"you also do that" implies the above isn't actually a myth.
Seriously though, there are at least three groups of homeless with some overlap:
- people who had a hard time, lost everything, but if given opportunity they will use it to recover
- addicts, for whom the addiction drive them to homelessness, they need to go to rehab, before they can be helped (seems like this meme refers to them)
- mentally ill, who don't have family, or family doesn't care about them. They need medical attention. Those are the hardest especially since most don't want to be helped
64addicts, for whom the addiction drive them to homelessness, they need to go to rehab, before they can be helped (seems like this meme refers to them)
The meme refers to the people who believe every homeless person falls into this category and not the other two.
19Also, long term use of certain substances will often lead to permanent mental impairment
9Having a home makes it far easier to kick an addiction.
Do you think if you got addicted, it would be easier for you to kick the addiction if you kept your home, or if you lost it? Same thing with mental illness or any other problem.
7Addicts destroy everything they’re around though. It’s easy to say “oh just give them a house”, until they’ve pulled all the drywall off and ripped all the copper out of the walls to sell for a fix, broken all the windows, and generally destroyed the place.
8
I wish, some of it gets squandered on rent.
23No, I spend that money on sweets and soda, which will kill me much faster than alcohol and drugs would
21I spent most of my money on booze, fdm printing, and video games. The rest of it I wasted.
17At this point, professional panhandlers are a much worse stigma. There aren’t many, but you can bet the panhandlers in the best spots, the most outgoing ones, are the pros.
Actually, I’ve found that I don’t even have a choice about whether to trust that someone is truly in need, since I almost never carry cash
But yeah, I mostly gave up when a guy asked for $5 for food at McDonalds and I got him food from McDonalds, and he tossed it on the ground and vandalized my car. It turns out he was one of the most notorious professional panhandlers in my city, and most definitely NOT in need. I decided I can’t tell or I’m a sucker, but it’s probably more effective to help organizations who do this every day
14when I was on the streets I could not believe just how much money professional panhandlers made.
I'm talking like a couple of hundred a day, depending on the time of month and the location.
I myself could never participate in panhandling, even as a junkie I had self respect lol
I was always worried about someone I knew noticing, but some people have zero problems begging for money, the beggars would brag about how soft people were, especially older women, zero respect
I've been clean for over 10 yrs and my sober life is great, all of these panhandlers are addicts, they are all redeemable
7Excellent job getting out from under that!
3
I have no idea what a 'professional panhandler' is, but if standing on a traffic island inhaling fumes all day and having abuse and sometimes trash hurled at you, hoping no one jumps the island and runs you over, asking people for money makes you a living, good for you I guess. Not the way I would do it.
-7If I waste my money on a professional, I feel like I got ripped off. I may no longer trust the people truly in need or be less likely to help. I AM less likely. These people are a scourge.
A professional panhandler is exactly what it sounds like - people who turn it into a “job”. They’re scam artists. My city’s newspapers have done profiles on a few over the years, and those “professionals” tend to be quite comfortable. Again, relatively few but tend to be high profile, more active at their “sales pitch”. If you see a homeless person NOT trying to panhandle, they are much more likely legitimately in need
10
My father gave money to a panhandler when I was a young adult (when I had almost no money to spare). I asked if it bothered him how the money might be spent. His words: "If he needs a bottle to get through the night, who am I to judge?"
That had a profound effect on me. I don't give money to everyone who asks. But I give a hell of a lot more because of that statement. My father was a teetotaler, fwiw.
13Absolutely. If I lived on the streets, I'd want to do practically anything to take my mind off of it. Drugs and alcohol are an easy escape.
9lol most are on the streets because of drugs and alcohol, not the inverse
-2
what's a "teetotaler"??
2
It's a pretty bad stigma. I regularly pluck homeless who are hanging out at the gas station. i tell em to get what they need for the day and something later. I have to Tell them to get smokes and or alcohol...like Bruh/Ma'am I have to follow societies bs rules all day and while i don't Smoke or Drink. Fucking hell i know why people do. and if i was homeless...id like the occasional chance to escape my reality or take the edge off. especially when they are literally the most unprotected segment of society. teenagers regularly get locked up for murdering homeless people. societies dark underside has people who are smarter than einstein but pressed so far down they cant bloom...
12Also, it keeps them warmer than we as a society do. Just let them have an escape, they lost everything already.
6
Therefore...
...YOU are homeless!
10By the transitive properties of tequila and codine, you are now homeless!
3
"If they're just gonna drink, smoke, snort, or inject shit, then why should I give them the same money I was gonna use to drink, smoke, snort and inject shit? I'll just buy the drinks, smokes, coke and heroin and we can do them together."
10And? I couldn't care less if you are a rich drunk. But if you are living off the state you should be drinking limited quantities or have friends paying for you. You are a burden on the system.
-7You are a burden on the system.
Are you seriously afraid drunk homeless people are the ones getting too much of the government's budget? If so, I've got a B-2 Bomber to sell you.
7Oh I guess you can only have one single drain on a system.
-3
