or screwups.

I have nice things because I worked hard to get these things. When I didn't have money, I did without.

Rather than the American addage of, If i work hard I'll get the things I want, now it's who is that mo fo and why should he get something and I can't.

 

There is a guy in my town who sits out front of a "ritzy" restaurant downtown and panhandles. He dresses in all manner of ratty clothing, and sits in a pile of blankets on the edge of the sidewalk (the restaurant cant forcefully remove him that way).

People pay him pretty well according to word on the street. The guy has a cat and dog that sit on a string leash (both of them). But he also has three cars (all pretty poor beater condition), a home (or so I hear), and is pretty well off considering. He is also very obviously not entirely well, mentally. Not completely incapable of working, but not well enough for many jobs. This is all the stuff I hear about from other people that work downtown who are customers at my shop.

So is it better to be upset at him for being "poor"?
or would it make more sense to be upset because he is doing so well at it?

One time, years ago he was doing it near a shopping center, and my friends and I thought it'd be cool to give him some money. We chatted with him a little and he said since it was getting cold he was going to be packing up soon and going over to his van (parked on the far side of the parking lot) and kick back and watch some tv until tomorrow. That's when I promised myself never to give out money to a beggar again. There are some that need it, but too many that abuse it.

I'd rather work at a soup kitchen or something to help those who are willing to swallow their pride a little and help themselves first.

 

There is really not much incentive to get out of the system if you can walk around in your underwear in the dead of winter with free heat, etc.... of course most of the time the houses are in shitty parts of town.....blaaa

I just can't imagine having taxes raised even more to breed more laziness and 80F houses....

 

Great story! Was his name Alex? I evicted him last year.

 

A few years ago I had the dubious position of screening people for "Christmas in April" where the community comes together to help families in need. One of the applicants that I had to interview had one of the biggest big screen TV's that I had seen, she also told me about when a church group came over to do stuff for her and how she saw to it that did every little thing around the house and yard that she could think of. As I walked around her house I saw the signs of deliberate damage to the walls, and she told me how her son would have his friends over and party... Oh and one requirement was that they also have to help in the fix-up work, they can't sit around. That was not going to happen, she figured if the community was going to give her something then she wasn't going to help. Needless to say I disqualified her with the committee.

 

[QUOTE=GT_2003,Jan 13 2008, 02:16 PM] is it really any surprise people who require financial assistance lack money management skills?

 

This is why I generally donate to animal causes over the human ones.

 

Here's the deal; the notion of supporting oneself is pretty much a Middle Class - Upper Middle Class ideal.

We do not teach values, and I'll blame everybody (except myself of course ):

The ultra-liberals will tell you that teaching an American Middle Class model of self-sufficiency is too culturally biased.

The ultra-conservatives will tell you that values should be taught in the home and at church, and we shouldn't have to teach them anything.

I had the good fortune of having one (and probably only one) good in-service while I was a public school teacher (in a poor neighborhood). It was with Dr. Ruby K. Payne. One of the many topics she and her staff cover is instructional methods for populations of generational poverty. I would guess that of Scot's 35+ Section 8 tenants, they were milking the system just like mom/dad did. It's not like they learn this in schools (well, at least not in the classroom). The Code of The Street is not Common Law; but many poor people have to live by the former prior to living by the latter. Moreover, as teachers are inherently Middle Class,* the ability to teach to this population is greatly hindered.

I believe most of our failures as a society at this point are due to:

a.) addressing poverty as isolated incidents, versus addressing generational poverty

b.) viewing poverty through a Middle Class lens, rather than looking at it with "blank slate" or research-based approach

c.) We the Voters not taking into consideration the considerable amount of money to be made from the poor (on both sides of the aisle; the only difference IMHO is where the money gets counted). As such, it is in every politicians best interest to keep poor people poor.

* During the in-service (year: 2004), we were presented with the startling fact that most of the teachers in the district were in the top 50% of all wage-earners in the country. With my additional PT job, I was in the top 25%. Man I could really relate to my students. . . . riiiight.

 

Florida pays a monthly maximum welfare benefit of $303. There are seven states that pay lower monthly benefits. That's poor. I doubt that the tales of tenants living in luxury apply to these people.

I've traveled extensively in the rural American South, and I've seen living conditions that I previously didn't know existed outside of the Third World. That's poor. I've been on Canadian First Nations reservations and saw living conditions that weren't much better. That's poor too.

I wish that the people who resent paying to support others through their taxes would pause to consider how they would make ends meet on an income of $303 a month for a family of three. Try to imagine it even for one person. When you think about the advantages that you have had in life (good mental and physical health, most probably the advantages of a middle-class upbringing such as access to better schools, not being beaten and abused in your youth, not having to combat a background that might involve poverty or racism), perhaps you could be a little more understanding about people who have not enjoyed those advantages. We are each others brothers and sisters.