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Homeless guy


RamNut

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8 hours ago, Lambchop said:

If there are people still on the street then the system isn't working. When the numbers are increasing as drastically as they are, then it is failing, and failing badly. 

I presume you mean hostels, and not hotels, but hostels are not the long term answer. We need to address the problems which lead to homelessness in the first place; lack of affordable housing, high rents, insecure work, stagnant wages, the punitive benefits system etc etc. 

I blame .... Oh never mind

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5 hours ago, BathRam72 said:

OMG.

There is no talking to you is there?

If you care to look back at all my posts I was giving my opinion on why I would give food and not money to the homeless. However this is not good enough for you and you chose to preach why (I didn't).

I also kind of agreed with you when I suggested there are plenty of empty military establishments that with a little TLC could be used as an interim to house these people and build their self esteem. You chose to pick out the one line you wanted to argue about.

I also merely pointed out the difference between a genuine refugee and an economic migrant. Again you get on your high horse.

Clearly this is not a debate it is your opinion and no-one elses.

I will there for get on with my work. 

 

Perhaps you ought to work on your use of English.

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10 hours ago, Lambchop said:

There was a program a few years ago where people from different cultures did an exchange, and lived each other's lifestyles for a while. The people from a tribal culture, rain forest, I think, were appalled at the homelessness in Britain. They couldn't understand how we could abandon anyone to such a plight. In their world, if someone needed a home, everyone got together to build them one. 

I was on that exchange program.  I still find it uncomfortable wearing these bloody neck rings, and a day doesn’t go by when l don’t grieve for the brutal loss of my foreskin.

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I am glad that the original thread was ‘cleaned up’ and returned because for me homelessness is the most important social challenge we face.

I have lived in about 25 places that I have called ‘home’ - I moved around a lot as a student and for work and three marriages have had an impact too. I still recall the two or three times that I have been close to being genuinely homeless.  The feeling was unlike any other and luckily for me I managed to avoid it each time.  But there were times when it was a near run thing.

Charities supporting homeless people get my money and emotional and practical support.  I’ve always bought the Big Issue. But I struggle with giving money to people begging for it.  Those that work in the sector, and who know a lot more about it than I do, often say ‘don’t give money to beggars’.  And yet how do you walk past someone apparently in greater need, sleeping on the streets in rain and cold, ignored, beaten up and abused?  This is a fellow human being. Lying down on the street takes courage.

I wanted to know what other people felt, which is why I wanted to see this thread continue.  And yesterday I was in London, on the tube a lot and walking to Kings Cross.  Routine homelessness all around and fairly cold and wet conditions.  I thought of Ramnut and the guy on his bridge and I put some money in a few plastic cups along the way, and said hello.  If anything I felt worse for doing so for a variety of personal reasons I won’t bore you with, and I’m not sure that I will give every single beggar I pass in Leeds a donation, but I will do more often than I have done.

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17 minutes ago, eddie said:

Certainly is. Keep practicing - perhaps go up in the world a little by moving to Bristol.

Sorry Eddie, Bath is a much better area.  Bristol is nice, but it is certainly not Bath. By the way correct my English all you like. I happen to know that a name should start with a capital letter. Smart arse 

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It's all well and good throwing money into a homeless person's plastic cup or adding your couple of quid to the millions that will be collected next week during the BBC's children in need appeal. Are we not failing as a nation in making sure that homelessness, child poverty in our country is eradicated and the health of the people of this country is fully funded by us as a civilized society in the place?

I don't care which party is in charge of the government, as long as they carry out their a duty of care to the well being of our nation and it's people. While at the same time making sure the whole of the nation from the multinational corporations through to the each single individual pays its appropriate share in the funding for a good and civilized society.

It would be better for us as a nation, rather than giving a few pounds to a charity now and again, if we the people of this country were more demanding of our government and holding them more accountable for its action. Thus any money we did gave to a charity, would be for things like overseas aid or the RSPCA but not the basics required by a civilized society.

 

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4 hours ago, 1of4 said:

I don't care which party is in charge of the government, as long as they carry out their a duty of care to the well being of our nation and it's people. 

you might be waiting a while. 

there will always be poverty and people who fall through the system, but i think it shames us to have someone living like this on the doorstep of a our football club where millionaire footballers get paid tens of thousands of pounds a week. Ok its not the clubs responsibility. And we're not responsible as we walk to and from the ground to our luxury cars and houses. We can all agree that its not our fault or their fault. We can walk on by with a clear conscience. But can we? Really??

I quite like the tribal solution to make that person one of our own and help lift them up. But if we don't care enough to do something about it, then i don't really see how we can have any realistic expectation that governments and politicians should sort it for us. 

perhaps we are culpable if we just walk past. Maybe its the sum of all the little things that actually count.

Even if one in a thousand people instead of spending £3 on a programme, did something else with that £3 then it might actually do some good. maybe thats the nearest we can realistically hope to get to the tribal solution of collective help. It won't put a roof over anyone's head. It won't solve all their problems. But it might just mean that that person has enough money for food for a week.

25 people pausing to offer help might just raise your spirits enough to think that perhaps life is worth living and people do care. 

 

 

 

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3 hours ago, RamNut said:

you might be waiting a while. 

there will always be poverty and people who fall through the system, but i think it shames us to have someone living like this on the doorstep of a our football club where millionaire footballers get paid tens of thousands of pounds a week. Ok its not the clubs responsibility. And we're not responsible as we walk to and from the ground to our luxury cars and houses. We can all agree that its not our fault or their fault. We can walk on by with a clear conscience. But can we? Really??

I quite like the tribal solution to make that person one of our own and help lift them up. But if we don't care enough to do something about it, then i don't really see how we can have any realistic expectation that governments and politicians should sort it for us. 

perhaps we are culpable if we just walk past. Maybe its the sum of all the little things that actually count.

Even if one in a thousand people instead of spending £3 on a programme, did something else with that £3 then it might actually do some good. maybe thats the nearest we can realistically hope to get to the tribal solution of collective help. It won't put a roof over anyone's head. It won't solve all their problems. But it might just mean that that person has enough money for food for a week.

25 people pausing to offer help might just raise your spirits enough to think that perhaps life is worth living and people do care. 

 

 

 

Invite him to stay in your spare room

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1 hour ago, bigbadbob said:

Invite him to stay in your spare room

I haven 't got a spare room. And that cheap shot does you no credit whatsoever. Nor those who gave you 'likes' for it.

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1 hour ago, bigbadbob said:

Invite him to stay in your spare room

What attitude you have to problems like homelessness seems to depend on whether you think we are all individually responsible for our circumstances, or whether you see that we are all interdependent and responsible for looking out for each other.

Different philosophies which create very different societies. I know which I prefer. 

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1 hour ago, RamNut said:

I haven 't got a spare room. And that cheap shot does you no credit whatsoever. Nor those who gave you 'likes' for it.

Your views are earnest, and I share and support them.  However, Bob makes an equally valid point that individuals like you, Lambchop and myself could stop talking about individuals sleeping on the street and actually give them a bed and shelter for some time. The fact we don’t / haven’t speaks volumes.

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Maybe the spare room idea could work, alone the lines of fostering?

The council could provide basic level training for dealing with someone off the streets, and a payment to cover the extra costs, and in return the person would have some security from which to rebuild their lives from.

I'm sure there would be some good Samaritans interested?

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