The Real, The Surreal, and The Gullible
Up through 1968 my life was on track to be a blend of The Sting (1973), Sneakers (1992), and The Company You Keep (2012). Robert Redford knows how to pick'em.
The community of street people is expanding at an alarming rate. Not all of them are homeless. Not all of them are schizophrenic. Not all of them are paranoid. Not all of them are jobless. They do share in the metric of being unable to reliably provide for what should be considered the basic necessities of life. Sadly, some of them are frauds. I know . . . yes I know . . . it is horrible for me to cast such aspersions on an entire class of human beings. Or it would be awful if I was not telling the truth. The really sad truth is that it is so very difficult to discern (in the moment) the best course of action. And, for someone with my background it is nearly impossible not to be cynical (Some would say "jaded" as I have "seen it all".).
There is some talk in Lincoln, NE about repurposing obsolete parking meters to become collection points (See a homeless person, feel sympathy, drop a few coins in the collection meter.) for donations to local assistance centers.
The VOICE Vendor Program in Denver, CO assists, in a variety of ways, people in crisis. Sold on the street The VOICE raises awareness as it provides a way for a client to be an active participant in the process.
There are food banks, and various programs everywhere, but these are just not enough to deal with the misery that will continue to grow, no matter what happens tomorrow.
But this is America so clearly it would be inappropriate to create a Works Project Administration to create actual real jobs for actual real people.
Comments
The problem is that charities are mainly hitting up those of
us who have the least to give. The people with all the money see nothing wrong with making a career of asking the 99% to finance their jobs for charities.
"The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now do you begin to understand me?" ~Orwell, "1984"
Your Taxes Pay For It ‽
This is why it is so important to make the electorate understand that their federal taxes do not pay for government programs. This "spending comes from taxes" syllogism is not only wrong it leads to the stupidity of gutting social programs under the guise of saving taxpayer's money. The masses are guilted into gifting the underpaid so the owners can keep their ill-gotten gains.
Relying upon private charities is a poor substitute for fully funded public works and support programs. I am the product of that sort of (socialist) support network.
I agree. The 1% call us entitled, they are really the
entitled ones. Furthermore they fully believe they are the deserving ones.
"The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now do you begin to understand me?" ~Orwell, "1984"
I think the day is coming...
When the 1% "Entitled Ones" will indeed learn what they are entitled to...
I'm the only person standing between Richard Nixon and the White House."
~John F. Kennedy~
Economic: -9.13, Social: -7.28,
What? Crony capitalism? They don’t consider it crony capitalism.
It’s mHeritocracy, you see — success depends only on mHerit. There couldn’t be a fairHer system. Everyone gets exactly what they desHerve.
we must keep this up
i.e. humor, the human being's saving grace
the more people use their brains, the machinations of the Owners are recognized, and the best way to educate the populace is to dose the disappointment/resentment with the funny