There are a lot of beggars who do choose to live that way. In some parts of the world they are almost unionized. That does not say anything at all about the poor in general. Alin clearly saw the difference. In fact many beggars are not poor; someone standing on a street corner with a sign can easily make $40-50 an hour. They are actually a different kind of problem which I have not a clue of what to do about, or even if anything needs to be done about it. Unfortunately they are all that many people see as the poor. Most of the poor I have met have too much pride to beg. Druggies and drop-outs are actually a whole different problem than the poor to whom Alin was quite sympathetic. He clearly saw that not many do.
Most of the poor actually have an income. In fact most work very hard for it. Unfortunately that income is not quite enough to live off of. Homelessness is often just one rent payment away. In Western Europe it used to seem you had better support for such people; in the US it is more problematic you have to know what help is available and fight the system to get it. The people who really need it are unfortunately the ones who usually get turned away.
When I was homeless a couple of years back it was difficult finding a place. I had three things going for me: 1-- I was willing to relocate to a place where there was not so much competion for resources (out of the big cities). 2-- I already knew most of the ins and outs of the system. 3-- A lot of people, including many on this list, helped out with unsolicited contributions. Without all that I would probably still be living in my vehicle. I know what I am talking about here from first hand personal experience, it is not some dogooder theory.
Remember the difference between being broke and being poor is that being broke is a temporary condition. Think about that. The solution to the problem of the poor is simply to make sure that everyone working full time is paid a living wage (and has a job --problematic in this bean-counter era). When Henry Ford started making Model T's he was told by other businessmen that he was crazy that there were not that many people in the United States who could afford an automobile. His answer? "Then I will pay my workers enough so they can afford one." Unfortunately bean-counters never see it that way.
--
Frantisek wrote:
Graywolf, aren't you contradicting yourself a lot now? fra
Monday, October 18, 2004, 6:31:39 PM, Graywolf wrote: G> Thank you, Alin. It is nice to know that some can see through the BS.
G> Alin Flaider wrote: [...]
full of beggars like these and most of them live this way by choice
-- graywolf http://graywolfphoto.com/graywolf.html
