Inside the MAGA Plan to Attack Birth Control, Surveil Women and Ban the Abortion Pill
Republicans’ Project 2025 blueprint spells out how they’ll leverage virtually every arm, tool and agency of the federal government to attack abortion.
Slava Ukraini!Truth and love must prevail over lies and hatred
although people choosing to become homeless is certainly a small percentage of the overall homeless population... we shouldn't pretend choice doesn't play a role in sustaining the homeless populations at their present level.
it's pretty rare, but I've personally met numerous people that all CHOSE to be homeless:
one decided it wasn't worth the trouble of paying rent and utilities and lived in the care. one of them was a retired woman that felt it was easier to be homeless and sell newspapers than to deal with all of the traditional hassles associated with owning a home. (at any rate, that's what she TOLD me)
I knew several guys who chose to become homeless so they couldn't be found by their ex-wives and didn't have to pay child support.
another fellow I knew tried to scam his elderly sister out of her lifesavings in court, claiming she was incompetent. what makes this crazy is that he was using her retirement to help pay his personal bills and support his drug habit WHILE he lived on her property! his sister counter-sued and claimed elder abuse. the guy lost the case in less than a month because he chose to represent himself in court (because no lawyer would work for him)! his entire line of questioning basically supported his sister's countersuit. he was found guilty of elderly abuse and got stuck with a restraining order. he became homeless afterwards because the judge decided his sister was safer with him not being nearby. since he couldn't keep a regular job, and lived at her place, this effectively sealed his fate.
I knew two other guys that actively chose to be homeless because they wanted to spend all of their disposable income on alcohol and drugs. they couch surfed until they burned through all of their friends and then wandered about the streets.
sure, all that stuff is anecdotal... but when significant government programs get virtually no response for offers of assistance... it's hard NOT to see the perspective that for some of these people being homeless is something of a choice. only a TINY FRACTION of the people who were offered help in Portland bothered to accept. many of these people did not choose to be homeless, but for various reasons, many of them (in Portland) are choosing to avoid permanent shelter when it is offered on conditional terms.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...gly%20disagree.
https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/...ere-swept.html
in Portland they actually changed tactics because they found that they weren't really getting the results they wanted. it's not like Portland has become less liberal in their political ideas... it's just that they decided that they have to do something else. when your current tactics fail to achieve the desired results, it makes sense to try another.
to assume that every person consciously chooses to be homeless is a pretty extreme form of denial. but to pretend that NOBODY chooses to become homeless, or to remain so, is another form of denial. I've known too many people over the years to ignore that very real possibility. I can't ignore the journalism and public reports that indicate that some of these people would rather STAY homeless than change the way they live. we can offer them all the public services that we want... but if they refuse, are we supposed to violate their free will and force them to do what society considers best for them?
Double post.
Is it just me, or it very slow again here?
Last edited by Catlady in training; 12-23-2023 at 02:30 PM.
Slava Ukraini!Truth and love must prevail over lies and hatred
Slava Ukraini!Truth and love must prevail over lies and hatred
Original join date: 11/23/2004
Eclectic Connoisseur of all things written, drawn, or imaginatively created.
I've been seeing people fake complaining about spending like $40 at some fast food place for one person and implying it's Biden's inflation or cuz of $15 minimum wage. I'm like "Where do these people supposedly live?" I live within walking distance of almost a dozen restaurants and fast food joints and can easily get a filling meal for say $13 or less.