LogFAQs > #956623724

Reigning_King posted...

There are so many sympathetic people on this board it brings a tear to my eye. I'm sure all of you would be happy to let some homeless people camp in your yard or even move into your home with you. At the very least I'm sure you donate plenty of your extra money and possessions to those less fortunate than you and you aren't just saying things because they "feel" right without actually thinking them through.

This is not the own you think it is for so, so many reasons. This is a self-report.

My family has sheltered multiple homeless people through my life. Most of them were underage- victims of child abuse. I remember one year, we deliberately kept a window open so that a boy could come in at night in case of emergencies. Sometimes they only stayed for a day or two, but we did have two noteworthy long-term guests; a man, who I think had trouble with mental illness that interfered with his ability to keep a job (and obviously he couldn't afford treatment, so he was stuck in a loop), and a teenage girl who had been kicked out of her home for having the audacity to, I shit you not, wear pants instead of full-length skirts (we also think her parents murdered her cat, because they threatened to do so and the cat did go missing).

It was never a problem. Every single person under our roof was kind and respectful and we brought mutual joy into each other's lives, and it was a great privilege to help people in need. Even the ones I can barely remember, I have only fondness for. I just wish it hadn't been necessary.

This attitude yours, which many share, is proof enough that the charity of individuals like that which my family offers is no substitute for systemic solutions, and speaks volumes about your own nature, not that of others; you projecting your own selfishness onto everyone around you and while simultaneously turning up your nose and properly solving this problem speaks volumes about you and no one else.

Much like medical bankruptcy, this is a problem that doesn't have to exist. We know what needs to be done to fix this, but so long as people like you fearmonger and demonize victims of extreme poverty for no goddamn reason, systemic solutions to homelessness will not gain sufficient public support. It literally costs you nothing to stop being an impediment to making the world a better place. Try to grow up, please.

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Hi