Berkley RV homeless

irishtom29 said:

Let?s hope fishing pays enough he won?t have to live in an old RV parked on the street.

People value hard work...until they have to pay for it.

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That's the opposite of my experience.  I've never had an employer who did not gladly pay a fair wage for a hard day's work.  What employers do not like is paying slackers.

They recently removed a homeless camp in the Seattle area and along with a few tons of general garbage they found a dumpster full of used needles. While the mental health issue is very real there is much more homelessness caused by heroin use. The locals removed the camp because they were fed up with the crime rate, public defecation and panhandling. Solve the heroin problem and a large percentage of the homeless will go away.

keymastr said:

They recently removed a homeless camp in the Seattle area and along with a few tons of general garbage they found a dumpster full of used needles. While the mental health issue is very real there is much more homelessness caused by heroin use. The locals removed the camp because they were fed up with the crime rate, public defecation and panhandling. Solve the heroin problem and a large percentage of the homeless will go away.

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The heroin problem is a mental health problem.

I went thru replies and have an in scientific score update for those keeping track. ;D

There are a few that replied where It is not clearly evident where they stand; and it is unscientific, so it is possible I made an error or two.

But none the less, thus far--
18 Responders seem to have little to no or at least LESS empathy for the homeless.
13 Responders seem to have significant or at least MORE empathy for the homeless.
1 Responder early laid out 50/50 (Nicely played Alpena Jeff  ;D)

I want to be in Alpena Jeff's camp, but I firmly believe that closer to 25% of these people are unable to find their way out due to mental and physical issues, and the other 75% CHOOSE not to work or quit their alcohol and/or Drug habits and abuses.
Therefore, I'm rolling with that and now there are 19 respondents with LESS empathy for the homeless.  :-\

Paul 1950 said:

The heroin problem is a mental health problem.

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Although they often do coincide with one another; using drugs in itself is not a mental health problem IMO.  Especially when you end up homeless are because you started using and it escalated.

I left California for good over a decade ago, and you couldn't pay me enough to live there anymore (clearly! lol). I left San Diego because it was crazy, with the income coming in, that all that could be done was to tread water. So, I left, and now live in Texas, and it will require some large amount of dynamite to dislodge me! I loved growing up in California, but times changed, and not necessarily for the better, as far as I was concerned. There are, of course, positives and negatives to living anywhere; even in Hawaii, a tropical paradise to many, there are drawbacks. For me, the cost of living finally outweighed everything else. I decided that I could miss out on what San Diego had to offer from anywhere in the country; I didn't have to live there for that. On the other hand, I was in a position to make that choice, and (luckily) profit from it; not everyone has that circumstance. I went to New Mexico, which was, financially and in other ways, a huge improvement! I really haven't regretted leaving, at any point...

There are any number of reasons for homelessness; assuming any 'one size fits all' is going to be wrong. Period. I've lived in my car, and come many a mile since then. My brother, on the other hand, refused to stop living in his tent, or get help, even after he got clean, and he died young, cold, and alone. Which of us is 'the face of homelessness'? Neither, Jack, and not understanding that is always going to be a problem. There are those who literally choose to be homeless, whether for mental health reasons, drugs, or just plain orneriness. There are those who are temporarily homeless, and make good when given the chance. There are those who don't want a chance, but only the freedom they feel on the streets. There are those who have had a run of bad luck, or a single crushing circumstance, that broke them financially. And there are more, too; there are no pat answers. Assuming that everyone wants or needs help is no more 'correct' than assuming that nobody deserves help; it's an assumption based on one's own biases, either way. Enabling really isn't any more morally superior than tough love, and tough love isn't morally superior to enabling, usually except to those doing one or the other...

I don't know that there is an answer. Jesus told us that the poor will be with us always; that clearly doesn't mean that we shouldn't care, but it should also tell us that there is a limit on what we can do. I'll say that I do have some issue with simply raising taxes to address the problem, but only because much of that money will inevitably be wasted, squandered, and misused by the politicians who take it, then use it for their own purposes (and that means those from either side of the aisle; pretty much every single one of them at the state level or higher has dirty, and bloody, hands).

I do know that any good, workable answer won't be easy; it may be simple, but that isn't the same as easy.

I've often wondered how many of those heroin users started out just smoking a little marijuana socially on weekends only and then it just got out of control.

Best answer yet, signcut.

I always said it would take God to dislodge me from My home country of Texas -well, guess what happened?  Lol

Rene T said:

I've often wondered how many of those heroin users started out just smoking a little marijuana socially on weekends only and then it just got out of control.

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I understand that there have been studies that state that marijuana is not a 'gateway drug'; all I know is that that's how every addict that I've ever known has started. Yes, there are plenty of folks who have not gone down that road, but I am on the fence about legal weed, because I can't just ignore that personal experience, even as I don't like governmental encroachment on personal liberties...

FenderP said:

I always said it would take God to dislodge me from My home country of Texas -well, guess what happened?  Lol

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Well, look at it this way: think of how much more you'll love it when you finally return...!

Rene T said:

I've often wondered how many of those heroin users started out just smoking a little marijuana socially on weekends only and then it just got out of control.

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Much less than you think.  Contrary to what you have learned in school etc.

[quote author=signcut]I left California for good over a decade ago, and you couldn't pay me enough to live there anymore (clearly! lol). I left San Diego because it was crazy...[/quote]

San Diego has great year-round climate, but it's not the SD I knew in the early 80's.

San Diego reached 107 degrees today ... that's 6 degrees hotter than here in Pahrump. 

Their climate must have changed  ???

Rene T said:

I've often wondered how many of those heroin users started out just smoking a little marijuana socially on weekends only and then it just got out of control.

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That is probably true, however, my observation would be that those that started with pot on weekends, but ended up using heroin, use heroin for the same reason they used pot, namely, to avoid some reality in their life that they havent been able to deal with any other way, which to me, is the definition of a mental illness.

Also, I would say that the percentage of people who started with pot, and ended up using heroin, cocaine, or meth is small.  The most common drug that is used to avoid a reality someone cant deal with is alcohol.

A lot of people with drug problems are really self medicating mental health issues. My mom?s alcohol use was directly related to her refusal to take medicine for depression. Drugs hide not just the physical pain, but much psychological pain.

And more on the RV homeless,I spent a lot of time in Newport and Huntington Beaches. Very expensive places, and in both I noticed stealth campers in van and class C units. Generally on residential streets but near big hotels. It only works for a couple of nights at a time, but obviously enough to make it worthwhile.

signcut said:

Well, look at it this way: think of how much more you'll love it when you finally return...!

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You know it. Six years and counting.

Lou Schneider said:

San Diego reached 107 degrees today ... that's 6 degrees hotter than here in Pahrump. 

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Lou, it's just a matter of time. 

115 degrees here today in Lake Havasu.

Glad we got good A/C.

Paul 1950 said:

The heroin problem is a mental health problem.

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Alcohol kills more people world wide every year than all the legal and illegal drugs combined.
So when people say that drugs and alcohol are a disease or a mental health issue their wrong
it's a choice.you choose to use drugs and alcohol.alcohol is the #1 gate way drug. on 08/20/2016 my son lost his battle with alcohol
he chose to take his life.its a choice he made he can never take back.so went I wrote that post if you think you have a problem or could lose
control to seek help I wasn't being a ass.my ? is cold and empty and full of anger. I've changed, our lives have
changed forever. So thank the lord for camping and the smiles it puts on our grandkids faces makes my heart
fill alive again at least for alittle while.