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Waleis t1_iz3ks2s wrote

Reply to comment by Cannablitzed in Homelessness charity staff start strike, after low pay risks homelessness by db_2_k

You're presupposing that that they simply haven't considered the possibility of leaving Denver, or that they're just too stupid to realize that other places with cheaper housing exist. Either way, not helpful at all. There are a million reasons why people (including very poor people) choose to live in urban areas. And many of those potential reasons are extremely personal, and can't be shared to strangers online.

I'm sorry for being so critical but i see posts exactly like yours every time someone talks about having financial troubles in urban areas, sometimes even when people talk about less-shitty rural areas. Posts like this are always irritating because they shift the cause of poverty away from its actual sources and onto individuals, specifically individuals choosing to live in urban areas.

You probably don't have bad intentions but please try to use your empathy and be more thoughtful.

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Cannablitzed t1_iz4uzcd wrote

I’m not presupposeing anything. I asked for a logical reason why two people who are homeless wouldn’t relocate three hours to potentially not be homeless. You interjected all that other outrage and insult on your own. If you see many posts asking the same question as mine over and over, perhaps it’s time to answer it if you want people like me to continue shelling out empathy and resources in an attempt to solve the problem. I’m not blaming this couple for their poverty, I’m asking why they wouldn’t take steps to improve their own lot when the current situation seems so untenable. Poverty stricken people will cross the globe for a shot a better life, why won’t Americans cross a city line?

Just some info to straighten out your apparent assumptions about me, I lived in a VW Rabbit in Loudoun County, VA for two years trying to catch up after a job loss. Took me that long to realize it was never going to happen in the richest county in the US. I moved to Greeley, CO with $300, got a job waiting tables and was under a roof in three months because the COL was 1/3 that of LoCo. Life has only gone up since then. I don’t just have empathy, I’ve got the life experience.

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HaikuBotStalksMe t1_iz3ppxf wrote

Normally I'd agree because it's expensive to move. But if you're already living in a car, you're not going to have to worry about... "What if I lose my job and then have to get rid of my belongings and live on the streets?"

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eran76 t1_iz3uq2z wrote

>Posts like this are always irritating because they shift the cause of poverty away from its actual sources and onto individuals, specifically individuals choosing to live in urban areas.

The discussion was not about the sources or causes of poverty, but what people are going to do to get out of poverty now that they're in it. Wanting something you can't afford, even if the reason is extremely personal is effectively the same as choosing poverty. If you cash your entire paycheck and spend it on steak on pay day, you have no one to blame for your hunger the next day but yourself. If you choose to be homeless because you would rather live in a car in a city even though you can't afford that city but could afford another, then you're not only in denial, but are selfish. You are selfish because as non-tax paying car dweller you still draw resources from the community to sustain your car based lifestyle while the rest of the tax payers still have to pick up the tab for all the goods and services you are consuming but do not pay for.

This is not a question of empathy or lack there of. It's a question of people making choices that benefit them but cost others. These people are not stupid, far from it. They are free riders enjoying all the ancillary benefits of living in a large urban center while avoiding paying the true cost of existence and forcing everyone around them to subsidize them. People who insist on living in places they can't afford have the financial maturity of a preschooler: "But I want it!!!"

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Waleis t1_iz3wfil wrote

This response only makes sense if you completely ignore the first paragraph of my post.

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eran76 t1_iz4yy81 wrote

I'm not ignoring it, I am addressing it directly and saying you're wrong and your reasons are BS. Money spent on the homeless is a finite resource, something I am well aware of working in healthcare and being married to a social worker who works with the homeless. Fully functioning and employed adults who could house and sustain themselves if they moved but choose to be homeless take resources away from vulnerable people who literally have no options. These excuses propagated by people like yourself only enable the perpetuation of poverty, and add to the sense of lawlessness seen in many cities where the "rules" only seem apply to some of the people.

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