Whatever you want to call this life, “lazy” ain’t it.

"See you soon"

That's ominous to hear from a specialist in homelessness.

What do you know that I don't‽

I became homeless as a teen, my parent's moved and I was told they didn't have a room for me because the landlord lived next door and the house was too small. That was back in 2004, I didn't find stability until 2020, ironically when the world fell apart. I never did drugs or anything like that, I never even begged for anything. I trash picked things to sell, worked several jobs at once, cleaned out gas station vacuums for change, slept on the train a lot, couch hopped when I could, sometimes I had a car but I also had bad luck in losing cars before the winter for one reason or another. Met a lot of good and bad people and I still hate to be cold, I don't even like the feel of a breezy day. I was always hungry. We got a Little Caesars and that helped me eat hot food but I'd stretch that pizza out for the week. The mcdonalds app was great too, $1 would get me a drink and a free fry. I met someone great in 2020 and we built a little life together, summa cum laude grads, homeowners, nicer cars. You know what changed? I spent my entire life thinking I wasn't like other people and I didn't deserve what they have. This was reinforced by my parents and many past employers, the public that didn't see me at all when I was homeless, the relationships I chose or endured out of desperation. I was lucky to never have lost my ability to blend in, that's a death sentence for the less than dead.

Can you work your way out of homelessness? Yes! Are there scenarios where some of your decisions in life helped you become homeless? Yes! 

Neither of those have any bearing on what our system SHOULD be. If something is possible but entirely undesirable why is that a “good” thing? I had a commenter on Reddit once say “I went from homeless to $150,000 salary so I know it’s possible so I don’t care”. The same question is true, what value do you see in making someone suffer more than they have to? Is it by default a good thing to have something be really hard even if that makes someone a burden instead of a contributor? Do we want things like basic safety, the ability to sleep inside, or having enough food to survive to be “really hard” in any scenario? If you think yes, then I think you need to re-evaluate what you value for human beings. 

The fact is people who end up in a tough spot often had tough circumstances that helped get them there. Often, societies messed up nature helped contribute to them being where they are, some program that bottomed out, some incentive that wasn’t communicated, or a safety net in place, that wasn’t known before homelessness, so why would we as a society wash our hands of them once they get to rock bottom? 

Expecting someone to ascend past all struggles, coping mechanisms, doubts instilled in them from childhood, and addictions all while struggling to survive is not reasonable. Is it possible!? Sure, but why are we EXPECTING this from people who are specifically down on their luck? 

This whole conversation is often couched in what is possible and not what is desired. We know homeless people can be good and contributing members of society, it is us missing out when we leave them to this as a “solution” to their circumstances. 

That is my best practical argument that ignores all the obvious inhumanity and immoral reasons why ignoring people’s suffering is wrong. If you can’t be bothered to have empathy, then maybe that argument can help you see the waste we are causing and the opportunity we as a country are leaving on the table by wasting our citizens by letting them shrivel on the vine. 

THIS is why im going into the medical field. there are so many underrepresented and misunderstood people who have to deal with bullshit even when they are the ones needing help. i cannot wait to be on the other side of the coin. i know i wont make a world changing difference in my position, but if i can make a handful of people feel seen and understood it sounds absolutely worth it to me. some medical professionals let themselves get way too jaded and just disassociate from any empathy they have. we are all humans and ive always took the golden rule to heart

I love how she framed addiction as a constant chase to stay out of withdrawal. I've been struggling with that myself and I've never heard it explained better.

I work with the homeless. They just aren’t mentally healthy enough to be employable at a good job.

And most of them aren’t even on drugs. I see what they do all day. Absolutely nothing

It's legit insane to think otherwise. There's a reason no one wants to be homeless, it's a way harder way to live. You have to struggle everyday to make sure you don't die tomorrow.

A valuable perspective but also wildly positive towards the homeless. Doesn’t mention one negative thing they can do during the day or how it can effect others.

One of the biggest safety threats for homeless is other homeless people. Crabs in bucket type situations.

I worked as an RN at the behavioral health unit for a hospital and did a lot of discharge planning for my patients, many of which were homeless. The sad reality is many of these people will never get out of their situation because our country does not have adequate resources to help. Most of these people have burned all their bridges and rely on government funded programs to survive. There are not enough beds, social workers, financial support, etc as is, but couple that with the stipulation of staying off drugs to retain many of these services and it creates this revolving door system of these poor people being locked up or sent to a mental health institution until they pass away.

"Foraging for copper". Thats one way to put it