I would rather be a sucker than deny any human being a moment of perceived happiness in whatever it is that gives them joy. Frankly I don't give a damn what the heck they use my gift to them for. It is their existance, albeit unknown to me and others how they came to this point in their lives. I would now direct you to a book I am currently reading, that IMHO will blow you all away in your perceptions of the homeless. The title is thus: The Mole People... life in the tunels beneath New York City" by Jennifer Toth, Chicago Review Press, 1993.
Read this book in it's entirety and then come back and post to this thread. We are all full of so called enlightenment about the homeless, believe me my friends, we don't even have a clue. Stop talking from a perceived understanding of a subject we hardly even truly know. I would challenge any of you to tell me the last time you actually spoke to a homeless person, and learned their story. When was the last time you bowed down low to hear their voice?!! When was the last time you actually took the time to find out what a homeless person's situaton was that led them to their position in life?
I am not a total idiot, and I do not think that every homeless person just fell on hard times because of financial troubles. I know the reality. For the most part it is drugs that have played a part in their lives. I also know that there are a great number of mentally disturbed individuals who live below the streets. But in the end I believe that we who have the capacity for understanding and wisdom in such matters, are ultimately responsible for the way that these people live. There is no reason in this world that the mentally afflicted should have to live in such dire circumstances. Read that book!!! I emplore you to read this account, it is not fiction.
It is a constant debate...." We should do something for these people." In the next breath the same people are saying, " Oh no, I don't want one of those houses in my neighborhood!" Well we had better make up our minds. Will you make a difference? It is up to us to take a stand . There are over 6,000 homeless people living in the tunnels that have been accounted for, just in the New York subway . Quite frankly I believe we have put them there, as we do with all of the beings that we can't take the time to understand.
Don't talk about the homeless untill you have actually met them, and tried to understand each story, and just for a moment, just one moment, walked a mile, just one mile in their shoes. It takes a very strong individual to bow down and listen to a person's soul, to delve deep into the reasons behind their coming to this point in their lives. Are you that strong, am I that strong? We could be if we just get over the fear of the encounter.
Sorry for the rant, but I know the reality and am at a personal loss to find the way around the system and the individuals that constantly put up roadblocks to the solutions. Sorry for getting so very heavy in this post, but it just flowed out. I'm done!
p.s. I had to come back to edit this, this morning, for I was truly out of line. My appologies for sounding off. Sometimes the rage against injustice gets the best of me.