Cannot believe what I saw in Seattle today

Eraserhead

I saw it in every city I went to last year on the West Coast tour. Portland stood out with the homeless people under the bridge next to the arena.

tempo_n_groove

Seattle is very "transient/homeless" friendly city. They let them set up their shanties. Go to the town hall at 5am before the cops wake up the homeless. They are everywhere on the lawn.

Again, Seattle is very giving to the needy. That city does a lot for them.

Last-12-Exit

Was it your first time ever being in a city?

Eraserhead

BAM!

mookieb10

Whether drugs, alchohol, or mental illness, I feel terrible for them. However, can we stop being wealthists. No group is hated more by its non members than the wealthy.

The Akkus

Gonna get worse and worse as more jobs are phased out by robots. How many jobs do ya think have been lost due to self-checkouts at grocery stores?

hedonist

mookieb10 said:

Whether drugs, alchohol, or mental illness, I feel terrible for them. However, can we stop being wealthists. No group is hated more by its non members than the wealthy.

Wealthists? Is this a new term now?

Someone wants to "hate" me and mine because we've worked our asses off for what we've earned? (while looking out for others too, not that it even needs justification)

Ok then. Can't change their minds, and not inclined to give credence to that limited mindset.

mookeywrench

The Akkus said:

Gonna get worse and worse as more jobs are phased out by robots. How many jobs do ya think have been lost due to self-checkouts at grocery stores?

Like 4 or so...

THEBIBLEISTEN

If u can beg for change then u can say do you want fries with that or paper or plastic. #truth

The Akkus

mookeywrench said:

The Akkus said:

Gonna get worse and worse as more jobs are phased out by robots. How many jobs do ya think have been lost due to self-checkouts at grocery stores?

Like 4 or so...

Yeah, you are probably about right,

Zod

The Akkus said:

Gonna get worse and worse as more jobs are phased out by robots. How many jobs do ya think have been lost due to self-checkouts at grocery stores?

Someone needs to design, create, build and service the robots

As a Canadian I tend to put more weight in with free trade agreements and outsourcing of jobs. We're a resource rich country and we export the materials raw to foreign places, let them turn the materials into something, then buy it back. Foreign labour is so cheap that they can ship this stuff half way around the world (and back again) and it's still cheaper then making it domestically.

In regards to homeless people I've never understood it. I've had times in my life that things were tough and money was tight. I never made the decision to stop trying. I always adapted. Lost a job, ok I'll go work min wage until I find something better (there's always a crappy min wage job out there). I'm working min. wage and can't afford my rent. OK I'll find somewhere cheaper. A crappy basement suite, or find a roomate to share the bills. I honestly have no idea what is different in brain chemistry that causes some people to keep trying and others to give up. Thus I have no idea how to solve homelessness.

DischordVision

The point I'm trying to make is it's getting worse.
Anyone who's lived in Seattle in the last 5-6 years knows of Nickelsville (named after former mayor Greg Nickels) a homeless tent camp on the westside that moved around when forced to leave.
What I saw was an increasing amount of people that had never been out in the open before, it's spreading to more neighborhoods.

RKCNDY

http://koin.com/2013/08/13/do-panhandlers-make-more-than-you-do/

benjs

Zod said:

The Akkus said:

Gonna get worse and worse as more jobs are phased out by robots. How many jobs do ya think have been lost due to self-checkouts at grocery stores?

Someone needs to design, create, build and service the robots

As a Canadian I tend to put more weight in with free trade agreements and outsourcing of jobs. We're a resource rich country and we export the materials raw to foreign places, let them turn the materials into something, then buy it back. Foreign labour is so cheap that they can ship this stuff half way around the world (and back again) and it's still cheaper then making it domestically.

In regards to homeless people I've never understood it. I've had times in my life that things were tough and money was tight. I never made the decision to stop trying. I always adapted. Lost a job, ok I'll go work min wage until I find something better (there's always a crappy min wage job out there). I'm working min. wage and can't afford my rent. OK I'll find somewhere cheaper. A crappy basement suite, or find a roomate to share the bills. I honestly have no idea what is different in brain chemistry that causes some people to keep trying and others to give up. Thus I have no idea how to solve homelessness.

Zod - while homelessness can be caused by a number of things, I would assume a trend would be homelessness as a byproduct of hopelessness - perhaps even a form of depression. You mentioned something critical though - a difference in brain chemistry. Your mental wiring is probably different than theirs. When my depression is at its worst, I can completely understand that level of hopelessness.

Last-12-Exit

Zod said:

The Akkus said:

Gonna get worse and worse as more jobs are phased out by robots. How many jobs do ya think have been lost due to self-checkouts at grocery stores?

Someone needs to design, create, build and service the robots

As a Canadian I tend to put more weight in with free trade agreements and outsourcing of jobs. We're a resource rich country and we export the materials raw to foreign places, let them turn the materials into something, then buy it back. Foreign labour is so cheap that they can ship this stuff half way around the world (and back again) and it's still cheaper then making it domestically.

In regards to homeless people I've never understood it. I've had times in my life that things were tough and money was tight. I never made the decision to stop trying. I always adapted. Lost a job, ok I'll go work min wage until I find something better (there's always a crappy min wage job out there). I'm working min. wage and can't afford my rent. OK I'll find somewhere cheaper. A crappy basement suite, or find a roomate to share the bills. I honestly have no idea what is different in brain chemistry that causes some people to keep trying and others to give up. Thus I have no idea how to solve homelessness.

It's simply called lazy. No work ethic. Not caring if others have to pay your way.

I commend you for making those tough decisions to move somewhere else, find a better job (or taking a shittier job), finding a roommate. While others would find it much easier to collect food stamps, draw unemployment for years, or find subsidized housing instead of working to make themselves better. People like you are becoming the exception.


I know those programs aren't being taken advantage of by everyone and that they are there to help people get back on their feet.

fife

I work with Homeless people for the past 10 years and I can tell you that its for many reason that people are homeless and not just because they are lazy or have no work ethic. Many homeless people have major mental health issues, many have addictions issues, many have major health issues. some can't find housing due to stigma, some were kicked out of their homes when they were younger and had very limited options.

how many people here have lived in a shelter? I have and its damm hard to find a job when you no address, no clean clothes to apply for jobs if you get a job interview, shelters are not great places, they can be violent places. I was lucky to get a job and go back to school. many people fall through the cracks and give up hope.

and I will be honest, even in the shelter i was lucky cause I was a white heterosexual male. I have clients now who are transgendered and you know what many landlord and employers will not give them a chance cause of their appearances?

fife

THEBIBLEISTEN said:

If u can beg for change then u can say do you want fries with that or paper or plastic. #truth

not true!!!!

dignin

Saying most homeless people are lazy is ignorant.

PJ_Soul

THEBIBLEISTEN said:

If u can beg for change then u can say do you want fries with that or paper or plastic. #truth

Not necessarily.

brianlux

I sure seems like the number of homelessness just keeps going up. As a young adult, I lived in San Francisco from 1969 to 1973 and whenever I go into the city now I see much more homelessness than I did back then. Yet despite that, this report says the homeless rate is down:

http://www.upenn.edu/pennnews/current/2014-01-16/features/penn-led-report-finds-drop-us-homelessness-rate

That's rate though, not extent of numbers (If these are the correct terms). But I also always question statistics. Could be that the numbers are up but the rate is down due to combination of increase population and immigration or it could be a skewed survey.

In any case, in a country like the U.S. with our vast resources and plenty of money to blow on useless wars, the high cost of inefficient government (yes, unsung, I said it!) and (in my opinion) money wasted on rocket ships and space programs, there is far more homelessness in North America than there should be, for sure. It's shameful.