America's Homelessness Crisis Is Worse Than Ever

[@Secretary.of.Education]

Remember this: About 60% of Americans are one emergency away from becoming homeless

[@ey67]

They voted for it decades ago.

[@HoldLeadersAccountable]

At least 60% most people are already struggling to get by or do better but can't admit it.

[@meorme6603]

Many of us entrepenuaers have been wiped out by big tech retail monopoly! Nobody talks about it but the entire middle class keeps getting systematically taken out. Too late. Only hope is for Trump to be president Trump 2024. Enough bs we need real leadership for the people not for self interest career politicians.

[@USSAnimeNCC-]

I find funny when people want to not see homeless when their barely hanging on and not realize or don't believe they can be the next homeless and not fix the problem but pretend it don't exists

[@andym4695]

Sooo, ex-president Donnie is going to make it all Mom'n'Pop again? Get rid of WalMart, Home Depot, and McDonald's? Dude, seriously. What are you smoking?@@meorme6603

[@hubrisonics9517]

I’m a retired nurse. During the 1980s, I had a patient who was an 80-year-old jazz singer. When she spoke of Ronald Reagan, she always prefaced his name with the phrase “that f*cking bastard.”

[@LeejaMiller]

hahahaha love it

[@DeathAndTaxesAbolitionist]

Of course jazz singers just want free sh*t from the government and never have to do a hard job like build housing.

[@ey67]

He was that and much more. He gutted the middle class.

[@ey67]

Everytime saint Ronny reagan' s adult diaper overflowed we got trickle down economics. Idiots still lap it up. Americans have been too stoopido to live since saint Ronny reagan'

[@ey67]

Saint Ronny reagan' stole 3 trillion from SS to prop up his theft and handing it to Wall Street casinos and banksters. Nice

[@NotACat2237]

I also feel our anti homeless crusade is killing 3rd spaces. When you make a park bench uncomfortable, you make it uncomfortable for everybody. Can't go out for long because there are no bathrooms. No public swimming pools because a homeless person might use that to get clean. Rich people pay so much money to wall off their stuff and not share. Nobody can have nice things because some people are too worried the wrong person would use it.

[@eksbocks9438]

Because it's not about everyone else. It's just about them. And we're not allowed to voice that concern. Because they see us as "filthy peasants."

[@denisemayosky1955]

Exactly! "Hostile architecture" like uncomfortable benches don't just hurt the homeless. Imagine being a senior citizen who has problems with mobility due to knee or hip problems. Where can they sit if there are no comfortable benches? Or even a person enjoying a park or something that wants to just relax and enjoy the day while sitting on a bench? You should see what NYC has done in one of its biggest subway stations. They took out all the benches because of "the homeless!!", so now not even regular passengers waiting for a train can sit down. All because they're so bound and determined to punish the homeless for *being* homeless and to drive them away, rather than helping them to get housing and stop *being* homeless the right way. We have truly become a nation that has lost its soul!

[@PinkPulpito]

Gotta love pools behind fences that no one uses

[@TheRealE.B.]

Pretty sure it finished killing our third spaces decades ago. Bus stops, abandoned buildings, and highway underpasses, the current battlefront, aren't exactly "third spaces", are they? In spite of the fact that you can often read half of a novel in the time between buses at an American bus stop.

[@honeyblue2902]

Definitely, but it wasn't just about the homeless--it was also to keep out whoever was considered undesirable at the time from being able to share space with those who were more well off (or just white). Having to pay to access certain spaces kept people with less resources out, and anyone left could easily be harassed until they stopped using the space. My local public library is depressing and has a distinctive smell because a bunch of homeless people with no where to go hang out there. Meanwhile, all the new developments are these cheaply built 'luxury' apartments that sit half filled as investment properties with only a few who can afford them. First floor is always retail but even small business owners can't afford the rent so the spaces sit empty. It's a waste of space.

[@syddlinden8966]

Blowing that much money on hostile architecture is what should be illegal. And banning feeding people is just evil. Legit evil.

[@KLRN-qc7jp]

These are measures that keep the street managable and stop certain areas from falling into complete anarchy. If you want to potect your neighbourhood from drugs and drug related crimes, if you don't want your neighburhood to become inested with junkies and prostitutes, hostile architecture and ban on feeding the homeless are one of the ways to do it. If you enjoy the company of such elements, go on and invite homeless junkies into your home. Feed them, go all the way and give them your bed to sleep in. When your house becomes a smelly, disease infested drug den, you will have only yourself to blame... ...unless you like to live in such conditions. It might be a shock to you but there are people who don't.

[@valorie444]

@@KLRN-qc7jp you’re probably a Christian saying this lol

[@Mollypop_1]

Or housing programs. Or regulations on housing. And harm reduction centers. If you make addiction and homelessness illegal are people just gonna go "okay I'll stop now" without a way to do it

[@aidan4472]

@@KLRN-qc7jp so... I seeing myself as fairly decent human, just like anyone else would. straight white autistic boio. I'm in a bit of a predicament where in order to live at state minimum wage, I need to somehow work about... 185 hours per week. there are 168 hours in a week I have no transportation means to get into cheaper areas, and because of reasoning outside my control, I won't be able to train into high-paying jobs for about 4 years so, as a "civilized man" who thinks addictive chemicals are a death spiral and don't see why they used, I can't live in an apartment here and have no means to go outside here. fortunately, I have family that can cover housing and food and such before I trained into high-paying jobs. but there are people just like me that don't have that luxury, so they're stuck on the streets pretty much for life. my point is that at this point, a lot of homeless folks aren't homeless due to addiction or crime they're homeless because landlords put a vacuum cleaner to their wallets, told them to pay up, and kicked them out. and now it's basically illegal for them to live after they got booted out of an apartment because of how crazy high rent has gotten talk about bootstrapping...

[@JesusRamirez-oh6wc]

​@@KLRN-qc7jpYou are ridiculous.

[@SK_Falchion]

Always judge a country on how it treats its poor.

[@otakon17]

By that standard, the US ranks among the lowest.

[@sm1purplmurderedme583]

@@otakon17THE lowest

[@eksbocks9438]

@@otakon17 Because they don't care about anything that doesn't pertain to their emotions.

[@danbeaulieu2130]

Judge a city, not by the happiness of their kings, but by the happiness of their beggars. -Mohamed

[@Tubes12AX7k]

And how it treats its very old and its very young.

[@wi1dcard192]

It frustrates me to no end how many people in this country would rather just not see a problem than to actually fix it

[@ey67]

Bezos makes 7.9 million per hour. Maybe he could give our government a loan.

[@kaseywahl]

It's a Jesus thing

[@USSAnimeNCC-]

And don't realize they can be next they somehow think that homeless did something the deserve that instead that the system completely failed them and they get angry at the victims not the perpetrators who cause them or make it harder for them like tell them to go away liek you think it easy with your broke as hell

[@vinny4765]

@@kaseywahl Nah, it's a matter of, "I got mine, fuck you, get your own." Trust me, I know too many non-religious people around my age who act this way about everything. If they aren't experiencing the problem, then it could not possibly exist and if it does, then it's the fault of those having the problem for existing and being noisy about it.

[@sublimnalphish7232]

Can't you see their compassion? Me either. .

[@bjarkiengelsson]

The fact this nation demands we either be multimillionaires to survive, or we sleep on the cold concrete under an overpass, is beyond insanity. Land of opportunities? For who? I'm ready to move back to Norway.

[@satan6548]

I'm not a millionaire. Are you? Do you have a place to live? oh that's because you're not suffering from mental illness and severe drug addiction because of some bad choices you made right?

[@Ayem427]

You willingly left Norway?? You're crazy

[@bjarkiengelsson]

@@satan6548 I only have a home of my own because of luck. If it weren't for that, I would be homeless. I cannot afford to live here no matter how hard I work. If we could convince the CEO's they didn't need so much gold lace on their pockets, maybe we could survive?

[@bjarkiengelsson]

@@Ayem427 My grandparents. Not me. But I am ready to leave.

[@makisekurisu4674]

Wait I am planning on moving to usa for those opportunities. Are you telling me it's all a lie?

[@christianlilly6343]

Landlords in 2005: All you need is first month $500 and deposit $250 Landlords in 2015: All you need is First, $850 Last, $850 and Deposit $850 Landlords in 2023: All you need is 3x the rent, First, $1900 Last, $1900, deposit, $1900 credit score 750 or higher, no evictions in the last 12 years, no pets, no off street parking, no backyard, no utilities included, late fees are $50 Application fee is $65 (non refundable) and maybe a 3rd day job....blood of your first born and some fruit snacks.

[@Paradoxisthefingerprintofgod]

I know right? I don't have 15 felonies and 6 bankruptcies like most politicians and 100% clean background and top tier college education and big four background but I didnt give 30 days notice at one apartment...despite never missing rent for I don't know...my whole life and was rich enough to pay cash so Im punished again for not having debt because I don't believe in credit cards. I feel like I was sold a lie about success in America.

[@thesingerintheshower]

💯

[@alexandreekarsai6337]

Agreed …

[@karina17110]

Sad, isn't it? This is what should be considered a crime that should be punished.

[@tracywatts1459]

Yes I totally understand as a landlord the housing cost doubled too though . I also had a tenant that trashed my suite so bad it cost me more than a whole years rent received to fix the damages. There were nail bracket screws and tags in every single wall, the bathroom mirror was gone cabinet doors missing all the expensive blinds were taken down and she painted without permission dark teal green and purple and got paint all through the carpet and the washer and dryer. As well as stiffed me 💯 on the last three months of shared hydro. I’ve had people abandon truckloads in the yard at my expanse to get rid of. Sorry but there is NO Protection for landlords in Canada. And many tenants think they are greedy but when my mortgage went from $1879 to $4075 on renewal THANK GOODNESS! It’s an air B and B now. It’s the bad ones that ruin it for the good ones I’ll just say that.

[@Flamester43]

Civil fine for not having a house, criminal charges for not paying a fine, slave labor as punishment for the crime of not having money, profit for the prison industry.

[@JayBee-cr8jm]

Open a free-lance, no profit prison then.

[@Lyaso]

@@JayBee-cr8jmWeak troll.

[@danielefabbro822]

That's maybe the closest point with ancient Rome America have. But at some point Rome developed welfare for it's citizens, especially for those poors. America? Wait and have hope!

[@Zhohan-]

Ready to kms

[@ey67]

USA perfected slavery decades ago.

[@stevenbrown592]

Call it what it really is. Our homeless problem is really a filthy rich problem. The reason wages haven't kept up with the cost of living is pure greed.

[@JayBee-cr8jm]

How much do you pay employees? I hire illegals instead of Americans.

[@dave_riots]

it isn't "pure greed", this comment is just dancing around the issue. it's this economic system that demands continuous growth in spite of itself and in spite of a basic understanding of reality speaking on the human side of things, if you cannot afford to spend all of what relatively little time you have on Earth and the little money you actually have to chase and keep up with the ever increasing rate of demand for growth, you end up being in poverty, and eventually becoming homeless. the latter is impossible for vast majority of people who were not born wealthy or had some connection to wealth without being wealthy themselves to begin with, and the latter is most often the threat most people face the distribution of resources generally favors the already established and financially advantaged people in most societies, and in the global economy because keeping those already advantaged in their position feeds that continuous and increasing rate of growth alive also, "inflation" isn't real. this is the demand for continuous growth and the profit motive at play

[@USSAnimeNCC-]

True the greed of the rich like Trump are what causing this

[@MegaKerrigan]

Capitalism is the problem!!

[@JayBee-cr8jm]

@@USSAnimeNCC- I'm a libertarian. I hate Trump more than 5 of you. I have to keep raising rent because low income morons keep $hitting on the carpet. Why don't poor people know how to use the bathroom?

[@LostChildOfTime]

"They got money for wars but can't feed the poor." -Tupac Shakur

[@denisemayosky1955]

True, but what good is it to worry about everyone else, yet neglect your own people? ​@user-zg9st8ox3m

[@Robert-fs6ge]

​@user-zg9st8ox3mUkraine is a corrupt country and its money laundering as much as its "protection "

[@speedy01247]

watch the right agree with this statement but then upon asking about any policy that would feed the poor they would be vehemently opposed.

[@Robert-fs6ge]

@@speedy01247 84% of millionaires voted for Biden. Democrats are the party for the rich.

[@umjackd]

The irony is that it isn't untrue. They have money for both wars AND feeding the poor, but people act like they have to choose between one or the other when they really don't.

[@coughfully]

When I was living in Japan for a while. I didn’t have money for my rent or bills. So all my water and electricity was turned off. I owned one mattress I slept on in my apartment before i was eventually going to be evicted. But I was in Japan, so I was lucky. In Japan, they have 24/7 McDonald’s and other places that allow you to sleep INSIDE the buildings. Without even buying food. I spent days sleeping on the McDonalds booths overnight in Japan because they had heating and I could charge my phone. And the workers always were respectful and friendly. And luckily, I was an American, so I got to contact the embassy to help me get home when my wallet was lost. It’s crazy, that as an American, I had better resources to help IN A FOREIGN COUNTRY, then if I was homeless in America. Fucking sickening. Edit: Also I was allowed to sit on the streets without being charged with trespassing because Japan doesn’t treat the streets as private fucking property.

[@paulpfeifer2612]

And people are😊 against socialism.

[@ameliadiaz8040]

​@@paulpfeifer2612 And absolute communism, if it isn't good enough.

[@DaveE99]

Yeah patriotism is just propoganda at this point. Any thing less than a critical look and holistic understanding of how the complex system of public and private systems of a society function to deliver on human needs is litterally just propoganda. Also always watch politicians for their use of loaded language and thought terminating cliches which protect people from having to wade into uncertainty and also protects their followers cognitive dissonance. A good example is how the right often when in discussions about the state of media regulation is “do people even trust political news in the United States” or some derivative of that, to act like it’s impossible instead of diving into how they have at every chance chosen to seek ways to make this worked because psychologically they can’t deal with ambiguity as well nor do we teach people these skills

[@CarolineIronwill]

I'm currently experiencing homelessness. I am university educated. I am not on drugs. Dispute some understandable depression and anxiety, my mental health is under control. I have no criminal record. I lost my job as a live in caregiver in August when my elderly client passed away. Rent in my city (Toronto Ontario Canada) is about $2600 for a 1 bedroom. I work full time, I just can't afford rent. I've been living in my van since August.

[@otakon17]

I wish you luck in your situation, stay strong.

[@Vahlee-A]

I am so sorry. I am about to be homeless, I have only a high school diploma, three years experience in housekeeping. No car no job, but lots of trauma, PTSD, anxiety, autism, and I'm trans. I hate this country.

[@screamingslave99]

thank you for sharing your story. people seem to forget about the working homeless so easily. Toronto is tough, I left Vancouver for the same type of situation with rents. I really hate the "culture" and attitude? in alberta but at least now i can afford my rent.. sort of...

[@Benz1659]

That's the sad reality of this era. Instead of preaching homeownership to my children, I strongly encourage them to make owning a functioning automobile a priority. Though in this economy that's becoming more problematic with each passing day. It's almost as though the 1% are systematically killing of the 99%. As if you can't afford to live in this world, you shouldn't be allowed to.

[@abrielle13]

​@Benz1659 Owning my car is so comforting to me! If I ever had a housing emergency, it could be as shelter despite it being very small.

[@FranciscoJG]

Imagine people claiming to be Christian to justify their hateful views but supporting criminalization of charity, I'm speechless.

[@cfltheman]

The real Jesus would have criticized and spoke out against their actions.

[@DrizzyB]

​@@cfltheman fr bro. They have twisted and contorted the original idea of Jesus and Christianity so far...

[@GoldenTV3]

They're just selfish boomers who hide behind the veil of Christianity. True Christians are charitious

[@Nikki_Catnip]

That’s because they worship “supply side Jesus”

[@sm1purplmurderedme583]

they aren’t christian lol they just use the label to seem morally superior. they also wouldn’t be so racist since jesus was a literal middle eastern, they think he’s white lmaooo

[@brodpitts6726]

Unhoused folks are not nearly the violent abusers- that violent abusers want us to imagine they are.

[@eksbocks9438]

If anything, the abusers are the ones with a house.

[@YourCapyFrenBigly_3DPipes1999]

So true sadly. A huge amount of female homelessness is due to those fleeing domestic violence.

[@user-zu5do6ri6r]

You pretend like females aren't violent.

[@LadyRavenhaire]

The majority of the homeless are women with children. More than 60% have low paying jobs. They do not have drug problems. I meet homeless women and children all day in NYC. To say that just because 10% of homeless people are mentally ill and do drugs that this means all homeless people do drugs is disgusting. All people deserve housing!!! Including the 10% with drug habits. Has it occured to you that Maybe this visible 10% do drugs because they have no home, no job, no one to care for them?

[@Opethfeldt]

Some of them are. But the people who could help them most are also abusive or, sometimes even worse, indifferent to the struggles of others. It makes them feel superior.

[@robertlopez4801]

They took out public drinking fountains and started selling bottled water.

[@Adam-pw4jt]

Yes, but remember public drinking fountains spread Covid.

[@alexandreekarsai6337]

@@Adam-pw4jtThis not true..

[@ameliadiaz8040]

Besides, the bottled water price is uncontrollably skyrocketing! 🚀

[@evaklum8974]

​@@ameliadiaz8040 CHILE PARAGUAY ARGENTINA SUR DE BRASIL URUGUAY A M S T R A L I A AMERICA AUSTRAL

[@DaveE99]

@@Adam-pw4jtso provide sanitizer wipes next to the fountains . Simple problem fixed

[@SincerelyFromStephen]

“No one is forcing unhoused people to stay in cities, they can just leave.” If they can’t afford rent, what makes you think they can afford the cost of moving somewhere entirely new?

[@KOZMOuvBORG]

There's hardly any services or clinics people need out of town, can't afford to commute dozens of miles every day and the hicks won't be friendly to them.

[@eksbocks9438]

​@@KOZMOuvBORG That's right. There's almost no opportunity for jobs in the rural areas either.

[@nwj03a]

@eks McDonald’s is always hiring and there’s an absolute abundance of those along every interstate (in very rural areas).

[@Donkor640]

The rough estimate indicates that 40-60% of the homeless population is employed. Do not be misled by the visible individuals on the streets, as they represent only the tip of the iceberg. The issue is far more severe than the visible fraction that society often overlooks.

[@SincerelyFromStephen]

@@Donkor640 but being employed doesn’t mean that those people can afford both the costs of moving and the costs of becoming established in a new place. I’m fully employed but don’t make enough to realistically afford moving outside of the region I currently live without draining my bank account. I can’t imagine it would be much better for people who don’t currently have stable housing

[@reggieharper1622]

Isn’t it funny how people who are born rich and privileged through no fault of their own or any sort of hard work , can so easily say people who are born poor or become homeless through no fault of their own , need to just “work hard for what they want and they wouldn’t be homeless “.

[@eksbocks9438]

Yeah. It's never said out of logic. It's because they don't understand the situation. But they're too self-absorbed to admit it.

[@arcanineryu]

that's the power of the wealthy upper class astroturfing. if you can just pay enough people to pretend like the things that benefit you are the truth and the stuff inconvenient to you are lies, you can make a butt ton of money tricking people into paying into your grift.

[@Lostboy811]

You can work hard and get out from being homeless. Speaking from experience.

[@Ellieempress]

Capitalist brainwash is a real thing .

[@arcanineryu]

@@Lostboy811 as a homeless person, you can also work hard, break 3 bones though no fault of your own, and have the delirium of broken bone pain and malnutrition cause you to pass out face down and drown in 3 feet of water. The discussion isn't "never work hard" it's "even if something prevents you from working, it should not be used to excuse being cruel to you."

[@endanarchy]

You know what still confuses me, as an Accountant, up to today: When the U.S. Government decided to bail out all those banks in 2009, why didn't they use all that money to settle the mortgage loans on all the properties on people's behalf, as opposed to giving it to the banks as non- participating equity. Either option would have restated the regulatory capital of the banks, except the former would have addressed homelessness and not resulted in a widening of the income gap when the execs declared insane bonuses and sh*t. Someone please help me out?

[@nathanowen1328]

Hey - finally a question I can answer! The government actually couldn't give the money directly to the borrowers / pay off the loans and grant the houses to them due to federal regulations and finance laws. And they couldn't change the laws because congressional Republicans wo0uldn't budge / were dedicated obstructionists who would rather all of America starve than give President Obama a win. (Thank Mitch McConnell and the Senate Filibuster.) Made even worse by the fact that many politicians on both sides of the aisle had investment funds tied up in the housing bubble and were making bank on the failures being experienced by the 'common folk.'

[@rhyestripes6059]

Its called caliptalism

[@levi1929]

@@rhyestripes6059It’s not, but….point taken.

[@GoldenTV3]

@@rhyestripes6059It's not. Nordic and Western European countries have vast social programs and still operate under the free market. I fucking hate this argument because it only adds more fuel to the fire for republicans to vote against it.

[@radidov5333]

great answer thanks. But also more in general and short (less details) ..greed, like a lot of people are saying..coz why the rich would help the poor when they can help the other rich dicks so they be even richer@@nathanowen1328

[@deitay]

We have an empty housing crisis. There are around half a million homeless Americans (~500,000) and there are around 13 million empty places to live in the U.S.(~13,000,000). So, with some quick math, even if we double the amount of homeless individuals and half the amount of available housing, we’d still have plenty of housing to spare. Yet the system continues to feed suburban sprawl, more houses and apartments are built every year, destroying our ecosystems. The cost of renting/buying a home is through the roof, and now we are trying to criminalize those who the system has failed. There is no excuse other than capitalist greed

[@Cain_Murd0ch]

THANK YOU!!! I actually had the same idea and when I found out that it was rejected by the general public, and when I found out personally the hard way that most people aren't for that solution, it made me so pissed off. When I was homeless for nearly a year in a rural town in NC, I was forced to make very difficult decisions. There AREN'T adequate shelter facilities for the homeless in small towns like mine, ESPECIALLY in the South. So, to avoid freezing to death when it was ten degrees outside, I started living in a home that had been empty and abandoned for over a decade. I WAS NOT engaging in drug activity, or leaving a bunch of trash laying around, or "squatting". I had a job at the time. I had the electricity and water turned on in said abandoned home. I began making repairs to it from the state of disrepair it had fallen into sitting for ten+ years. I walked my dog, I waved at neighbors and smiled, I said Hello to anyone I saw outside and asked them how they were doing. "My name is Mike, it's nice to meet you!" What did I get in return for all of this? The hateful, nosy old lady that lived across the street from me, called the cops on me. The sheriff's office banged on the door on my SECOND DAY inside the house. They treated me with disrespect, contempt, they looked at me like a wad of dog sh*t they'd just stepped on. They demanded to come inside, which I didn't really mind because I had nothing to hide. While these sheriff's deputies are combing through the place like Nazi storm troopers searching for hiding Jews, they continued to ask me questions such as "How'd you get the power turned on?" "So what, you just decided to move in without permission?" "You know that's not the way it works, right?" I remained calm and respectful throughout the entire time they were there, and eventually they had no choice but to leave. The tone they used when they spoke to me or asked me stuff, was EXACTLY like you would use if you had just found someone who had committed a serious crime against you or that you thought were out to get you. I was patted down, and scrutinized to the same extent that a newly arrived inmate at a prison is (save for having to strip and spread my a**). When they finally DID leave, they did so in a manner which left me scratching my head, they handed me my license back and said "Alright well, WAIT HERE WE'LL BE RIGHT BACK", kinda like they do when you have been pulled over while driving and you're waiting for them to come back to your car and tell you what is gonna happen. I stood there with the front door wide open (this happened in January) and waited for over half an hour before I finally stepped outside to see what the Hell was going on. The sheriffs deputies had LEFT. They got back into their cruisers and without saying another word to me, JUST LEFT. The home I was living in (and still am to this day) belonged to an elderly woman who passed away several years prior and did not leave the house to anyone in a will, or, her surviving family did not want anything to do with the house for whatever reason. I went to pretty extravagant lengths in an attempt to contact her surviving family in order to officially get the lowdown and inform them that I was living there so that I could somewhat try to remain in conformity with the laws. Eventually I gave up because I kept hitting dead ends, and I had better stuff to do with my time (mind you I was trying to get back on my feet). Less than ONE MONTH LATER, the sheriff's department returned to the house and woke me up at 8 in the morning on a Saturday banging on the door like they were there to serve a search warrant. Which of course they weren't. I literally went through the same EXACT experience AGAIN and was having difficulty even answering their questions because I'd JUST woken up. Turns out, the SAME miserable old lady across the street called the cops AGAIN. Like seriously lady? Why do you hate me? Hate me being here? WTF is her problem? I've always waved at her when I see her, I caught her out checking her mail one afternoon and introduced myself and was as friendly as I could possibly be. I tried to start a conversation with her and ask her what her name was, and she stared at me the entire time like I was from f***ing Mars! Since, I've had numerous individuals show up at the house claiming that the place is up for auction etc etc, and that I need to leave. Soon, I should FINALLY be able to do so, but only after working my a** off at a minimum wage job for nearly two years and saving every dime I can at an EXTREME rate, I mean I have gone to bed so many nights hungry that I got used to it. I lost so much weight that most just assumed I was on drugs. I don't mind leaving the house after I find another place, and because I don't really want to live in a neighborhood with people who behave like that and treat others with such suspicion, distrust, and pointless hate. WHY are people like this about those who are homeless? WHY do people speak about "squatters" in the same way that Nazis talked about Jews? Most Americans these days have the attitude like "squatters" are just the lowest of the low. People who don't deserve to live. I guarantee those same hateful, ignorant people have NEVER been in a situation where they were scared for their LIFE because they had nowhere to go and it was eight degrees outside. I started living in that house so I wouldn't freeze to death. Period. I didn't do it to take advantage of anyone, or have some sort of sinister agenda for it, or to disrespect anyone or cause ANYONE any kind of inconvenience. I know very well that there are a percentage of those in the homeless community who ARE the stereotype, and who trash whatever place they live in or at, who treat everyone and everything with disrespect, contempt and carelessness. Who have no hopes or dreams, who have extensive criminal records, and who have no desire or motivation to better themselves or their quality of life. The problem, the way I see it, is that the vast majority of us who are homeless, or "squatting", are generally profiled and looped into the same stereotype by most of modern society. At the end of the day, homeless individuals and "squatters", are human beings. Human beings who are just doing whatever is necessary in order to survive. Also, I absolutely HATE the way in which law enforcement deals with homeless and the manner in which they speak to them and treat them. Watch a KZbin vid of Nazis clearing Jews out a village, then watch a vid of police destroying a homeless encampment. You'd be startled at the similarities. I am in NO way endorsing those who game the system and take advantage of and prey upon others, who search for victims they can manipulate and steal from, who have no goals or desire to ever stop using drugs or alcohol, and who could care less whether they are incarcerated or on the street. Because those people are the reason that most people refuse to help the homeless or refuse to take a serious look at the homeless problem and work towards a permanent, long-term solution that gives the dignity and hope back to those who are homeless and is prosperous and positive for EVERYONE. The current approach to homelessness in my opinion, is to kick them while they're down and rub their noses in it like a dog that just sh*t on the carpet. The "tough love" approach DOESN'T WORK. People are NOT homeless by choice. We need to change the barbaric and draconian laws and ordinances surrounding the homeless community and how we have effectively criminalized those who have nowhere to live.

[@beckyraskin3280]

THERE ARE MILLIONS OF AMERICANS LIVING W/O HOUSING. It's so much worse than what's being said here

[@garythecyclingnerd6219]

The homes aren’t where the jobs are. You can’t be this dense

[@tylerelli6565]

That’s all fine and dandy but as someone who used to be homeless for 2 years and has met a lot of homeless people let me explain some things to you. All of the younger people who were on the streets wanted to be there. They liked the easy access to drugs, getting food is not a problem because people are very generous and don’t mind buying some a meal and people throw out a lot of food. They also just like the lifestyle of doing whatever they want. They all have relatives they could stay with but don’t want to get clean or follow their rules and get a job. The older people have serious mental health problems and even if you gave them housing, they would not know how to take care of it or themselves and you would need to hire people to take care of them. We don’t so much have a homeless problem as we have a mental health crisis. Homelessness is a symptom of the problem.

[@taiwanisacountry]

​@@beckyraskin3280i mean the people we should focus on are "people without stable housing". Since that is actually a category of people that is rather easy to identify. It is also relatively easy to get in contact with most of those people.

[@CheatingZubat]

Creating a society with no social safety net and inflating costs to satisfy never ending greed, and then to make it illegal to be homeless. Well. That's a really cruel society.

[@JosedeJezeus]

This is Capitalism

[@ctrlz4439]

Just criminalize being poor, there would not be homelessness.

[@meggrotte4760]

​ This doesn't have anything to do with capitalism. I've lived in 3 countries that are Asian they have capitalism.This is not the problem. I think what the problem ISIS that money that's collected from taxpayers. It's being miss handle that miss used when it comes to ending poverty.

[@JosedeJezeus]

@@ctrlz4439 The very mentally ill are poor. An asylum is a jail.

[@Spido68_the_spectator]

​@@meggrotte4760Cut in half the military budget used to bully the world and suddenly you have lots of money to do things. You also seem oblivious to the fact that nearly all politicians in the US are bribed or supported by businesses. Ending poverty is not in their interests, because if you thre@tened with poverty, you have to accept the worst jobs

[@livpeake8108]

HOW CAN YOU CRIMINALISE VOLUNTEERING THAT'S INSANE

[@umjackd]

I've had friends who go and chat with homeless people and bring them meals be stopped by cops "for encouraging them." As if it's not dehumanising enough to be ignored and ostracised.

[@acegikm]

@@umjackd Classism is a major problem in the US. Disdain for the poor, looking up to the rich.

[@kellychuang8373]

@@acegikm Really is another day for those types of people.

[@kellychuang8373]

Yes it sure is and really harsh reality.

[@ChernobylPone]

@@acegikmand assuming those are the “Law Abiding Citizens,” that cops actually protect.

[@tsotneTsotne-o5w]

PEOPLE PUTTING BLAME ON BIDEN AS IF IT STARTED YESTERDAY. CORPORATE GREED IS A MAJOR FACTOR IN INCREASING HOMELESSNESS.

[@farrahupson]

It's 40+ years of trickle-down economics at work.

[@redenvironmentalist]

Nobody saying that Biden is to be blamed directly. However, he hasn’t done a whole lot to resolve the issue either. Even if he can’t past laws directly himself, he certainly has the power of the bully pulpit.

[@themadmanescaped1]

​@@redenvironmentalist for one, conservatives blame Biden for everything because he has a D next to his name. They blame gas prices and rising costs of living on him constantly. Secondly, he literally can't do anything when conservatives are blocking him and he can't make laws. Congress is responsible for that.

[@JB-tr6nu]

Biden was a senator from 1974 till 2009, VP for 8yrs president for 4 yrs he has seen the demise of the middle class & contributed to the down fall of America but is not alone. Blame every administration since Reagan , billionaires run America & politicians from both sides protect them

[@SarcasmIsMyGame_]

Corporate greed is responsable for most problems. Capitalism doesn't require ethics or moral.

[@userxfgtx665fgt34]

How is this even possible to criminalize homeless victims ? America is sending billions of dollars to foreign countries while Americans homeless are being ignored. This doesn’t make sense

[@scotthullinger4684]

Homelessness is never a choice unless it extends into forever - The only exception are the people who are genuinely disabled in one way or other. Some people LOVE being "homeless" precisely because of the support system available - enabled by Democrats. Why pay rent when you can get everything for FREE from other people? - enabled via incompetent government.

[@Mwm-x3n]

No we are being harassed, trespassed, fined even arrested..... Its total bullshit !

[@muppet5760]

@@scotthullinger4684 "Homelessness is never a choice unless it extends into forever" - odd take. So long term homeless want to stay homeless because they are enjoying the good life in your opinion? You still believe it is a question of democrats vs republicans? The video states the numbers rose during Trump and flattened out because of Covid, not because he did something specifically for the homeless population. Politicians just don't care on either side. Or will they rely on the homeless to get necessary votes?

[@scotthullinger4684]

@@muppet5760 - My point is this: Homelessness IS a choice because those who are homeless are nevertheless taken care of by whichever arm of government you could name. It actually requires less effort to be "homeless" and still be very well fed than the effort required to be gainfully employed in a job. Every other building in some cities is now a homeless shelter. New York even rents out entire hotel buildings for illegal aliens so they won't be homeless.

[@kewsiyehboah9514]

( 24.5 ) Million - Millionaires in USA.. According to Forbes.. ( April 2024 ).. ( 813 ) Billionaires in USA.. Combined Wealth ( 5.7 Trillion ).. All da Best Folks..

[@aprilswill9204]

I became homeless at 16 and struggled until my mid twenties to stabilize my life. I survived because of a few good people who were willing to help me but most people wanted to exploit me. This society is sick.

[@loganmartin6534]

That's why I don't feel bad about shoplifting as a homeless.

[@psilocybemusashi]

you mean you ran away from home at 16 and you were surprised to find that people didn't want to pay to support you while you wasted your life away

[@LilChuunosuke]

Yup, similar story. I had people extorting me for money (was paying the same cost of an actual apartment to sleep on their living room couch), treating me like a live-in maid, and even trying to control the trajectory of my future, threatening to throw me on the streets if I didn't go to college and get the degree they wanted me to have. Some people even took advantage of the fact my parents never taught me how to be an adult by intentionally feeding me false information to stunt my independence so that they exploit me for even longer. It took a lot longer than it should have to get back onto my feet because everyone saw me as an easy target to use and control. A teenager escaping child abuse. Our society sickens me.

[@willywonka69xx]

You must have decided to not play by the rules to br homeless at 16...self inflicted...

[@MelanatednNature]

😢

[@FarahRoseSmith]

The hostile architecture section of this is painful to watch. The callousness we have as humans for one another is grim.

[@LeejaMiller]

grim is a great word for it

[@AlbertGuilmont]

That's not hostile architecture. A bench and a pile of boulders is not architecture, is hostile city hall equipment. You don't call the movable rail guards on stadiums "architecture", do you?

[@sm1purplmurderedme583]

it makes me so uncomfortable it’s so unsettling. these are HUMANS they are treating like this! it’s so bad

[@mastahfrederique1147]

@@AlbertGuilmont Nice game of semantics. Do you have something valuable to contribute to the conversation, though?

[@AlbertGuilmont]

@@mastahfrederique1147 It's not semantics, is the knowledge about architecture definitions, concepts and rules. They are called "professional knowledge" in my field of activity. But, in a sense is about semantics: the architectural semantics, the trade vocabulary and definitions that you don't have. I hope that this adds actual relevance to your ignorant position.

[@loober122]

Welcome to the USA where if u don't have enough money to live by corporate standards then U don't belong.

[@freyathewanderer6359]

I wonder how much of a hand the Prison-Industrial Complex has in the war on the homeless. More arrests = more inmates = more slave labor for greedy, greedy companies that don't want to pay workers a living wage because the Big Cheese has to maintain his four yachts and fleet of fancyass cars.

[@travisjacobson2334]

I was taught that no one is one paycheck away from having everything they’ll ever need, but almost everyone is one missed paycheck away from having nothing.

[@ronig3952]

Yup! kzbin.infozd7tsdX437g?si=YYH-ghzoFdQTd8KL

[@immaTraitor]

The public restroom point is a much bigger deal than given credit. I hadn't soiled myself since I was in diapers until I became homeless. Walking in a excruciating pain holding your bladder or your bowels. With each step one closer to salvation or doom. Soldiering miles and hours to be able to use the bathroom, take a shower, or get some food. Everything one takes for granted when they're housed becomes 10x harder when you're unaddressed

[@i_love_rescue_animals]

Oh wow. I'm sorry. That is absolute torture. 💔

[@Lo289-im3ip]

I heard in the Uk they have public restrooms…I don’t understand why we don’t in the states😔

[@jonhinman2471]

Yep, pretty bad. It's why I don't live in a city. You'd have to be bat shit crazy, rich, or homeless to live there.

[@pisceanbeauty2503]

@@jonhinman2471 there are fewer public restrooms in suburbs and more rural areas, unless you are advocating for going in the woods.

[@immaTraitor]

@@pisceanbeauty2503 sometimes you gotta. You learn to keep napkins, tissues, or tp on you just in case. I'm in semi rural. Bout a mile and a half from the nearest bathroom. And between 10pm and 6am it's the only open bathroom in a 20ish mile stretch.

[@Silmeria-exe]

I am currently homeless, sleeping in my car. This all hurts to hear so much. I don't have any family to help me, everyone always asks "well do you have any family or friends you can stay with?" No, I don't. My mom died a few years ago and my dad has been long dead. No one else in my family gives a shit about me. I have very few friends, and they are all online and most are not willing or capable of helping me in any way. I also have a cat, I've had him for 11 years, he means the world to me. That further complicates my situation. Because 99% of homeless shelters won't allow pets. Because of course, when you're homeless you have to give up everything to try to not be homeless. Any valuables, personal items, cars, pets, my dignity. I've struggled daily to find meals. I have food stamps, but I only get so much and without ways to cook any food, I end up spending more on stuff that doesn't need to be refrigerated/cooked. Trying to find anywhere to shower is next to impossible without paying for it. I used my last dollar in my bank account to sign up for a gym membership just to have somewhere to shower and stay presentable. I somehow managed to land a medical lab job after 3 interviews, it doesn't pay a ton ($17.50/hour) but enough. But I still don't even get to start said job for another 3 weeks. So what do I do until then? I'm still stuck cramped in my car, it's cold, and I have a clotting medical condition. My legs, ankles and feet are swollen because I haven't been able to lay down in a month. I'm in a ton of physical pain, I cry at night wishing I had the most basic things that most take for granted. A warm bed, a shower, hot food. I'm sitting at the library typing this, and I feel like I shouldn't even be here because no one wants any 'disgusting' homeless person hanging around their nice cozy library. What all caused my homelessness? Not working fast enough at my old job that required an unreasonable daily quota. Couldn't find another job fast enough to be able to pay rent, couldn't get any help from organizations to help pay rent or get other housing. And they usually take months/years if there is anything. That obviously doesn't help people like me in those situations. On top of it all. Sometimes I feel like suicide is the answer. I am tired of suffering and being kicked while I'm down...

[@HexFallen]

Stay strong.

[@tealkerberus748]

I hear you. Being disabled or sick while having no income is disastrous. If my daughter weren't looking after me I'd be sleeping in my car too. Please try to stay alive. Your life is valuable because it is your life, no matter how heinously your country has disrespected you.

[@cierrawashington8596]

Don't commit suicide, we're all going to die someday, just be patient. Make the best of what you have now and always think of those and help those who have even less than you.

[@UntouchableSavage]

Marry me?

[@WilliamOfficeSupply9832]

Your automobile is housing for your cat and yourself.

[@MrBrelindm]

We have been homeless for a year now. We both have gotten section 8 vouchers but no one in our county wants to house our two pit bulls. We have had these vouchers for 8 months now. We have been forced to look in one of the neighboring counties and think that we have finally found a rental house. We're just waiting for the red tape to clear to get us in it. Our older dog passed away on November 26th. Lyndi was a two-time cancer survivor at 14 years old. I found her in rigor in the back seat of our car. She was still warm. That dog saved my life in 2010. I carry her ashes with me. My partner and I are both transgender m/f and I am a native American. We have experienced the unadulterated hatred of the homeless firsthand. We were charging our cellphone at an external electrical outlet at a Speedway gas station and the manager chased me away and then rolled two giant syrup tanks and a 55 gallon drum right in front of that outlet. Then she ran us off the property threatening to have our vehicle towed. And she did this with a very public rant complete with foot stomping, arm waving, and shouting with projectile spital that we "homeless people are all alike. We sit around not working, not buying anything." She said this as the sweat beaded on the two energy drinks for $5 that were in our cup holders at the time. And I shudder to think how many thousands that I have put into my gas tank from that particular station over the years (I'm 57 after all). We have been harassed by utility workers, police, and even propositioned by a truck driver in the parking lot of a Meijer! By April 2023, Optum Specialty Pharmacy actively tried to shorten my lifespan by withholding my HIV medication three different times totalling 29 days! They shipped my meds to Clearwater Florida and someone there signed for them. So I had to fire their asses and then conference call them and United Healthcare to get their payment rescinded so that I could go refill locally at Walmart instead. I complained loudly to the governor, the Licensing And Regulatory Affairs agency, and the state Pharmacy Board. The LARA Investigator General called me and interviewed me for just over an hour about my complaint. Because Optum bought up Diplomat in November of 2022 and in the 18 years prior, I never had any issues with Diplomat with getting my meds on time. Just because you're homeless, doesn't mean you don't have to manage chronic health conditions which homelessness makes all that more difficult to do. I complained because I know that I am not the only Michigan resident that Optum has directly harmed with their malfeasance. It just boggles the mind and confounds the heart that such unbridled hatred is harbored by so many compassionless souls!

[@leobigelow7021]

If you're so mind-bendingly selfish that you insist on bringing your dogs with you, even at the cost of publicly-provided shelter, then you deserve everything you get. I love my dog, but if it was him or being homeless, well, bye, pup. Unreal.

[@KristNi]

Why have pit bulls? Most landlords are going to deny you

[@GuiSmith]

@@leobigelow7021It’s not that there’s dogs at all. That’s usually fine. It’s because they’re pitbulls and so many people don’t want them out of the idea that insurance companies won’t pay for anything if there is/was a pitbull or rottweiler present on the property. That’s usually bullshit, and many states have ruled in court against this sort of policy. The only time it’s viable is with dog bites from large breeds and former attack dogs. You can bar those outright. tl;dr: don’t be a dick to someone because they have a cherished family pet that isn’t to your standards

[@wuzittooya]

​@@leobigelow7021 Youre sick in the head.

[@Missy-Missy1111]

Welfare aka subsidies for corporations, while "pull yourself up by the bootstraps" capitalism for the poor.

[@TK-cg4ks]

Socialism for the rich, capitalism for the poor.

[@sheepishmclemmingston5550]

This is what you get when actual Free Market( Laissez Faire) Capitalism slides into Crony Capitalism (aka Corporatism) and finally into Late Stage Capitalism (a mutant hybrid of Fascism) This is mainly attributed to the incestuous relationship and coupling of Gov and Corp. largely attributed to the General Population becoming complacent, disinterested, distracted and inattentive to the workings and goings on WITHIN not only the halls of governance but also the coalescing of power, influence and might of the corporate structures within markets and industry. These two juggernauts CANNOT an DO NOT have the ability to grow to all consuming size without the aid and influence of the other. Look throughout history and you will see example after example of this. One famous example being The Hudson Bay Fur Trading Company (Backed, initially partially financed and sanctioned by the British Crown) True Laissez Faire Capitalism IS the key to a productive, beneficial and financially sound society BUT let me be clear , EXTREME measures safeguards and cautions MUST be taken in order to keep Government in check and corporations from bloating into Conglomerates and MOST importantly from the two becoming intertwined and in league with one another

[@xpicklepie]

Can you give a detailed example? Just one?

[@Missy-Missy1111]

@xpicklepie farming, oil & transportation companies receive subsidies from the govt.

[@xpicklepie]

name the corporation(s) and how much 'welfare' they received.@@Missy-Missy1111

[@jerrys.9895]

It's amazing that we focus on why someone is homeless instead of the fact that they *are* homeless. It doesn't matter why a person is homeless. It doesn't matter if it's a result of their choices (however limited those may be). It doesn't matter if they have a mental health issue or are actively working or searching for work. None of it matters at all. Housing is a human need, it's right there on the hierarchy. If no one wanted to work (demonstrably false, historically), it wouldn't change that housing is A) needed and B) available. We just keep it out of reach because the fear of homelessness keeps the middle classes focused on what they could lose instead of focusing on why billionaires exist because of all of our collective exploitation.

[@Souleater7777]

Couldn’t of said it any better myself

[@nicklebuck]

I agree, but the why is important, and you said it at the end. Working class people around the world get exploited by the wealthy. Knowing why this is happening is the first step towards a solution.

[@jerrys.9895]

@@nicklebuck exactly my point. The poor class by definition cannot exploit the middle class. If the cost of their care falls on The Middle class, that is by design by the wealthy class.

[@shadowfaxcrx5141]

The why is still important because without considering the why, you just apply blanket solutions. That guy's homeless, stick him in a home and pay the bills for the first 6 months. That strategy will work for many homeless people, and will be an abject failure for others. If they're homeless because their mental illness makes it difficult for them to earn an income, then the 6-month plan just means they're back on the street in 6 months. That's not a good outcome, so we need to figure out a way to treat the underlying cause of their homelessness. For the non-mentally ill ones, we also need to treat the underlying cause of their homelessness which in most cases is the cutthroat capitalist economy we've set up.

[@Ellieempress]

I can’t help but think that the homeless thing is being ignored and criminalized by those in power who are being funded by the private prison industry in order to put strain on the public as well as the homeless population . So when they make homelessness an arrestable offense they can fill their donors prison beds with people who will be exploited to make the owner class wealthy and no one will say anything.

[@Rubinsmom]

Massachusetts has a life-saving program called Rapid Rehousing. They pay for your first six months of a rental room, the security deposit, and moving costs. They even take you to a furniture bank and hire a truck to bring your things. I made use of it in 2014 when escaping an abuser. It saved me from being on the streets, and I even still have some of the furniture I picked out.

[@mythicdw7826]

💕 That's incredible! 😮 I'm glad you were able to get help to improve your life. I wish every state (& US territory) had this kind of program.

[@TimEssDub]

That is something that more places need, along with affordable housing.

[@AfroAsiaticLanguages]

Massachusetts is the best state in the country, for this among many other reasons.

[@Ellieempress]

That’s awesome, San Francisco has similar programs and California makes it almost impossible to be evicted.

[@tricia007100]

Any American should be able to get this assistance! I am homeless due to an abusive partner who literally discarded every stitch of my personal property. In my younger days, I never imagined the world could be like this. I have let so many people stay with me for a few weeks, a few months, whatever was needed and now I'm homeless. Makes zero sense.

[@pipermarau]

it is cruel and unusual punishment to make it illegal to feed struggling people.

[@marymac3572]

I live in Phoenix. We've had so many attempts to help unhoused people that fail because of NIMBYs. We have several dead malls that could have been converted to low income housing. We have had people and organizations make attempts to use abandoned or failed motels to set up housing and support offices, and residents in the area refuse to allow it. Summer is coming. People die here from the heat even when they have access to shelter, homeless people die in ridiculous numbers in summer. That's not even considering the person who was cooked alive when the police left him on the pavement, which is an issue when the homeless population is at higher risk of encounters with police.

[@dudeonbike800]

"Low-income housing" "Tiny homes" "Affordable housing" "Rent control" All HORRIBLE so-called "solutions." The rich laugh their asses off at people suggesting these "fixes." They see us willingly lowering our expectations more and more as their wealth grows. You need more money, so they suggest a tax cut. And you fall for it AGAIN! Nope, we need MAJOR wealth redistribution so we can GIVE the homeless homes and GIVE the poor money. Yes, that's where we are right now.

[@anthonydelfino6171]

We have the exact same problem in California. It's partially because so much of people's wealth has been tied up into property values, so anything that could make a dent on the price of their homes, and those groups all come out of the woodwork. There was a case here in the Bay Area where the city banded together to stop a rezoning effort that would have let the city build a retirement community. And another where man was trying to close down a laudrymat in San Francisco and develop the land into apartments/condos and had to fight with NIMBY groups for years so he could finally get more housing built. Even the city council did everything in their power to keep more housing from being built. We need to take power away from these groups.

[@eksbocks9438]

Same old story. Nothing gets done because of bad people.

[@margaretjohnson6259]

the police are NOT YOUR FRIENDS. they serve the wealthy, as does the "justice" system.

[@Donkor640]

This reminds me of a statistic that I read recently that said; There’s an average of 27 empty homes in the US for each person experiencing homelessness. That’s the kind of stat that makes me want to give up on this country. Why do we worship wealth and chase the dangling carrot for 65 years when our system is this jacked-up!?

[@skateboardingjesus4006]

I could feel my blood boil listening to this, and I'm not even American. This is what rampant corporatism and hyper-capitalism does to a country's people who are consistently duped into voting against their own interests as a whole. Slowly stripped of rights, freedom, education, health and well-being, like boiling frogs slowly in water.

[@MegaKerrigan]

Wrong, it’s just Capitalism in general!!!

[@skateboardingjesus4006]

@@MegaKerrigan What an amazingly detailed rebuttal. I hate to burst your bubble, but a moderate and fair approach to capitalism in general does not lead to the exacerbated societal woes I mentioned. Hyper-capitalism and corporatism most certainly has, as is evidenced by America's present state.

[@eksbocks9438]

That's what it's like to live here. Things used to be normal in the past. But now they expect us to follow a Darwinist cult. Nobody's allowed to be normal.

[@Donkor640]

Capitalism is the greatest scam in the history of mankind. It does possess some valuable aspects if implemented with robust safeguards in place to prevent the exploitation of the masses by a select few driven by greed. Nevertheless, this economic framework was established by the elite ruling class, who have naturally skewed the regulations to benefit themselves. Consequently, when endeavoring to reform the system, it is apparent that the same ruling class retains the power to influence any changes. As we continue on this half century journey to the bottom, I see no good outcomes for this Sh**Show!

[@denisemayosky1955]

​​​​​@ceciliacole5098True, but homelessness really *is* a problem for which hardly anything is being done to bring about a viable solution. And in a way, getting mad about something like this is *good* actually, whereas getting all bent out of shape over a supposedly "stolen" election or the non-existent "threat" of trans people or migrants "taking away our jobs" is a lesson in futility, like a dog chasing its tail. We *should* get mad about something like this, but not just stay mad but actually DO something.

[@peopleschoice9555]

We have MEGA CHURCHES NOT MEGA SHELTERS OR HOUSING FOR POOR.

[@arcanineryu]

you need only look back at the ancient cathedrals to know this is by design. mega churches aren't the exception, they're the rule. christianity was always a tool to protect the wealthy and powerful at the expense of reducing the common man to a brainwashed serf who's worried that if they dont suffer enough while alive, they wont get rewarded after death (meaning that the wealthy and powerful don't actually have to give them any rewards or incentives while alive beyond the practical necessities of making sure they had enough food and shelter to keep farming)

[@annjepsen1621]

Billions of dollars and private jets!

[@Ellieempress]

Among other capitalist bullshit.

[@Tragick_Sin]

@@Ellieempressgo live in socialist Venezuela or communist china , since us capitalism is so evil

[@Ellieempress]

@@Tragick_Sinthey’re infected with capitalism as well .

[@Ftjxmmged]

Being homeless sucked, i left an abusive family and so many people assumed the reason i was homeless was drugs. Drugs made being homeless bearable. I was doing my law degree...

[@RiiDii]

You can carry a gun within 500 feet of a school, but it is a crime to sleep with your limited worldly possessions within 500 feet of a school. I don't understand humans anymore.

[@youlose-h3v]

You don't want to show homeless people in front of kids, because you don't want to normalize homelessness and make students feel like living this way is a "choice." You can conceal guns, but you can't conceal homelessness.

[@RiiDii]

@@youlose-h3v Acknowledging your point about protecting children, it's worth considering that education often serves as a more effective preventative measure than simply hiding issues like homelessness. Much like gun safety education can prevent accidents by informing children how to act (or not act) in certain situations, a straightforward education about homelessness can equip them with a realistic understanding of its causes and impacts. This isn't about normalizing or promoting homelessness as a choice but about preventing ignorance and misconceptions. Knowledge is a tool that, when used properly, can inspire thoughtful solutions and informed decisions. It's in preparing our youth with a comprehensive view of society's challenges, including homelessness, that we can better safeguard their future and foster a more informed community. I agree that unsupervised visibility presents a danger. If an unsupervised child finds a gun, the results could be deadly. Schools are where the educators and parents are. I don't mean to promote camps at schools, but rather - while we're looking for a long-term solution, we should use the opportunity for education rather than trying to solve the wrong problem.

[@Canadakonnect]

Because they take up space and their hygiene or lack of is a hazard. It breeds diseases.

[@xopia]

@@youlose-h3vpreach brother 🙌

[@WayneLeng]

I have not understood the human psyche for many years. We are so fucked up!

[@loki6626]

People treat stray dogs with more compassion than homeless people. No-one speculates on what bad life choices those dogs made. They just help. I know times are tough but.... Wait a minute! No they aren't! There is no excuse for poverty and homelessness in a world full of billionaires.

[@peacelight9640]

actually if you look around all the stray dogs are gone they are in shelters!!!while humans are out on the streets! Crazy

[@rabbitcreative]

> There is no excuse for poverty and homelessness in a world full of billionaires. This. It's the age-old tale of haves vs have-nots. Humans are shit.

[@misterbanshee7992]

People going to be eating the stray dogs pretty soon the way things are going 😂

[@RatPfink66]

Unhoused people are allowed to exist as a warning to the better off about what happens if we don't play by the rules.

[@munkeefinkelbeen5395]

"It looks like city officials aren't doing enough about homelessness." Maybe because *they literally aren't doing anything about homelessness!*

[@Vahlee-A]

Oh theyre doing SOMETHING ... putting spikes under freeways ... destroying people's tents ... blasting your eardrums with music ... Oh you meant anything to HELP? Why would they do that? The jokes are done. I hate this. Im sorry I'm sorry

[@Skumm93]

@@Vahlee-A dismantle the hostile architecture, and if you're stopped, tell them that you didn't authorize them to be built

[@dudeonbike800]

Again, expecting "city officials" to solve a nationwide problem is guaranteed to fail. And that's EXACTLY why this nationwide problem has been foisted upon cities. Americans just don't get it. At all.

[@eksbocks9438]

@@dudeonbike800 I second this. The government really does try to. But a lot of people in the general public don't really care. They're just standoffish and rude. Like the whole world owes them something. Instead of the guys who actually need it.

[@denisemayosky1955]

​@@eksbocks9438True, sadly enough! That's why we have NIMBYism, and that's a *big* part why too many affordable housing projects wind up DOA. The city officials are too beholden to the monied interests, including wealthier taxpayers.

[@robertdavidtingstrom118]

We have a houseless/ homeless problem in my city of Riverside, California. There is a large vacant lot on the main road through the city, called Magnolia Avenue. I suggested to my girlfriend’s father that they build an affordable apartment complex there and deal with the homeless people. He got angry and said, and I paraphrase, are you going to put a wall with razor wire on it to keep them in?! I said no. That would be a prison. I would give them freedom of movement. I would give them a cafeteria or a stipend for food. I would give them drug addiction treatment and mental health and physical health care. It’s easier and less expensive to do this than to arrest, arraign, and incarcerate. But many people don’t see it that way. It’s sad. They see money being wasted on degenerates. They see people getting “ free stuff “ taxpayers being ripped off by “ freeloaders”. There is no compassion for others in our society. From the looks of this video, there never has been? Sad.

[@SandfordSmythe]

You overestimate the cooperation of many of these people .

[@Isioni]

Banning of sharing food? BANNING OF SHARING FOOD?????? What kind of a deprived mind would even think of somethink like that???

[@water2770]

Probably the fda to make sure that homeless people are getting safe and nutritious meals instead of salt and fat saturated nearly or "expired" foods

[@TheAsvarduilProject]

White American Protestants.

[@Ellieempress]

@@TheAsvarduilProjectBINGO!!

[@Ellieempress]

Christian conservatives.

[@vallee7966]

Republicans and people who have had enough of the demands made by the homeless. It’s called Compassion Fatague

[@runkus6136]

I've been homeless before, had 2 jobs at the time. Simply couldn't find anyone to rent an apartment from, everyone told me that men in my age group were just unreliable. This was about 25 ago, it's crazy to think things are getting worse.

[@cramcrams7741]

Key word " before'. Hope your feeling Irie.

[@runkus6136]

@@cramcrams7741 that situation lasted about a year and a half. So yes I eventually found a way out of it, and thank you.

[@drewhill1291]

I would just like to say....'homeless' is not the preferred politically correct nomenclature. Some call it 'houseless', or 'unhoused'. I prefer 'unsheltered', and with our current inflationary times, we are all just a single paycheck away from becoming unsheltered....

[@runkus6136]

@@drewhill1291 speaking as someone who lived through the experience I dont give a damn about what is or isnt PC about "homelessness". I had neither a home OR a house, softening the language helps no one and I find it insultingly reductive. What you prefer is fine, it doesnt change the reality of the situation. The other part I agree with.

[@drewhill1291]

@@runkus6136 I was just kidding....no reason to flip out

[@robertgronewold3326]

When I was a child, my parents and I wound up living in a tent for a year and a half because both of my parents faced health issues simultaneously and we went from upper middle class to unhoused in the span of a year. The only advantage we had was that we were not entirely without property, as we owned 15 acres of designated agricultural land that we had no choice but to move onto. That year and a half was hell. Not only was it in northern Minnesota and we spent a winter in that tent, but both the police and all our neighbors made life miserable, harassing us weekly despite the fact that we had a legal right to be there. They just wanted us gone, the 'eyesore' to be out of sight, and they even went so far as to continuously sabotage my mom's attempts to get a full-time job, leading to the only job she could find being a Saturday only part time of cleaning resort cabins for $40 a week. We even had local high school and college students getting drunk on the weekends and driving through our property, throwing bottles at us and damaging our old car, just for a laugh, and when we complained, the neighbors would feign ignorance and say that they never heard a thing of what we described. The only reason we wound up getting out of there was because the city of Bemidji reclassified the land we were on from agricultural to city, meaning that the value went up from about $1200 at the time, to $64,000, letting us sell it, move closer to family in Iowa and finally buy a house again. If not for that fortune of timing, there was a strong likelihood that my parents would have been sent to county jail for some trumped up reason and myself loaded off to the foster system, as it was attempted twice while we were there. Blind luck should not get people out of homelessness. There is no reason in America for people facing hard times to be driven to the edge and then repeatedly punished for it.

[@reckonerwheel5336]

Your story is incredible -- really highlights everything wrong with our perceptions of poverty. It would be wonderful if you found a way to share this story more widely, be it on social media, KZbin, or in a magazine or book.

[@susanmercurio1060]

Wow, you lived through the winter in a tent in Bemidji? I finally got an apartment after four years of homelessness in the Cities, the last seven months of which I lived on the streets because the shelters are so bad. I was lucky that I finally got a great housing social worker who found me a place in three weeks! I moved in on the first of November 2023, just missing the cold weather (although it did snow into the parking garage where I stayed at the end).

[@robertgronewold3326]

@@reckonerwheel5336 I am a writer now, so trust me, it's crossed my mind.

[@robertgronewold3326]

@@susanmercurio1060 Glad you got through it. Minnesota is not a place for living rough.

[@krolltheknight]

Strength is in you Share it

[@nfbconnect]

Thank you for talking about this. Here in FL they are arresting homeless people for this and other insane things like FELONY littering. Once homeless people are arrested here they cannot afford all the fines to get out. Guess what happens... They are put to work in the prison for no wages.

[@richardscathouse]

I wish I could upload you pictures of real felony littering less than a block from me 😢

[@ChristianMartin-s2z]

I was homeless for the better part of a year in SC, in 2022. The only services offered were a religiously affiliated night shelter that didnt allow men and women to converse in any way (I witnessed them kick out a mother and her three kids during Winter for asking a man where the cleaning supplies were. . . No joke), and from a day center that the county had exiled into the worst part of town that was riddled with crime. Because of this, after a year of progressively cutting services like acces to night shelters and food programmes, they shut it down completely. After that, the only help available was from the local churches, which forced people to sit through religious sermons before allowing anyone to eat. No vocational help, no outreach, no housing assistance. The amount of desperation I saw during my time in that county was mind killing. It felt like being pushed into a hole and having a lid locked over the top.

[@otakon17]

That's beyond messed up.

[@vivianriver6450]

I'm sorry to hear this. I have heard other stories of "Christian" homeless shelters abusing the people forced to depend on them.

[@djack915]

Most of the south is like this. I despise S C, I used to live there too .

[@eksbocks9438]

@@djack915 My hometown as well. They have this standoffish demeanor to them too. Like they would rather be in control. Rather than create a solution. Because the solution wasn't their idea.

[@denisemayosky1955]

​@ceciliacole5098 Yeah, even Jesus fed the crowds He was preaching to (the feeding of the 5000 and the 4000). Especially when these same churches make you feel as if God hates you for being this or that - preaching condemnation instead of hope.

[@fjgrg2033]

Don't forget that banks penalize people for not having money. Just FYI.

[@kellychuang8373]

Oh yeah that really is nuts.

[@mick9663]

Yep that is why I have not had a bank account in over twenty years, can trust them fuckers

[@kellychuang8373]

@@mick9663 Considering our times now it's really getting much worse.

[@lenanicole2837]

THIS

[@ihaps1117]

I was just homeless for a few months. My rent has gone from $600 to $2200. Housing needs to be decommodified as fuck. Make it illegal for housing to be a fucking business.

[@Robert-fs6ge]

Bidenomics

[@SpoopySquid]

​@@Robert-fs6gecapitalism. Housing commodification has been screwing over the poor regardless of who was in office

[@Tony-op6xf]

This!!

[@shadowfaxcrx5141]

You can't. The owner of the house needs to pay the mortgage, which means YOU need to pay the mortgage for them. Someone owning a few rental houses isn't the problem. Oftentimes they're breaking even in the moment - they charge a little more than the mortgage, and then sink the extra into repairs. They're banking on it as an appreciating asset they can use to fund their retirement. Nothing wrong with that. It's the corporate ownership that's causing the issues. What should be illegal is for investment companies to snap up most of the houses. They can pay cash, so they don't care about interest rates and can buy hundreds of houses in each town. Then since they've artificially squeezed the market, they can charge whatever they want.

[@kellychuang8373]

That's something to think about also you have to worry about HOA and NIMBY people that contribute to the issue as well. If you don't know really Google and KZbin all about it and hope you're not learned helplessness either.

[@AntiTheory]

I'm so glad you mentioned the access to public toilets. It frustrates me to hear people in SF complain about human feces on the street, but every single business almost without exception will not allow you to use their restroom unless you are a "paying customer", and even then they often lie and say they don't even have a restroom on site just because they don't want to deal with the public having access. We were trendsetters when we banned pay-to-use toilets nationwide. Now we're so pathetic that we would rather let human fecal matter pile up in front of the Starbucks rather than allow a homeless person to use it with dignity. It's sad to see society regressing on something so fundamentally clear that even ancient civilizations would espouse the importance of having efficient sewage systems, public access to baths, and general sanitation.

[@ИгорьЧеркасов-ц7е]

Greetings from russian left community. We are two steps behind the US, but poverty tendencies are the same. During 2021-2023 real estate prices have doubled, salaries stayed the same. Cheapest rent in Moscow is like 500$ for one bedroom appartment, working people salaries - 500-900$ Social benefits, left from the former soviet union are all gone

[@thatonegamergirl1182]

As a once homeless person that lived in a tent in a small encampment this really sickens me. I was truly lucky to escape homelessness but 90 percent of the people who lived in our camp were elderly veterans. The US government should be ashamed of how they treat not only economically disadvantaged people but the people who gave so much for our so called freedom.

[@BGatts666]

The american dream, you have to be asleep to get it...

[@TheEr910]

Can't pull up yourself up by your boot straps when you can't afford boots

[@youlose-h3v]

wear slippers then

[@KRobinson-ko1ne]

Are you done yet?

[@JustAMinuteYT]

As George Carlin said, "There's no money in that problem." If politicians and business"peoples" found a way to skim off the situation, the homeless problem would go away.

[@jrelevates1574]

👏

[@SimEon-jt3sr]

Check your facts. New York's mayor was linked to homeless shelters getting millions of dollars and providing bad facilities with sketchy people being allowed to roam free. Look it up. Homelessness is profitable. It's a racket. Everyone needs to know this. It's a giant racket

[@tealkerberus748]

Ironically, there's a lot of money to be made in fixing these problems. A person who lives in a house and enjoys adequate nutrition and health care, is much more likely to be able to get a job than a homeless person. With a job, firstly they start paying income tax, and secondly they start spending money in local businesses, which creates more jobs. All the other people who get jobs likewise start paying income tax and spending their wages in local shops, and you get a positive feedback loop of prosperity. And that's not even considering if you hired a whole lot of builders to build new houses, and the jolt of prosperity that gave the local community! The single best thing you can do for an economy is put more money in the pockets of poor people. Even if you put them in a house and they're still just living on welfare because they're disabled or elderly or whatever, they're still going to spend what they have in local shops, and that creates employment.

[@thornyback]

This is the problem with America. Y'all were sold Capitalism without social programs which is leading to the downfall of an empire. Who knew uncurbed individualism would end in disaster? Pretty much everyone else.

[@darkfox2401]

If they did better they could find a way to make money for them

[@georgefnbush1867]

Summer 2023 there were over 500+ homeless people in Grants Pass. The town is only 11.68 square miles. There were so many unhoused that they didn't have enough room on the side walks and parks. The ones who didn't have tents or cars to live in were living in the bushes and landscaping completely dehumanized. In the town north, Merlin (pop. 1,792) and they had 100's of unhoused. In the town south, Murphy (pop. 500) they had 100's of unhoused. Any space between the trees there were tents or vans, even at the boat ramps they had camps. Any and every open spot had camps. Portland was 'sweeping' their unhoused and they pushed them to the smaller towns in the southern part of the state. I've seen refugee camps in Asia of people fleeing Syria and thats the closest thing i can compare last summer to. It was 105 degrees and humid in july/august '23. The unhoused were dying from the elements. The mentally ill were walking around naked screaming at shopping carts and trees- probably from heat stroke. Josephine County didn't have a sheriff's department from 2012-2018. The area is notoriously impoverished. Even if the governor activated the national guard to build camps for them with AC and tents, there is no space for it. the absolute scale of the unhoused in Josephine County during summer 2023 was a straight forward humanitarian crisis. Old people, families with little kids, the mentally ill- it wasn't the "stop doing drugs and get a job." stereotype. This is coming to wherever you are soon.

[@garythecyclingnerd6219]

Yup. An empire in decline

[@ey67]

Spot on

[@TellyKNetic]

Hostile architecture is also a big problem for people with disabilities. I remember waiting with my dad for a bus while we sat on these specially designed anti-homeless benches. My dad suffered from chronic back and neck pain due to fracturing his C6 vertebrae a few years before. He was nearly in tears from the pain this bench caused because he couldn't sit down properly.

[@sm1purplmurderedme583]

this makes me so sad, they rlly don’t understand how inhumane these architecture are. hope ur dad is ok

[@girllittlemorbid]

Seriously. Last year I was sitting on the ground, in the rain next to an elderly man in a spot where there used to be a regular bench & a shelter. I'm disabled & he was in the 80s & neither of us could walk far enough to find another place to rest & we couldn't do the "leaning" bench.

[@kellychuang8373]

Yeah really sad and you can suspect about who built and paid for this among others which are rich people among Karens and also I suspect the NIMBY's are on this among who knows but they really have deep pockets.

[@tealkerberus748]

@@kellychuang8373 The people who designed and asked for the hostile bus stops never travel by bus. If they did they'd know how important it is for many bus users - disproportionately lower-income, and therefore disproportionately disabled and elderly - to be able to sit down.

[@kellychuang8373]

@@tealkerberus748 Oh yeah that's true and also another sad reality they have really insane amounts of security and body guards along with some really insane bunkers and shelters like you see about end of times or may want to look into in other videos.

[@Brambrew]

And yet we wonder why the American Dream is dead. You can fight for your country but your country will never fight for you. Many of the homeless are veterans. If they didn't die on the battlefield, they're dying out there on the streets from sewerslide, substance abuse, and violent crime. You can work yourself to the bone and never get any richer. Many of the homeless have jobs, even multiple jobs, that is if they aren't being turned down at job interviews due to their appearance, history, or lack of education. You can follow all the laws and pay all your due taxes, but none of that money is going to house the homeless. Many of the homeless were law-abiding citizens and did nothing wrong. Yet they were antagonized by their police, their cities, and their government. They were driven to crime for survival. Was the American Dream ever real in the first place?

[@kennyholmes5196]

There's a quote about that... "That's why they call it the American Dream, because you have to be asleep to believe it." -George Carlin

[@OdyTypeR]

We have an unalienable right to the "pursuit" of happiness, not the attainment of happiness.

[@deadtoallnohonornohope]

​Then surely This land will die,the fire and flood shall remake the world @@OdyTypeR

[@visavis077]

@@deadtoallnohonornohope did the bene gesserit tell you that story? Why not learn a better one?

[@USSAnimeNCC-]

The problem is the system that failing us unless your rich and it eroding our democracy

[@MoodyBlues2077]

Fun fact, while there are almost 700k homeless people in America, there are over 15 MILLION unoccupied houses. So, enough to house every individual homeless person and still have over 14 million sellable properties. Food for thought.

[@denisemayosky1955]

I hate to say it, but I think they want those who are homeless dead!!

[@theexchipmunk]

Doesn´t matter if the leadership adheres to the "how to deal with homelessness guide" from 19th century Britain. It´s really interesting to see a nation that once had large scale public spending and social programms completely devolve into something just short of a litteral dystopian corporacy.

[@vallee7966]

Yea, sure. Just think a lil further down those lines. Realize that the homeless are 90% addicts that don’t give a crap about anything except their next fix, TRASHING EVERYTHING. Been to a homeless shelter? Seen what happens to the neighborhood surrounding homeless shelters? Who pays for the 24/7 babysitters? Who pays for all utilities? Who insures it? What about violence, ODs, crime syndicates, medical. Yea, suuure…..

[@joshuamarx8209]

​@@vallee7966cite sources or it didn't happen.

[@jordanthompson8268]

@@vallee7966 Leftists tend to be self-hating rich kids so it's a safe bet that none of them have actually interacted with homeless people before.

[@josephgalvez5048]

Anyone who criminalizes feeding people in need, a core tenant of kindness and compassion in all religions, is a cruel, cruel monster.

[@chriss-nf1bd]

The tiny house movement gave me hope. But when the smallest can cost $150k and you can't put them anywhere. It defeats them in favor of big developers.

[@welhari6181]

It's insane, they are telling people that you have to have a dwelling to live in sq footage wise,if you can only afford what you can afford, America? Really!

[@UnashamedCaliforniagirl]

Greed is ruining everything

[@UnashamedCaliforniagirl]

​@@welhari6181yet we are " the greatest nation on earth"? I don't think so.

[@DevilTravels]

The tiny house movement was supposed to be a solution to affordable housing. Unfortunately it became popular and greed took over.

[@micmdaaussie]

For the USA that's par for the course. Pay top dollar and have no place to put it.The idea is you are supposed to make a good healthy 6 figure income... but you are not allowed to. The only way to make money legally is to have a job and they NEVER pay jack shit. What? Pay your income on rent and forage for food in a forest preserve? When will the pitchforks come out? Or pitchforks too expensive?

[@42percenthealth]

“The law, in its majestic equality, forbids rich and poor alike to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal their bread.” -- Anatole France

[@paulkesler1744]

Only now if the poor sleep under bridges, they're arrested, and if they get any bread, it's stolen (probably by a fascist Republican).

[@bibianaguadalupeislasherre9880]

​@@paulkesler1744 And if someone dares to feed the homeless, they can also be arrested.

[@michaelregis1015]

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 5:3) "And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”" (Mark 10:21) The Christian Right needs to read up on their Bible because clearly they're not following in their Saviour's footsteps.

[@bertbaker7067]

Unfun fact: the majority of people sleeping at homeless shelters have jobs, and ~43% of unhoused people(folks sleeping outside) have jobs. Homelessness is not a choice. *Housing First*

[@rudyardganuelas6254]

@bertbaker7067 I found this out when i noticed almost all of the clients we received at a winter shelter were wearing some kind of id badge or work uniform. In fact, there was one guy who missed check-in for a bed because he worked overtime at his second job. Our supervisor told him in front of everyone “sorry, rules are rules”, but in reality we already got him a hotel room that a couple of us drove him to that night. He didn’t want to look like we were bending rules for any reason.

[@bertbaker7067]

@@rudyardganuelas6254 Yea, idk about elsewhere but here in DC I found out that the arbitrary check-in times are actually mandated by the govt programs that fund the shelters. Lawmakers can't do anything to help poor* people without making sure to punish them a little bit too. You're good people for helping dude out with the room. Bedside manner is usually the first thing to go when people start working at a shelter, glad y'all kept yours. ✊

[@STARPHASE]

I have a full time job, and if I wasn't living with my parents, I would not be able to afford even the cheapest apartments where I live. I'm going to be 30 this year. I would have to find a roommate, but I don't want to live with someone else, and if I have to, it might as well be with my parents. I'm trying *really* hard to save money right now, but with the cost of everything from groceries to gas, it's really difficult. I've got just over $2000 in my savings account, and less than that in my checking account. Most apartments around here are $1500 a month. I don't make that much in a month, even working 40 hours a week.

[@bertbaker7067]

@@STARPHASE you ain't lying. Most people I know either have been or still are in the same situation as you, and forget about actually buying a house. Worst of all, the housing system isn't like this by accident. To maximize profit, housing is kept artificially scarce, especially affordable housing, and new construction is almost totally high-end homes. Where my mom lives, new townhouses cost at least $800k. High housing costs and low pay means that part of the population will always be homeless. All that suffering just so some rich bastards can make a bit more profit than they otherwise would. We're not supposed to blame the individual developer or financiers, but if condemning hundreds of thousands or millions of people to homelessness just to make 5% more profit isn't evil, then I don't know what is. Stay strong, man. Solidarity forever.

[@youlose-h3v]

Homelessness IS a choice when they say they don't like the rules of the shelter or public housing, and would rather live free on the streets without anyone telling them how to live their lives. So it IS a choice.

[@UnhingedGamer]

A $500 crisis would literally ruin my family. This country does NOT care about it's people...unless those people have money....

[@Akarisugiyama2010]

No, I'm not American and I'm sorry to say but the world knows American does not care about anything

[@royharper2003]

sounds like you could use some financial literacy education.

[@Akarisugiyama2010]

@royharper2003 she's American, they hardly have literacy

[@easy288]

Its called capitalism. Move to Europe. It may suit you better.

[@Lando-kx6so]

What really pisses me off is that there are huge swathes of the US population that will say that people who are homeless are in that position b/c they're lazy

[@tricia007100]

I have never known a more exhausting existence than being homeless.

[@CaelTheWaxAngel]

I was kicked out at 18 for being queer, and these people are SO SO wrong. The world is so built up against folks like me.

[@syn010110]

and I always say to them, citation fucking needed.

[@wrathofainz]

Literally my father, who if I wasn't living with I'd be homeless.

[@DeadDancers]

According to the book ‘lies my teacher told me’ - that’s largely because their education leaves them ignorant to systemic causes of homelessness.

[@hblackburn5580]

One thing that's always killed me is how at every restaurant I have worked for, we waste so much perfectly good food, and this is food that could be given to shelters. Sadly, not even the employees, who aren't making damn near enough to buy a fridge full of groceries, could in trouble or even fired for eating the food that's about to be put on waste because it's "stealing". Like you can't be bothered to pay us enough to grocery shop on a regular basis, and then you have the audacity to terminate someone for being hungry. THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS STEALING BASIC NECESSITIES!

[@jamezbrian4135]

liberal lawsuits

[@KRobinson-ko1ne]

Food waste is insane I was a buyers convention recently: I work for a broker specializing in various brands of food and we had several booths giving out free samples to the buyers of this particular store chain. Long story short we as a whole ended up having to throw away a ton of food that wasn’t eaten That said I never want to hear anyone complain about people on food stamps

[@thetahedgecapital1008]

Thanks to our horrible legal system restaurants can face lawsuits for giving away food that is at the end of its shelf life.

[@craffte]

There's a direct line of correlation beween how much food we waste and how much we get paid.

[@cheyennesantos-l4g]

I remember working at Burger King in the late 70's.I had to toss overtimed Burgers to the garbage basket below my feet. At lunch I end up going the dumpster where they were still hot! I end up eating them and taking some home. And it was surprising how long it stayed eatable for a couple days! I don't regret having to do that. I agree with you. Restaurants waste food that could go to hungry people all over the world!

[@Immudzen]

I went to Germany for a PhD. Your channel has done an amazing job of helping convince me to stay in Germany. It is just so bad in the USA to live.

[@leobigelow7021]

Fantastic. Please, don't come back.

[@normanlennox4949]

Hostile architecture is the perfect manifestation of our collective heartlessness.

[@marciamartins1992]

Absolutely, too much square footage is being taken up for the rich, squeezing average people out.

[@Mach11976]

I was arrested in St Petersburg FL for being homeless. I was freezing under a overpass by myself, not stoned or drunk. All because I was homeless.

[@ernstthalmann4306]

This country blows

[@Mach11976]

@@ernstthalmann4306 now I'll admit that I shouldn't have been in the position in the first goddamn place. That aside, I'd been clean about 3 weeks when this happened. I'd been staying at a place called turning point and was waiting on a bed at Bay Pines VA in St Petersburg. They put me in jail for trespassing on a state highway. Anyhow my time had run out at the shelter because I'd been there 30 days. It was not their fault, but 6 days later after getting time served and the whole bullshit of jail I got my bed at the VA. This was February of 2017. Had one relapse in July and been clean almost 7 years. Don't know why I told you that, just thought I would. Thanks Brian

[@borngreat-4-life930]

Florida has zero tolerance for homeless people.

[@blueyandicy]

​@@Mach11976It's all good man, and you not needing to be in that situation is irrelevant. You should always be able to get help, regardless if you deserve it. God knows those fucking billions POS' don't deserve it

[@Getupp1]

Los Angeles is a homeless people Disneyland it’s crazy how different it is in other parts of the same country

[@matthewgmcmillan4436]

My partner and I ended up homeless a couple years ago. She has a teaching degree. I was in banking. The government in the US is a gaslighting, murdering, lying monster. I have fought for my SSDI for two years with and Auto Immune disease that has crippled me. I can say with absolute truth: YOU ARE NOT SAFE. The world tower is falling. Worst situation in at least 4,500 years. We're in need of compassion like NEVER before.

[@univercle]

Ummm ww2, countless massacres and maybe China or Romin empire collpase?

[@youlose-h3v]

If you are sick, then yes, you are a burden to society. In past societies and even primitive ones in Africa and South America, the sick remove themselves from the community to ease the burden. You are FURTHER burdening society by being homeless, which means society has to support YOUR LIFE at OTHER'S expense because you can't pull your weight.

[@RFK_wait4_2028]

Omg, I wish I had known about this a few months ago. I am homeless and was ticketed this summer for being camped in a park. I still haven't been able to pay, and now the fees are piling up. If only I'd known I had a legal right to be there, I would have gone to court. Thank you very much for this video.

[@raymondomit6386]

Lost of bench’s and public restrooms is hard on the elderly who have homes! It’s not fair to anyone,it’s time to raise taxes on the rich!

[@hanovergreen4091]

"Have you no workhouses..." Disgusting that in 2024 we have sunk lower than Dicken's time.

[@janetbusener6326]

Homeless people can not afford fines, so they go to jail that cost everyone money. This makes no sense what so ever. Convert old office parks to dorms with proper supervision for mental and drug issues.

[@deitay]

It makes plenty of sense. Imprisonment is a legal form of slavery according to the constitution. So, if there are even more prisoners, there’s more slave labor. Capitalism looooooves free labor (or at least very cheap labor)

[@MosesGomez-o7e]

Rent is to high , Employment pay to low , Greed very rampant .

[@survivorisland]

Greystar RealPage, scandal, increasing prices. Buying real estate with laundered money from rental app fees. Empty apartment gets $75,000 a month in rental app fees for keeping it vacant.

[@cierrawashington8596]

Demonic is the only word to describe the U.S. at this point.

[@doudi0101]

Solve Addiction, homelessness, healthcare access, hygiene, borders, education quality, public spaces PROBLEMS ❌ Give billions of tax dollars to Israel ✅

[@RyanNelson-fs3hw]

Nailed it....

[@nwj03a]

@doudi It’s lying to pretend the USA does nothing for any of those other things. Have you ever actually thought about why the USA spends money to help Israel? Have you ever thought about how expensive those other things would be to “fix”? Have you ever looked at any country that has “fixed” those things and pondered if all their citizens actually believed it was “fixed enough”?

[@edlawrence6553]

I’ve had online arguments with evangelicals who don’t believe how many homeless people have jobs.

[@stormchaser419]

Evangelicals are delusional.

[@salkoharper2908]

What a depressing irony. True Christians should want to help the poor, as Jesus did. Jesus walked with beggars, he washed the feet of a prostitute. He spoke up for the disenfranchised and the unwanted. If he was alive today, he would be working to feed and help. These so called 'American Evangelicals' are cruel, with hearts of stone and have forgotten what the 'True' teachings of Christ were. To try and bring a little light and hope for those cast aside in a dark world.

[@UnashamedCaliforniagirl]

Once homeless Evangelical here. I have had the same argument with them.

[@UnashamedCaliforniagirl]

I have had the same argument about how many people who are on food stamps that work full time

[@UnashamedCaliforniagirl]

Ignorance is only bliss for the ignorant

[@Travis25601]

You all just would NOT BELIEVE how many state legislators across the country are landlords and real estate developers and moguls. There is no incentive for lawmakers, anywhere, to act on neither affordable housing nor homelessness.

[@TheShubLub]

I might

[@bobby2bend]

I have no idea how so little is being done about this issue, it's infuriating

[@MQuinn-eb3zz]

Years ago, I worked as a bicycle messenger in NYC. One memorable winter day iwht a bit of ice and snow on the ground, I was riding down the west side, and saw a homeless man reach into a garbage can and grab a half eaten piece of KFC chicken and tear into it in hunger,. his shoes were shredded and I could see his toes. I then had to pick up caviar from a store, three mason jars of beluga caviar each costing well over $200, and deliver them to Helmsley Spears headquarters. Just outside of the pickup, there was a homeless man wrapped in an army wool blanket and lying on a manhole cover - trying to catch the steam to keep warm. I was so upset, that when I delivered the package the receptionist, I slammed the delivery down on her desk; she asked me if I was alright. I explained to her what I saw just prior to making the delivery. She nodded in sympathy.... working class folks are just a few missed checks from being in that situation.

[@johnbees4443]

Operation Mocking Bird

[@AlearaJL]

I live in Oregon. This makes me so sad, and I'm barely a few minutes into the video. Thank you for highlighting this problem.

[@matthewsanchez7953]

Same. Unsurprising that this kind of callousness would ooze its way out of Grants Pass.

[@Robert_McGarry_Poems]

Oregon is crazy right now. But only the pretty parts make the news.

[@Chelzebelles]

​@Robert_McGarry_Poems No... trust me... As a Native Oregonian(in more ways than one) The rest of the country see that Oregon became an epic sh!th0le. 😿 Essentially being viewed as a cautionary tale in what happens if you are one of the only States offering social services (Nevermind how many friends I have in social work there that express that they believe there were way better ways to tackle these issues, but greed destroyed it, very little money ending up with the vulnerable) In 2020 I overheard a group of 1% discussing Oregon being used as a "political ping-pong ball experiment" I love Oregon, I am heartbroken by what I have witnessed happen there in my lifetime

[@vahjayjayaddict]

The first civilization for which there isn't housing for every income level. We had just as many addicts in all previous generations, there were a lot more alcoholics. But everyone was housed. This isnt addiction caused. Homeless people need affordable shelter. Low income shelter has been eliminated in most metros. People out here working 60 hours a week & there is no shelter that matches their income. That's a civilization failure not an individual failure.

[@xfile900]

Never looked at it that way. Interesting point of view

[@slsilver481]

Thank you for this comment- it's so true. I'm 55 and live in one of the world's most expensive cities, yet when I was in my 20s I earned close to minimum wage and could afford rent (had one roommate in a 2 bedroom suite) and could live comfortably on my full-time wage and put aside savings each month. Now that's just not possible here anymore.

[@Tyndalic]

In California, you need to make three times the amount of rent. We can barely afford rent! The only reason I am housed is, because I waited for two years to get my housing. I had to live in a violent shelter for thoughs years. Now, I am concerned that if I don’t/ can’t pay my gas and utilities I will be back outside. 😢

[@marciamartins1992]

You are on point. Where are the small apartments, studios they called them. Nobody wants to be homeless. Income for the average person has not gone up since the 1970s when adjusted for inflation. They used to make sitcoms about people in this situation now it's just a flaming tragedy.

[@Literacy_Alliance]

As an organization that runs in Boise Idaho , the court ruling hasn’t stopped the police from arresting the houseless that sleep in public or private places. People here are prosecuted all the time. Often, they don’t know about their court date until it is over.

[@Alpha_Mare]

I am 66 and if I lost my husband, home I’d be homeless…and I paid taxes for my social safety net for most of my life. Make that make sense.

[@beardoodle9835]

Same. And it scares the hell out of me. I can't get over how horrifically this country treats people.

[@brittanyblue4495]

I was a housing case manager at a homeless shelter until last summer. I dunno if its just Washington state, but our Section 8 housing got absolutely CRATERED by HUD at the beginning of last year. There used to be a needs-based ranking system. Whatever "points" you had against you that the average renter did not, bumped you up the wait list. Things like chronic homelessness, history of chemical dependency, mental illness, physical disability, etc. This was essential for getting the most vulnerable housed first. HUD came in like May of 2023 and said we no longer prioritize. First come, first serve. And they closed the waiting list for the next 4 years. It took my housing rate from 80% to 3%. 80% of my clients got housed, and remained housed for at least 3 years. By the time I left the industry out of pure exhaustion, around 3% of people were being housed. We're talking HUNDREDS per year that I was taking from living under viaducts to living in a safe, humble little 1 bedroom that they paid for with SSI/SSDI and employment. They lived full, happy lives. Now its meres tens per year. I dont know what to do, anymore. But I CAN say that so many of the women (women/trans only shelter) who passed through my doors were sweet little old ladies who never had kids, who's husbands died, who came from an era where "women dont work", have no marketable skillls, and got priced out of housing because their Social Security entitlement couldn't keep up with rising housing costs. These are people who even the most asshole-ish Republican can agree "doesn't deserve" to be homeless (no one deserves to be homeless, full stop), but yet THEY ARE. More and more every year. My hear breaks because there are no answers.

[@xfile900]

They haven't found an answer yet

[@toowiseforyou]

I have been a disabled veteran since 1981. I've been homeless for the past 30 years. I have seen a lot of dishonesty like yours. NOBODY has EVER helped the homeless in USA. Like you, they're just real good at pretending.

[@RayCamacho-m2e]

Republicans who say "doesn't deserve" to be homeless, but yet will do NOTHING to solve the root issues and still criminalize their situations. Bunch of BS!! So damn tired of the bootstrap mentality!

[@JosedeJezeus]

Thank you for your post. 🙏

[@M.Mae.M]

Housing is not a commodity, this needs to change. No one person should own more than two houses.

[@leobigelow7021]

Found the communist.

[@soulblack621]

I agree.

[@hopefulskeptic42]

You could even set a higher number. Say 10. The fact is that there are many corporate owners that have hundreds of units.

[@Iwilldestroyyoo]

You’d fit in well in N Korea, I own 5 houses, suck it. 😂

[@michelhanson1500]

Government: Hmmm, if only there was a way to solve the homelessness crisis here. Everyone: well you see, the housing prices and the salaries one makes needs some looking into as....... Government: Nope. That sounds like a personal problem between the workers and their boss. Oh well, there's nothing we can do about that.

[@eksbocks9438]

I am homeless and live in my car. The only reason why is because my line of work can't pay rent costs in my city. I don't know what this country wants from me.

[@qjtvaddict]

Your dignity

[@joshualavender]

I'm so sorry. I'm there with you. Employed but homeless.

[@vallee7966]

This country wants you to be responsible to yourself.

[@Makehimfamous]

Go move somewhere else where it’s cheaper. Spoils went to the winners and you weren’t one of them.

[@sasha69Xurgelash]

​@@qjtvaddict Your money and life also!

[@DaileyDoseOfJoseph]

I was homeless from age 9 to 16 with my mother. That's how my disappointment in government systems started 🎉 I'm 28 now and still trying to just keep afloat. The system does not support people who don't already have their own support.

[@marciamartins1992]

Exactly, there is no incentive to keep families together. Weird income thresholds keep people from getting help that they need. Block grants only go to so called community leaders...ripe for embezzlement with no accountability. The are seen as angels looking out for the poor and disadvantaged. It's a shit show.

[@davistrevor]

Bottom line - things that people NEED to survive, such as healthcare and housing, should never be taken advantage of to turn a profit. It should be as simple as that.

[@Potatotenkopf]

Reagan moment

[@charleselphinstone6714]

Rick scott stole BILLIONS from medicare and Fla made him Governor and senator!!

[@gabeswitala2292]

Communism always fails

[@bounceshelly2332]

Exactly! End rent-seeking behavior like this

[@gabeswitala2292]

Communism always fails

[@brianwalley2131]

Imagine living in a country that claims to be the greatest christian nation in the world (which it isn't) and yet it treats the poor and homeless in a decidedly uncharitable and unchristlike way - oh the irony!

[@bobi200samatar6]

I mean, this is the exact same country that supports the bombing of the Saviour's birthplace and the destruction and desecration of some of the oldest churches by a religious group that doesn't even believe in that saviour. I imagine the basics of Christianity are lost on them.

[@TheAsvarduilProject]

It is the greatest Christian nation in the world. Unfortunately, Christianity is evil.

[@RatPfink66]

America is saved. Her people are not.

[@kristianroberts5590]

This is the biggest blatant injustice I see in our country currently. The fact that minimum wage cannot qualify for rent in all cities should tells us something. I have definitely been in a position where I am working 2 jobs and still cannot afford or qualify for a place. It is crazy that these big companies are driving homelessness and the government is complicit and or accessory to this grand crime.

[@ChadOfAllChads]

Half a million homeless, 15 million vacant homes and all protected by private ownership of land. We must reverse this delusion that it is humane to horde resources while others die.

[@robertnadolny4368]

Mininum wage was meant to be four teenagers to get their first job, not for people to earn a full living on and pay all the monthly bills.....

[@robertocamean5507]

@@robertnadolny4368teenagers havent even been around 100 years stfu

[@Lucasolvalou]

​@@robertnadolny4368 Is that what FDR meant when he compared "starvation wages" to "living wages"? I'm pretty sure he was talking about farmers and factory workers earning a decent living, not adolescents entering the workforce. I don't know about you, but to me a decent living includes eating when I'm hungry with a roof over my head.

[@nepsyasudra3262]

​@robertnadolny4368 So basically sending manufacturing overseas created this issue.

[@sunnyday6465]

I'm a senior woman. My social security is way too low to rent so I tried senior subdized housing. The men would not leave me alone so I came out as a lesbian. I thought they would leave me alone. No, they just got violent and every time I reported something to management the manager took it out on me. Since I had no family visiting me things got worse and worse as they felt they could get away with it. Eventually management made some things up and told me to leave or she would evict me. I knew I could contest it but was sick of being terrorized by the other tenants so I did leave. Whew!! My stress level went way down even with living out of my car. I feel so much better and soon will be going into my fourth year. The problem is I am only getting older and now have no options for safe housing. So far all official people who help people in this situation won't help as I am gay and the manager as turned everyone against me. Thankfully I am in good health and don't use drugs or drink and keep my car legal. I have made friends with many park squirrels so I just wait hoping for a positive change in the infrastructure. Thank you for educating people on this issue.

[@James-qz5ny]

I love and understand what happend at your last apt. I've been their living through it now. Stay strong find and talk to your higher power.

[@theomartin7339]

A minivan would be more comfortable if you take the back seats out and make a bed back there and a toilet from Amazon with bags you can throw away.

[@RatPfink66]

Don't ever break the rules. Don't be different. The more ways you are different, the more rules you break, and the less dignity you deserve. We don't care what trouble you're in. We don't care what's your fault and what's not. We only care that you are the Other. You shame us and spite us. And we only want you to have what you deserve: _nothing._

[@IrisBobiris3]

One of the conversations I've had that really affected how I view things is when I spoke to a man outside of the building where my old Food, Not Bombs chapter sometimes sorted food for distribution. I had joined only a small handful of months prior. The man I met was in his car smoking a joint and getting ready to turn in for the night. He told me that life was hard and that volunteers may have been the only thing keeping him going. We spoke of his troubles and how hard it is to stay afloat, especially in our area. How he did finally get a place, only for the pandemic to destroy that. And he said that for the better part of the previous three decades or so, most of the food he ate was donated. I really hope that he is doing well.

[@JB-tr6nu]

Where I live Section 8 has a 7 YEAR waiting list this is so disturbing. Thank you for exposing this !

[@KRobinson-ko1ne]

7 fucking years?! Where do they keep the people waiting for said vouchers?

[@nickideroo7445]

There’s a church across from my University that has a bench with a statue of a homeless man lying on it…just another example of hostile architecture masquerading as love

[@Ellieempress]

Wow !! That’s completely crazy shit .

[@tricia007100]

That is actually disturbing.

[@susanmercurio1060]

The Basilica of St Mary's. It's not hostile; it's showing that if Jesus showed up today, he would most likely be a homeless person. People should think about that the next time they want to look down their nose at homeless people. As a former homeless person, I thought it was quite moving. The Basilica has several programs to help poor people. Why don't you go over there and volunteer?

[@KRobinson-ko1ne]

Good lord

[@KRobinson-ko1ne]

Yeah but why can’t the statue be on the ground There’s a church near my moms house that has a statue of a homeless man and it’s on the ground against the wall of the church

[@inelouw]

The amount of homeless people in the USA is just unbelievable. In my old home city of Utrecht, the Netherlands, with a population of nearly 400,000, we had so few homeless people that I knew each of them by face if not by name. In my current city of Skopje, Macedonia, with a population of 500,000, I've yet to see a single homeless person even though I've lived here for more than a year.

[@Benz1659]

What would you say are the mitigating factors used to appropriately address housing issues in the regions you've resided?

[@inelouw]

@@Benz1659 social housing programs and stringent rent control, especially for starter homes and small housing units. Rents are basically capped by the government.

[@inelouw]

@@Benz1659 Everything else that Europe does to address homelessness are things that the US does as well. I would even say that the US is better at helping people who are already homeless, because European bureaucracy is a disaster for people who don't have a fixed address. But preventing people from becoming homeless in the first place is key.

[@seanpruitt6801]

It’s worth noting the U.S. has a lower homleness rate than Great Britain and France per 1000 people.

[@hippychicken82]

​@seanpruitt6801 I've been looking into to this as didn't belive it and the numbers include in the UK people in sheltered or temporary accommodation which

[@fredkeeler1234]

Why is it that people are hated because they have nothing?

[@RatPfink66]

There is no interest in answering your question.

[@jasonlarue5694]

AirBnBs need to disappear.

[@michah321]

That seems to be a big part of ALL of this!!

[@CompComp]

I clean them to supplement. They are all starter homes which are desperately needed. The only new builds are mansions and luxury apartments. They are commonly empty.

[@michah321]

@@CompComp what happened to people going to a hotel?? That would be my preference

[@M0J0-RL236]

@@michah321people are coming back around to hotels for sure

[@michah321]

@@ceciliacole5098 ehhh, corporations can't own residential homes. But an individual can own a bunch if they want

[@HomeEcSewing]

Not only can you not be homeless, you also cannot buy a plot of land and camp on it. The laws require new housing to be more than 1000sqft, bans on tiny houses, requirements for a particular type of septic, electric and water access. They have legislated every last detail to make sure they can punish the poor and make sure private, for-profit companies can profit from tax dollars. Merica.

[@otakon17]

I do NOT understand the ban against small houses. Is that not "living within your means"?

[@bulletsandbracelets4140]

this is a huge problem - I know people have tried to build pro-bono shelters for the homeless only to have those shelters destroyed for being against regulation. Ensuring a place is safe is one thing - restrictions on septic/electric/water etc are unnecessary though so long as people have an alternative, like a public shared restroom or battery-powered lighting. My house that I own is 750 square feet. Most of the homes around me are similar. People do not need much space in order to live, especially if they do not have a family or children. Sounds like they just want to prioritize wealthier homes and high property values.

[@HomeEcSewing]

@@bulletsandbracelets4140 Mostly, regulations haven't kept pace with new technology, like composting/incinerating toilets and solar power.

[@nicklebuck]

A great way to protest is to disobey corrupt laws and codes. Be responsible, take care of your land, but don't conform to bureaucrats who just want to control you. Nothing justifies a code that forces you to build bigger than 1000 sqft, connect to the monopolized power company, etc.