What is so disgusting about your argument lowing is that you assume everyone has the means by which to get a job and be a functioning member of society, but there are so many factors that can derail one's most valiant efforts to be successful, that homelessness should be looked at as a societal condition rather than a personal one, and when it is a societal condition, the government should be responsible for at least working to solve the problem.
You saying "if they can stand outside a store, they can sit in a classroom" is such a fucking arrogant statement that I don't even know if I should qualify with a response, but I'll do it anyway. ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?! Do you know how much it costs to go to college now, and for some people, how hard it is to be in school at any level? What if the person's parents were impoverished and didn't have a stable home, how would the kid be able to reliably do his homework, get to class, and focus? What if he were hungry?
What if his parents are abusive drug addicts, or what if he had a little brother with a disability, and because of their already low economic state, their parents were forced to spend all their money on health care for a dying child, and couldn't help this kid?
This is the kind of thing I hear about frequently from my mom, and has really made me look differently at poverty. I hope someday you can see it as I do.
Also, maybe you don't remember but my brother was hospitalized for a potassium deficiency caused by a rare kidney disease. He's alright now, but had this relatively random event happened to me (edit: because I had no health insurance), my family would have no money now, and we most likely would have been forced to sell our nice home and move across the country to be with my mom's family in Mississippi, because they would most likely have a place we could stay.
This would mean both my parents would be jobless, my brother would have to enroll in a new highschool, and my life would be dictated by having to come up with $250 worth of potassium and magnesium pills, until I got health insurance, which would be pretty hard to do given that situation.
Or, remember when KCD's house burned down? My mom just spoke with a family who had a $400K house and both parents worked as managers of local restaurants, but their house burned down and due to the circumstance of it (the youngest child started the fire after lighting a kleenex box on fire) they received only $20,000. With no house, and practically no money, the family was forced to move into a small apartment, but the community was supportive. However, their neighbors sued for $100,000 worth of damage from the fire, and the family declared bankruptcy but they were also evicted. The father lost his job, the mother was able to stay with a friend, but had an emotional breakdown and committed suicide.
Now the father is alone with 2 kids, jobless and homeless.
All this happened 6 years ago, and just now my mother has found them a home, a willing renter, and helped both kids and the father find jobs.
So shut the fuck up lowing.
Last edited by djphetal (2008-07-10 12:58:40)