http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025996797In today's campfire, the primitives discover the exception that proves the rule, but don't realize it's the exception. Here is a sampling of what's on the island. I recommend rowing over and reading the whole thing for yourself, though:
Tue Dec 23, 2014, 02:15 PM
Star Member A HERETIC I AM (13,622 posts)
Young fella gives $100 to a homeless panhandler. He heads straight for a liquor store......
but what happens next brought tears to my eyes;
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUBTAdI7zuY[/youtube]
Tue Dec 23, 2014, 02:36 PM
Star Member steve2470 (25,117 posts)
1. wonderful video, thank you
ALL conservatives need to view this.
If only we could be as generous as the primitives, and give homeless people bean soup. But hold on, this is where it starts to get good:
Tue Dec 23, 2014, 02:50 PM
Bandit (21,212 posts)
5. Even if he bought something to drink, so what?
His life is not very pleasant and a drink or two means a great deal I'm sure. Who are we to say one way or another. I would not mind at all if they bought booze with money I give them. In fact I expect it and think no less of them for it. It is after all Christmas.
Tue Dec 23, 2014, 02:59 PM
Star Member A HERETIC I AM (13,622 posts)
7. You know what? I wouldn't have cared!
I give money to folks like that guy all the time. As a funny Aussie comedian whose name escapes me said;
"People tell me not to give money to the homeless. 'They'll only spend it on booze and drugs!' So what? I don't care. That's probably what I was gonna spend it on anyway!"
I regularly give money to those I see on the street that need it and quite frankly don't care what they do with it. The video touched me for several reasons. 1st, it may very well be that the producer thought "he'll just go get shitfaced with that money", filmed him and if they hadn't continued filming after he walked out of the liquor store, their answer was given.
2nd, that's not what happened. And it is remarkable, for no other reason than it is a first for me to see such a video.
I thought it deserved a chance to be brought to this boards attention.
Tue Dec 23, 2014, 03:02 PM
Star Member Mnemosyne (19,562 posts)
9. Sometimes a drink is all that's between an alcoholic and a deadly withdrawal. Great Video! nt
Alcohol is a human right!
Tue Dec 23, 2014, 03:19 PM
MindPilot (11,732 posts)
15. I know, right? People think they are entitled to judge.
It is an ongoing dialog with my co-workers and I. We see a homeless guy and someone will make a comment (or yell "get a job!" out the window, although that is not permitted when I'm driving) and I have to explain that a) he already has a job and by any objective standard it's a good one. Although no health care or 401k, he works outside, meets people, sets his own hours, is his own boss, and best of all pays zero taxes. And b) who are you to judge what he does with his money? Does our boss given any thought at all to what we do with our paychecks? He is not stealing anything; he's earning money just like the rest us in the working class, the hard way.
He's selling a product--redemption & alleviation of guilt--you feel better when you give the guy a buck because you've done your charitable good deed for the day.
There is no pilot piloting the mindpilot's mind.
Tue Dec 23, 2014, 07:04 PM
daredtowork (1,177 posts)
44. What an awe-inspiring way to look at it.
Begging is work - demeaning workbpeople are forced into. At least there is a chance it will earn a few dollars. Now take filling out endless job applications, networking, and going to "informational interviews" - all for no pay - and there is a high probability of them being a waste of time when you are an introvert with no "connections", there is a multi-year gap in your resume, and none of your recommendations are corporate. In fact this process just drains your few resources as you try to "look professional" and pay for transportation, copies, correspondence, long distance phone calls, etc. For the "long term unemployed", going through the motions of "getting a job" is worse than slavery. Meanwhile the guy working the corner has found a way to survive.
I love your way of looking at it. Everyone needs to be reminded that there is no straight up cash "dole" unless you are disabled, and that's not as easy to get as lawyers make it sound on TV. The alternatives to panhandling are prostituion and criminal activity.
Also life at the poverty level, even if you aren't homeless is extremely stressful just because of the amount of absurd crap the State puts you through. Various bureaucracies are only there to work through their own procedures and gripe about their own under-staffed circumstances. Instead of focusing on helping the person who needs help, all the stress is imposed on the person who can't do anything about it.
I've read articles where impoverished people explain their "bad decision" to smoke or drink. It usually comes down to self-medicating for stress, living in inhumane conditions, and compensating for the failures of the new one-symptom-at-a-time Team Medicine where the entire team underserves the poor by positing "lifestyle" and "behavioral" issues (because testing for real medical problems is too expensive).
I don't smoke or drink - but I sometimes wonder if I'd actually function better if I did. Homeless people are people, too, and they are doing what they have to do in the moment. If that includes drinking, there's probably a bigger picture of dehumanization to consider.
Then why the **** do you guys keep chasing stewert off of your board? Well??
Tue Dec 23, 2014, 03:38 PM
War Horse (829 posts)
19. I'm with you
If I give someone money and they use it for alcohol, it's probably because they need it. Badly.
I'll give this video a pass, though. Assuming it's real, it's a good message to get out there.
Tue Dec 23, 2014, 04:25 PM
PatrynXX (3,641 posts)
34. yeah don't much care what he does with it. as long as it gives him hope
or her hope. cause I know alot of people who are close to losing their homes and they'd rather die that give it up. bad stigma... just make do with what you have. Different reality to them.
Tue Dec 23, 2014, 03:59 PM
Spitfire of ATJ (19,478 posts)
25. The Puritans and the Temperance Movements were hard core Religious Right....
That crap is in everything you hear when you hear contempt for the poor and smug superiority about sobriety.
Tue Dec 23, 2014, 04:14 PM
Star Member Warpy (80,546 posts)
29. I've never had the effrontery to tell a homeless person to do with any money I've given
because whoever it is knows what his/her needs are better than I do.
If that need is a bottle of wine, it's a very real one. Untreated DTs are 50% fatal. That cheap wine is the difference between life and death for alcoholics on the street.
I've been careful about how much I give if the person's eyes are already clouded by alcohol or drugs. $20 will buy a bottle plus maybe some clean socks, a bar of soap, a fast food dinner, or other creature comforts. $100 might buy enough booze to be fatal in itself.
Tue Dec 23, 2014, 03:16 PM
benz380 (77 posts)
13. If you're going to give him money then leave him alone.
Stop following people to see what they are going to do with your 'kind' gift so you can post it online.
I mention this because I have a co-worker that gives money to homeless people in front of fast food joints and then he harasses and threatens them that they better go inside and buy food with it. He will drive circles around the lot making sure they don't go out another door without a purchase. He has even taken his 'gift' back if they come out with just a drink. This pisses me off because he videos them and then laughs with his friends at work as he shows it to them. He's young and lives at home with his well-to-do parents. I told him he could be homeless some day but of course he just laughs it off.
What a bum bouncy.
On and on the thread goes. It's really worth a row over to have a look.