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-   -   The $50 Question (https://www.talkofthevillages.com/forums/villages-florida-political-talk-88/50-question-25168/)

Guest 10-30-2009 02:03 PM

Quote:

Posted by Guest (Post 231409)
Famous saying: "When you rob Peter to pay Paul, you can be assured of Paul's vote."

You have capsulized the exact reason I left one party and joined another !!!! No other reason.....I do not and never will vote or think along party lines, but it just made me feel better NOT to be associated with that kind of stuff which is real world !

Guest 10-30-2009 04:15 PM

Quote:

Posted by Guest (Post 231382)
Perhaps the homeless guy is just lazy and doesn't want to work and lives off government handouts paid for on the backs of the middle class.

Welcome to the Democratic party.

Well said. :clap2:

Guest 10-30-2009 07:00 PM

Quote:

Posted by Guest (Post 231398)
Oh I do GET the point of the story. But, it is a story half told. What are the circumstances that lead this man to become homeless???

Also, I respectfully disagree with this last statement. My heart breaks when I see the countless homeless families with children. There should not be one, not even ONE homeless person in a country as great as ours. I believe the majority of homeless do want a better life and a warm bed to sleep in and DO NOT want to sleep under a bridge or in a box, scrounging in garbage for food, with the women being continually raped, even little girls. NO! I'm afraid I just don't have the pessimistic view of the homeless that you do.

Is there of a percentage of people that just want handouts??? Of course! Should they get a hand up or hand out??? NO! But, as I stated previously... I know these people can be weeded out, just like they weed out people with false disability claims. Oh, and some of those people are Republicans too!

There, but for the grace of God, go you. Always remember that.

I'm not pessimistic of the homeless, just a realist amongst fool heart ed do gooders. Maybe in your world people do not put themselves into the position that homeless people find themselves in, but in mine there are reasons that they are there. Drugs and alcohol addiction are the most prevalent reasons for homelessness. Then there are the bad decision makers, who drop out of school or marry bums or turn on families that have tried but failed in the past to help them. Their friends and families have abandoned them, why? Because they are wonderful people? Most are homeless because of their own mistakes or demons of mind and body.

And by the grace of God go I? My life has nothing to do with Gods grace. God has let me make my own way in life and the life I've chosen didn't leave me homeless. Buy the way, when my youngest son and my youngest brother were living in their cars, it was of their own making. Thankfully my son has changed his ways, but my brother died an alcoholic after a too short and wasted life. He had family and friends that tried to help him, but if you don't try to help yourself your life is your own CHOICE.

Guest 10-30-2009 09:57 PM

care for the sick and poor
 
Quote:

Posted by Guest (Post 231371)
Hey a friend told me:

"If God had intended us to care for the sick and poor
He would have said so."

He not only sent His Son to show us how to do that, he also instructed us.

Matthew 25:40
"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

Guest 10-31-2009 03:38 AM

We have different perpectives!
 
Quote:

Posted by Guest (Post 231476)
I'm not pessimistic of the homeless, just a realist amongst fool heart ed do gooders. Maybe in your world people do not put themselves into the position that homeless people find themselves in, but in mine there are reasons that they are there. Drugs and alcohol addiction are the most prevalent reasons for homelessness. Then there are the bad decision makers, who drop out of school or marry bums or turn on families that have tried but failed in the past to help them. Their friends and families have abandoned them, why? Because they are wonderful people? Most are homeless because of their own mistakes or demons of mind and body.

And by the grace of God go I? My life has nothing to do with Gods grace. God has let me make my own way in life and the life I've chosen didn't leave me homeless. Buy the way, when my youngest son and my youngest brother were living in their cars, it was of their own making. Thankfully my son has changed his ways, but my brother died an alcoholic after a too short and wasted life. He had family and friends that tried to help him, but if you don't try to help yourself your life is your own CHOICE.

Well we completely differ in this. I count my blessings everyday. Yes, my husband and I worked hard all of our lives. We are very secure. But, I don't think that gives me the right to turn a blind eye to another human being in need. Maybe, instead of patting yourself on the back, you should put your hands together in prayer. I won't get into religion, but it is my unwavering belief that I have been blessed with the health, opportunities and good upbringing to be in the position I am today... with the grace of God.

I'm happy your son has found his way and I'm sorry for your brother. Please believe that. I have a cousin much like your brother, so I know, no matter how much someone tries, sometimes, it's just not enough. Again, that is why I, personally, count my blessings. Many turns in the road are quick and unexpected. Some cannot handle them, and some have no one on this planet that cares enough to help them. I would never presume to lump all homeless people into a group of alcoholics and drug addicts. It's just not true. Many are war veterans that deserved better. My own Godfather is still dealing with the aftermath of his injuries in Vietnam. He is not homeless, but there were times in his youth that he was a hair away. Many have lost their jobs and can't find one, losing their homes and being dumped like trash on the street.

I don't mean to rant, but ever since I was a little girl, since I first realized that some people had nowhere to call home, this has been a cause of mine. It breaks my heart. And I can't believe, that in this country, we still have even one homeless person. :ohdear:

Guest 10-31-2009 08:14 AM

Quote:

Posted by Guest (Post 231515)
Well we completely differ in this. I count my blessings everyday. Yes, my husband and I worked hard all of our lives. We are very secure. But, I don't think that gives me the right to turn a blind eye to another human being in need. Maybe, instead of patting yourself on the back, you should put your hands together in prayer. I won't get into religion, but it is my unwavering belief that I have been blessed with the health, opportunities and good upbringing to be in the position I am today... with the grace of God.

I'm happy your son has found his way and I'm sorry for your brother. Please believe that. I have a cousin much like your brother, so I know, no matter how much someone tries, sometimes, it's just not enough. Again, that is why I, personally, count my blessings. Many turns in the road are quick and unexpected. Some cannot handle them, and some have no one on this planet that cares enough to help them. I would never presume to lump all homeless people into a group of alcoholics and drug addicts. It's just not true. Many are war veterans that deserved better. My own Godfather is still dealing with the aftermath of his injuries in Vietnam. He is not homeless, but there were times in his youth that he was a hair away. Many have lost their jobs and can't find one, losing their homes and being dumped like trash on the street.

I don't mean to rant, but ever since I was a little girl, since I first realized that some people had nowhere to call home, this has been a cause of mine. It breaks my heart. And I can't believe, that in this country, we still have even one homeless person. :ohdear:

OK I agree to disagree. You open up YOUR house and YOUR wallet, because you believe so strongly about you feelings and you stay out of MY wallet because of MY beliefs. But, that's never the way with liberals. They want to pick everyone's pocket to fund THEIR beliefs. I'll CHOOSE who and what I want to support.

Guest 10-31-2009 08:35 AM

I am with gnu on this one. Chelsea, that is the whole point of the story, IMHO. Let’s say that you and I agree that we are blessed and feel the need to help out those less fortunate. What we disagree on is how to do it. You want to forcibly appropriate money from the citizenry through taxation and redistribute it to the needy. I have a very real problem with that. I want to voluntarily give money to agencies that would help the poor. This does not even consider the efficacy of the cost of the redistribution vs. the cost of private philanthropy. When the government gets involved, it gets real expensive.
I respect and understand your position, I just cannot share it.

Guest 10-31-2009 06:56 PM

I'll chime in with my personal experiences in the Boston area from the 1980s when "compassion fatigue" started to set in.

I lived (as I still do) in New Hampshire and commuted (as I no longer do) to Boston for work. I saw (and dodged) the homeless every day. The majority of them, but by no means all, fell into the following categories.

- Drunks
- Drug addicts
- Mentally imparied

Let me talk about the last item there for a bit. The mentally impaired. These are the people I saw barely existing on the street. Defecating in the subway - on the stairs at Kenmore station to be precise. Trying to smoke on a subway train. Screaming at demons only they could see.

This was a big issue amongst homeless advocated in the Boston area. They kept screaming about how the cuts from the Reagan administration had put these people out on the street.

Except that they were lying.

The state hospitals were closed by governor Michael Dukakis years before Reagan was elected President. But it was so convenient to blame Reagan (instead of the guy who was still in office who'd closed the hospitals in the first place) that they just kept singing that song.

Giving them the benefit of the doubt, maybe they were misinformed.

There really weren't all that many (as a percentage of the whole) homeless who were "down on their luck. I grant you, those are the ones I want to help out. Those are the ones that I've brought food to in the past.

They started a program in Boston where you could buy these orange coupons which could be redeemed for meals at dozens of places around the city. they thought it was a great way for people to give handouts and know that their money was going for something good, as opposed to booze and cigarettes.

It was loudly played up in the local news - great fanfare when it started. But the program didn't last. I forget how long it last but it didn't even make it a couple of years. The street people didn't want the coupons. They, by and large, wanted cash. Personally I think that the people who were truly in a bad situation out of their control were too ashamed to take that kind of help. We'd see ads on TV about a mother and two kids living in a station wagon - but it turned out there just weren't that many of them in Boston.

The real tragedy, as I saw it, were the homeless vets. at the time, it was inconceivable to me that there could be such a thing. after all, the service trained you, gave you a trade (or so the ads said) and you had skill along with lifelong benefits. That's when the stories of returning vets with mental problems crept out. It's sinful that we put these people in that position - who signed up to possibly give their life for their country - and this is what they got...

Again, the questions have far more complex answers than we would like....


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