I stand by my statement. Excepting children, it takes a series of bad decisions over a lifetime to be homeless.
I’m not talking about a guy (or gal) sleeping in his/her car for a night or two.
I’m not talking about a woman fleeing with her kids from an abusive guy and living in a shelter for a few months.
I’m talking about sustained and/or repeated homelessness. A guy (or gal) on the streets, who even with the help of government support systems can’ t get himself (herself) into a long-term sustainable situation.
(I probably should add another exception for mental health issues... but the line between mental health and drug abuse is often a thin one and it’s often unclear what came first.)
Dukasaur wrote:jimboston wrote:KoolBak wrote:So homeless people, as a whole, are inherently stupid? Nice.
Is that a question?
I hate to be politically incorrect... excluding kids, it takes a series of bad decisions over a lifetime to wind up homeless.
Bullshit. I've seen it happen almost overnight.
Guy's wife tosses him out of the house, he moves in to a motel. Depressed, he goes on a drinking binge, loses his job. Hhis credit cards were already maxed, he's out of the motel with the first missed paycheque.
Bad Decision: Marrying a woman who would toss you out on the street.
Bad Decision: Getting into a situation where his credit cards are maxed out.
Bad Decision: Going on a Drinking Binge
Bad Decision: Being so undervalued at work that missing a day or two would get him fired.
(Since my first job at 14yo I’ve always gone in with the attitude that I’m going to be the best employee. I didn’t always achieve that goal, but I did always get recognized as a valuable employee... and valuable employees aren’t fired easily.)
Dukasaur wrote:
Alternate version of the above: guy's business partner is fucking his wife, they get caught. He threatens to kill them, they get a peace bond forcing him to stay 100 metres away from the business. Which includes the home, because his home was the loft over top of the store that he spent his entire life's savings to open. Broke, unemployed and homeless in a single afternoon.
That doesn’t make him broke or homeless... as he’d win in the divorce settlement.
but similar bad decisions apply as above...
Dukasaur wrote:
War veteran, gets what you'd think would be tons of money from his veteran's benefit, but the only thing that will shut out the screaming in his head is a bit of the horse. No money for the landlord.
There are support systems in place for veterans... though granted they’re probably woefully inadequate.
I could point out the fact that joining a volunteer military is itself a bad decision... IMHO, as an early-stage-anarchist, supporting a government with violence seems somewhat wrong, but whatevs.
I’d need to know more about this guy’s story.
Dukasaur wrote:All three of the above are true stories from people I have known. Maybe some poor decisions involved, but nothing that couldn't happen to you. And, more directly to your point, it can happen with amazing speed.
I never said it couldn’t seem to happen fast... but that’s only because the foundation on which they’d built their lives was flimsy.
There were bad decisions leading up to those points... then another last minute bad decision that was essentially “the straw that broke the camel’s back”. In order... going on a bender; threatening the lives of you’re wife and business partner; taking drugs.
Even then... there must now be continued bad decisions for anyone of these people to stay on the street
Dukasaur wrote: Think twice before you look down on people.
I’ve thought about it plenty. I stand by my statement.