tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post5981051536433044088..comments2023-10-25T05:30:54.507-04:00Comments on Oh Get A Grip!: HomelessnessAshe Barkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03390519279886657608noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-75447560562389641252015-01-29T07:08:16.763-05:002015-01-29T07:08:16.763-05:00Thanks for that link, Spencer. And I appreciate th...Thanks for that link, Spencer. And I appreciate the questions you've raised in your post about comfort, sensitivity, and the way people argue over things like this. Annabeth Leonghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07455191827664110878noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-87601047139323195622015-01-26T22:29:52.392-05:002015-01-26T22:29:52.392-05:00I think you're too hard on yourself when you s...I think you're too hard on yourself when you state "I'm very generous with other people's money", especially with regard to the 1%ers. By and large, they've grown fat and happy on the backs of the rest of us, so they should be taxed into sharing some of it, since doing it willingly isn't working out so well. Outsourcing, sending work overseas, worked very well for the owners of the companies...for the workers, not so much. A global economy is on its way, and unfortunately we here in the US used to lead the way in well-paying jobs. But others in other countries were willing to do that work for a fraction of the cost. And that's what they're doing. So their wages are going up, while ours had a train wreck and fell below what could support us here in our over-priced economy. Which leads to older adults with advanced degrees working beginner jobs at Wallmart, while Sam Walton's evil spawn are consistently among the top richest folks in the world. Something is VERY wrong with that picture.<br /><br />And I give as I can afford it, but the problem is that the biggest givers, percentage-wise, are those who make the least. We give as much as we can. I draw the line at grocery money to feed my family. If I gave any more away, they'd have to start a charity to support me. But with the big guys, it's whether or not they buy a new yacht this year...or a tenth home (Mitt Romney and new Illinois governor Bruce Rauner...yes, I'm talking to you a-holes.)<br /><br />The US has always been run by and for the rich, but for a while after WWII, the middle class was allowed to share in some of the prosperity that a good economy brought in. Now workers are way more productive, but their pay is stagnant to the point of being less now, in real dollars, than it was back then. When I read about CEOs who can't possibly take on a job that "only" pays them a few million, without billion dollar bonuses and golden parachutes, my stomach hurts at the destruction of the American dream. And no where is this more obvious than in our treatment of young people who took the only way out of poverty by joining the armed forces, then are kicked to the side when they return home carrying their baggage from experiencing war to protect the money of the richest folks. How truly depressing.<br /><br />Fiona McGierhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13495707848048468428noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-53525314732643025572015-01-26T19:25:11.811-05:002015-01-26T19:25:11.811-05:00My mother was homeless for a while, my brother and...My mother was homeless for a while, my brother and I didn;t know, we had no idea where she was or if she was even alive. We finally got word from a nursing home in Chicago where the police had dropped her off a couple of years earlier in a snow storm. She was one of the lucky ones I guess.<br /><br />GarceGarceushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11160407485298015371noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-76075005906578041292015-01-23T17:48:46.600-05:002015-01-23T17:48:46.600-05:00Sad story Daddy. Sad story Daddy. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15484640447109164744noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-9802999650093600052015-01-23T12:09:05.356-05:002015-01-23T12:09:05.356-05:00My grandfather was a street person after my grandm...My grandfather was a street person after my grandmother committed suicide. We'd get calls at all times of day or night from someone who'd seen him unable to take care of himself. My parents (aunts and uncles too) did what they could, including taking him in to live with us, but he was stubborn and pretty old when finally institutionalized.Daddy Xhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12927663248424944119noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-85291406258155149482015-01-23T11:54:33.860-05:002015-01-23T11:54:33.860-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.Daddy Xhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12927663248424944119noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-71874737694951348052015-01-23T05:56:20.352-05:002015-01-23T05:56:20.352-05:00Very interesting story you linked to, also. It sti...Very interesting story you linked to, also. It stimulates a whole lot more questions - like how this woman's father became homeless in the first place.Lisabet Saraihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05162514190572269660noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-55087598053701676452015-01-23T05:55:13.746-05:002015-01-23T05:55:13.746-05:00There's a lot of opportunity for controversy h...There's a lot of opportunity for controversy here, The only homeless people I've known have been women.<br /><br />Then again, my story on Monday chronicles exactly the sort of scenario you're talking about. <br /><br />In fact, in the U.S. these days, it's all to easy for anyone to slip into homelessness. Very little in the way of a safety net, and a definite lack of compassion, especially at the level of the Federal government. Meanwhile "affordable housing" has become an oxymoron. <br />Lisabet Saraihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05162514190572269660noreply@blogger.com