I should be doing work, but instead I'm being pissed off.

Oct 21, 2008 13:46

Reading this makes me so sick.  So very sick.  Especially the comments afterward.

Homeless people are people, too.  I don't know why so few people understand this.  When it is impossible for them to find jobs, when difficult upbringings and terrible social situations and lack of education leaves people with no options, this is what happens.   ( Read more... )

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Comments 5

ocean_symphony October 22 2008, 00:38:52 UTC
Ugh that really sucks! Why don't people ever think about the ramifications of these decisions? They're too busy thinking about themselves..and they don't seem to understand that all people make up a city. Homeless people make up the people who live in a city too. By making a decision that benefits "the city" perhaps they should consider the welfare of everyone who lives there, especially those who need the most help.

I work at a non-profit right now...and I talk to people on the phones. Really really poor people. And it's just so distressing everything they have to go through...and it seems impossible to get out of it. It sucks.

My sociology department t-shirt last year said, "Too bad the only people who know how to run the country are too busy studying sociology". Every time I read an article like this I think about how true it is.

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asimplecadence October 22 2008, 16:45:30 UTC
What nonprofit are you working at right now? I'd love to talk about your experiences (over coffee?)! (or sushi?)

And your sociology department's t-shirts are always hella awesome. I've been trying to convince EU to do that since you told me about the Durkheim ones (though I've always liked Marx/Weber, and now I kind of adore Merton...) But seriously... we should have a sociologist revolt and take over the country.

I miss your face!

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asimplecadence October 22 2008, 16:43:06 UTC
Yeah, I learned about the "pull yourself up by your own bootstraps" crap in social work class sophomore year; it was part of what made me want to study sociology! People really fail to understand that that whole mentality is based on what your situation is; some people have a hole 2 inches deep and a pulley to hook their bootstraps to, and others have a hole 2,000 feet deep and no bootstraps at all. (so instead of studying how to pull people up by their bootstraps, I'm studying how they get in the hole with no bootstraps in the first place, in the hope that I might come to some helpful conclusion)

I just think that that whole idea is so... antiquated. There is so much evidence that exists to prove that the "bootstraps" phenomenon is completely idiotic, and yet the majority of Americans manage to ignore it all.

sigh.

Thanks for the comment!

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forget_ophelia October 23 2008, 13:37:03 UTC
Dear God. Why, in our country, are finances and ownership the standard for receiving basic human rights? Where in 'Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness' does not allowing people to sit on a bench fit in? On top of that, do people lose their status as citizens when they aren't earning an income? I mean, of course they don't; but our government sometimes acts like they do ( ... )

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asimplecadence October 23 2008, 22:46:02 UTC
Yeah, we've got real "NIMBY" (Not in My Backyard) syndrome here in the U.S... I've heard about stuff like that happening in lots of places; Nashville has all kinds of weird rules about where homeless people are allowed and where they are not allowed (Homeless folks with guitars are allowed on the main music drag because it's seen as "charming" or something... basically, it fits into the image they're trying to create for themselves ( ... )

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