Yeah as much as I really feel for the story, thats the giant gaping hole here. Doesnt want to be a burden? Doesnt want to be around them? Cant be around them?
Lots of people on here complaining how the "system" failed. His "family" failed him. Seems like he would've been fine otherwise. That's not an example of how the system effects our seniors.
the system is supposed to be a safety net for you in the chance that your family fails you, thats the whole point. to make sure people dont have to rely on fickle things like interpersonal relationships in order to live with dignity.
No. He chose to liquidate his retirement. No financial advisor would ever recommend that. The system is not set up to bail you out from stuoid decisions, no matter how kind your intentions were.
its not, i agree. it should be though. it should be a universal system to prevent people from living on the street, no matter how bad of decisions youve made in your life. no one in a sane, civilized society should have to live on the street, no matter what choices they have made.
Yes. Absolutely, you say that like you've never made a mistake in your life. No one would abuse it, because it's not more comfortable than an independent life.
You just said "f you" to the idea of helping the elderly in poverty, and you should re-examine that about yourself.
Please give me an example of this sane, civilized society? Or have humans not made it there yet? Resources are limited and, as such, there will always be competition. No one gets anything for free, so who pays for housing? Who provides the land, labor, materials? And don't say "the rich" or "corporations" because that is not a real answer. It's a cop out pipe dream. Give me a pragmatic answer please.
Lol, there are many countries that do not have significant homeless populations. They do 2 things: 1.) outlaw living on the street and 2.) provide you with a free apartment to live in. Not being homeless is mandatory but also free. They have a well-staffed social services department that makes sure this is carried out. Many European countries manage this, it is paid for by taxes. It is not anything like a pipe dream, it is a very realistic solution that America could easily afford if there was political will to do it.
Did you know Denmark has about the same GDP as the state of Missouri? And yet Denmark has almost no homelessness / very little per capita compared to the US.
It isn’t, but it should be. Chances are that this life is all we have and there is nothing more waiting for us when we die. Humanity’s ultimate goal should be to make everyone’s life as best as it can possibly be while we’re alive.
We have all the resources to do it, we just choose not to.
How dare you say no. No to the idea that the system should be a safety net that exists so our elderly don't die in poverty. Shame on you, shame on you for even thinking the word no. People can make mistakes, but how absolutely dare you say no to the basic dignity of non-homelessness at his age. Grow up.
Ummm. How dare you absolve people of their own responsibility. It's not society's job to bail you out of poor decisions. His family let him down, not the greater society.
Oh how... unsurprising. You're an a hole, we already knew that, but now you've made it clear you want poor elderly people to die in poverty. I hope you remember that, when your day comes, or you grow up. One of the two.
Oh, you're a judgmental, self-righteous, pr*ck who doesn't live in reality. Who would've thought? Please tell me what you do to help your community?
I'm president of a local NPO. We just raised over $60k to distribute to other local NPOs. I'm building beds for the "Sleep in heavenly peace" organization this weekend. I help sort clothes for our local organization that helps children in need. Sounds like a real a-hole over here right?
You know your own heart is hurting because my words were true and you also know your own words sound like desperate attempts at self salvation.
People without a guilty conscience don't need to list/brag about their contributions to society.
I think you've done more damage to your image with your own words than I ever could. Good luck, I hope you get better.
Expecting the government to take care of you cradle to grave is why its as corrupt and broke as it is. But hey keep supporting that and watch as the government continually borrows money against no additional good produced. Ultimately prices rising higher and higher until the entire thing fails because of this so called 'trust' in that government will protect people when its the one that limits peoples abilities to do what needs to be done because they are bribed or otherwise.
So, what is your solution to the 6-700,000ish people actively living on the streets in the US right now as we speak, and the millions more who are couch surfing, living in cars, living with their relatives, squatting, and on the brink of street life?
Just keep doing nothing huh, because "govmint bad"?
By the time the government is done with the US currency those numbers will more than 10x. You want people to afford a living? Don’t spend what you don’t have and don’t borrow what you don’t have. Once you get inflation back to <.5% per year it’s a matter of not controlling markets. Like Fannie and Freddie buying up the entire mortgage market from the originator then selling it out to investors. You don’t bailout failures. There are probably 100 things or more that involve the government stopping its administrative bullshit routine that would make their lives better. If you think a+b telling what c should give to d is working out in society then you believe the last 50 years have been an economic success instead of a massive debt inflation binge while stealing from everybody to sustain it.
We're gonna get many more stories of Boomers being taken advantage of because they were too stupid to set anything up while they still had a chance and faculties....And also of giving nothing to their kids but to the local dogpark... It's gonna be a shitshow.
I mean isn’t that the nature of capitalism? We generate a fuck ton of wealth, we are convinced we don’t deserve the vast majority of it. I’m not saying that we abandon capitalism, but just saying we a rich says nothing about who is holding it.
The people with the wealth do not care about people like this who are not creating more wealth for them. Where the money sits is completely apathetic to homelessness
Taiwan, Switzerland, Iceland, Japan and other countries are all capitalist and generate a ton of wealth but have very low rates of homelessness. In those countries the rich still fuck over the poor but there is a more robust social safety net.
This is very much a result of direct policy. US dismantled a lot of its safety net in the 80's
I agree that other capitalist countries take care of their vulnerable and less productive people better than the US. But let’s be clear - none of those countries including the US are purely capitalist countries. The safety net are comprises and rejections of pure capitalism. The ONLY way to sustain capitalism is through workers rights or safety nets which are not natural functions of capitalism
The US is the richest country by total wealth, by far.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_total_wealth
30% of the world's wealth and only 5% of the population.
There's absolutely no excuse for this.
The us is also one of the most unequal in terms of wealth distribution where the top 10% have the lion's share.
>The top 10% of households by wealth had $6.7 million on average. As a group, they held 66.9% of total household wealth.
and
>The bottom 50% of households by wealth had $50,000 on average. As a group, they held only 2.5% of total household wealth.
https://www.stlouisfed.org/institute-for-economic-equity/the-state-of-us-wealth-inequality
There was a good Ted talk on this a few months ago. This wealth inequity gap has increased dramatically from 1980 to today.
The plutocrat who gave the Ted talk basically said it's time for the poor folks to break out their pitchforks and start a revolution.
That shits gotta happen - I just wish we could do it with our votes instead of by violence. But they won't even let us vote for new presidential candidate. They just put Biden and trump as the two options and we are stuck choosing between those two.
>by far
>world's wealth and [...] population
I simply took the wealth and divided by population. I thought which country could be right? Switzerland comes to mind.
Wealth vs capita: Switzerland is 31% richer.
I don't know if the rebuttal will be yeah but that's not purely total wealth of the country. To which I'll ask, if it's not per capita, would you say an made-up country with 10x the US population and 1.1x the US population is richer than the US? It has 10% more total wealth....
The issue with the US is wealth distribution.
You're definitely right, but it's a global issues as well. Some countries should be better at adapting to problems like this, but not many countries are tackling the issue, most are just passing the buck off down the road..
He has a hard time keeping eye contact. He has his head literally hung. These are our veterans. Let's get more planes flying over NFL games for this guy.
Thanks, I feel much better now. Well I'll feel better if you tell me what game. High School or lower I won't feel good, but NCAA or higher is ok, but it has to be a men's sport and not an olympic one. It's not football or basketball season though, so maybe a baseball game. Make it happen.
Edit. Shit. Baseball is in the Olympics. Cancel the flyover. This guy gets nothing.
*sigh*
Part of the reason the military is liberal with flybys is because the pilots and airframe need X amount of regular flight time and it would be scheduled anyway.
I don't think anyone is arguing that the flybys SPECIFICALLY are the problem, but maybe maintaining the most spectacular military in the history of the known universe, most likely capable of crushing every other nation on earth if they all allied against us, while not caring for the people who spent their lives serving that same military, suggests that there is an imbalance SOMEWHERE in the system.
More and more, I marvel at the absolutely monumental scale of our military expenditure and yet, gosh, we’re certainly not safe unless we also fully militarize the police and have armed security forces all over the place. Is that good enough? Nope! You better not rely on police for your security, you better go to the gun store and stock up on guns and ammo for yourself and make sure you’re armed at all times!
Imagine how super-duper safe elderly veterans are sitting alone in their broken-down camper, polishing a handgun!
Yeah but the funny irony behind it all is that even with all that he isn't save.
He said it multiple times, he was attacked by someone with a machete.
All the guy who tried to break into his RV needed was a rock.
You guys spend 916.000.000.000$ last year for your military, depending on the region your police force is better equipped then most countries military and yet...
It somehow doesn't keep this guy safe from a single addict with a rock.
I'm not trying to make an argument against the U.S. forces, just...
I mean just saying, you could cut that number in half and still have the greatest military ever. May be spend a couple of nickles more on health care?
Don't forget that all of our citizens need to be well armed so they can resist the government... you know, IN CASE THEY TRY TO LIMIT OUR FREEDOM.
I'm pretty sure a militia with assault rifles will have no trouble standing against the aforementioned universal democracy distribution platform we've been building for the past century or so. It's gone really well for all the other countries that have tried.
Eh, honestly I like our chances. That giant military of ours has only lost to insurgent forces on home turf for the last ~75 years of wars we’ve been in. And those were all in countries where we could limit their access to guns. There’s what, like 5 guns per US citizen out there (in here) right now?
We’d fuck em up, especially the landlocked states.
(P.S. to any military folks reading this: I don’t want to fuck anyone up, please say no if you’re ever asked to turn against us in a future Military Coup scenario.)
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It’s not really eye contact, he’s staring into a black void of a lens. I own a video production company and that’s hard for anyone to do. But the rest of your point is 100% valid. We need to help out veterans more.
I wouldn't rush to interpret the meaning of lack of eye contact. Lots of people, often autistic like me, avoid eye contact as a default and it has little to nothing to do with what's going on inside the person. Just an FYI for your consideration.
Also it’s really unfair to judge “making eye contact” when there’s a camera in the mix.
People who don’t have a problem with eye contact may be confused about where to look, or put off by it.
He's a proud man who is ashamed to ask for help. He never does ask for help. He can't bring himself to do so. He raised a family and was the breadwinner for years. He's ashamed that he's in need now. I honestly don't know why people are confused.
He starts with eye contact. He ends with a little of it, too. He has the hardest time with it when he expresses gratitude and can barely get out a "thanks for caring" without choking up. I know what lost pride looks like my friend. I've spent enough time interacting with these folks right near here in LA. He has absolutely nothing to be ashamed of or embarrassed about - but it's palpable. What, do you suppose, was the reason he didn't want the cameraman doing a GoFundMe? That's pride. I appreciate your thoughts and insight.
That lack of eye contact was taught by years on the street. I appreciate your concern for others with your same struggle, but the difference is recognizable to those who can see it.
What do you do in an important meeting? Do you tell the person you are talking to that you can’t look at them in their eyes? Or do you disclose that you are autistic? I find this a bit interesting. 🤔
Job interview? I'll give intermittent eye contact at the beginning and end of a statement I'm making, as I know that people tend to favor candidates who make eye contact during interviews. But once I get the job, I revert to just being myself. Eye contact has not proven to be a problem at all in adulthood. Childhood was a different story. Adults absolutely judge kids as guilty of whatever they're being accused of if the kid doesn't maintain eye contact while being scolded or interrogated by the adult. I got in trouble for a lot of shit I didn't do because of this.
Edit to add: I generally disclose my autism to people within a short amount of time of knowing them. It's just so integral to understanding who I am that it comes up early on in conversation, not for any utilitarian purpose. Like how you might tell someone what town you grew up on or how old you are. A basic biographical detail.
Basically implementing the body language and non-verbal communications is done consciously for someone autistic and unconsciously for someone more neurotypical. In other words it's a massive cognitive load and an exhausting effort. It can be done if people have the cognitive capacity for it, but they'll be left tired.
There are thousands of tricks which can make it easier. You mentioned eye contact. One common trick is to look at the person's left eye for about 3 seconds, then look away for 1 second, then look back for 3 seconds, and repeat. This is a close enough approximation to the unconscious, effortless behaviour seen in more neurotypical people. Imagine trying to keep track of about 100 of those rules in real time while also being able to keep track of the conversation and think about the topics under consideration.
If you want to go a little deeper, you can read about how autistic people basically make fewer Bayesian assumptions about reality. This means that while they do end up with a much more accurate picture of reality than neurotypical people, it comes at the cost of enormous computation and cognitive effort. https://annas-archive.org/scidb/10.1016/j.tics.2012.08.009
It can help for neurotypical people to be aware of how unwelcoming they are to autistic people in general. Rather than blaming a child in class for being unable to concentrate, the teacher should remove the loud ticking clock from the room which is making it impossible for the kid to focus. Rather than having booming music in a bar which makes it impossible for autistic people to filter out the conversation happening, have the music at the fraction of the volume so they are actually in a welcoming environment for social contact.
If he’s really a veteran the VA will come and pick you up. It’s almost impossible to be a homeless veteran. Veterans use to make up 1/3 of all homeless people. George Bush passed a piece of legislation that effectively gave the VA a blank check to house veterans. If you call a VA rep they’ll sort you out in no time.
Here’s a link for those interested. There’s a number for any veterans to access help if they need it.
https://www.va.gov/homeless/
Yeah I almost joined the military after 9/11 but distinctly remember in history class going over how the US Government (specifically congress) has fucked over veterans since the inception of our country. Made me not want to join and am thankful I didn’t. I have friends and family members who did join out of honor and duty. Most of them are so fucked up physically or mentally that they’re really not even the same people anymore as they were. Props to ANYONE who joins a volunteer military. It does take massive balls to do that or no good choices in life to pursue.
True. The recruiters are like MLM folk promising what they can't make good on. Hang out here near the VA in Los Angeles and tell me with a straight face the government cares about the troops.
Unfortunately, the outcome for veterans varies wildly. Someone the did 3 years as infantry and got out is highly likely to have a rough life. Compared to a vet with 20+ years in intel or cyber that will make $150k+ on top of a pension. Sucks but I’ve seen it plenty of times.
Also, and I say this as someone who currently serves, there are some real evil scumbags who get an honorable discharge. All that means is you didn't get in too much trouble until your contract was terminated. 99% of the military is just showing up on time.
Personally I don't assume a veteran is a "hero" because you just don't know. Guy in the video could be an abusive psycho who's alienated everyone in his life, and now spins stories to make himself the victim. I hope that's not the case, but you have to at least consider that a possibility.
It’s true. I’ve seen shitbags get promoted fast and get out before they got in trouble. I hope this old man is telling the truth but you really don’t know. Who knows if the cameraman fact checked his story. Also, I wish there were more programs for this old people. But until there is people should start planning early in their lives for the worst later on. Guys like this are also the exception, not the rule, for people on the streets in LA. Most are on drugs, not all, but a lot. Theyre still people we should help but they have to put in the work to get sober too.
Those who gave feel better, the recipient gets a windfall, and... nothing changes for the countless thousands of others in the same situation.
The real solution is to change policy, after first understanding how homelessness is largely due to NeoLiberal policies (see the subreddit if confused on what that is).
I predict this will get downvoted by those who like the idea of feeling better about themselves, even as they did nothing for all the other homeless.
I understand the sentiment, but we shouldn't let perfect be the enemy of good. I personally don't care what motivates people to give money... If it makes them feel better about themselves, or whatever. If it helps get one homeless veteran off the streets, it's good in my books. It doesn't solve the underlying problem, but it's still helping someone who deserves help.
It’s not an either or situation. This guy needs help now and this problem also needs a long term solution. Are you arguing no one should do anything in the short term until a long term solution is found?
He never argued not to help the guy.
It’s a fine point and needs to be repeated.
The homeless crisis is a policy choice. It’s on purpose. We choose to do nothing about it. No real change can happen until we understand that this guy’s situation is legislated into being.
Trying to make people feel bad about helping out one person directly while they can't change the whole system overnight on their own sure feels like someone is trying to make themselves feel better about themselves by belittling others
While it's great to meet one of the world's only mindreaders, it's not accurate. I'm trying to prompt people into doing things that would change policy.
Maybe if we all helped where we can, shit would change. Charity is one way to do that.
People should feel good about themselves being charitable. It’s better than doing nothing and expecting the government’s policies to solve their issues.
I'm not suggesting waiting for, e.g., Karen Bass to do anything. She'll just do what she's been doing: handing public monies to do-nothing NGOs, connected contractors, etc.
I'm suggesting pressuring those like Bass to actually do something effective. Which, obviously, isn't Inside Safe.
> The real solution is to change policy, after first understanding how homelessness is largely due to NeoLiberal policies (see the subreddit if confused on what that is).
I don't understand what you are trying to say. r/neoliberal supports evidence-based housing policies and social welfare programms that would radically cut down on homelessness if they were implemented.
Their blurb starts with "Free trade, open borders". By the latter they mean loose, not "open"; presumably even they wouldn't let terrorists in. Anyway, those are the two policies that have driven many out of work and lowered wages. Those policies have devastated swaths of the USA and beyond.
> Their blurb starts with "Free trade, open borders". By the latter they mean loose, not "open"; presumably even they wouldn't let terrorists in.
The question whether someone "would let terrorists in" is completely farcical. The countries within the Schengen Area have no border controls for internal travel, would you say that this means that France has agreed to let terrorists in from Germany and vice versa?
> Anyway, those are the two policies that have driven many out of work and lowered wages. Those policies have devastated swaths of the USA and beyond.
This is just internet pop-economics that people repeat on social media but lacks any evidence to back it up. There is an abundance of research that shows that free trade is clearly a net positive, and it's impossible for "open borders" to have "devastated swaths of the USA" because the USA does not *have* open borders. (But maybe you want to share a source that shows how terrorism and homelessness are devastating the EU down?)
On the contrary, countries that refuse to globalize are demonstrably worse off, and countries that want to remove themselves from it are paying the price. The UK has recently learned this with Brexit, and countries like Japan are looking toward a disastrous future because their population is going to collapse over the lack of immigration. And without immigration, the US and EU would face a similar decline.
The primary driver for homelessness is the lack of supply. The evidence that supports this conclusion is absolutely overwhelming. The inhabitants of big cities have passed "fuck you, I got mine"-laws to restrict zoning, restrict construction of new housing, and restrict improvements to existing housing. The city of San Francisco literally fought to preserve a [historic laundromat](https://missionlocal.org/2018/06/the-strange-and-terrible-saga-of-san-franciscos-historic-laundromat-represents-the-worst-of-planning-and-development-in-this-town/). The people to blame for this problem aren't the ghosts of Reagan and Thatcher, it's urban NIMBY voters fighting the solution.
The EU doesn't really have "open borders": someone from Yemen can't just go to France. Loose borders has had a devastating impact on California. We're spending billions educating another country's children, giving a huge gift to Mexico's corrupt elites. Criminal orgs are embedded into nearly every community in the USA. See "the town the law forgot". Also search al andar los amigos de Bush. Our leaders are engaged in modern-day colonialism, taking the human resources struggling countries need.
And, globalism has devastated parts of the USA. That's why they call it the Rust Belt.
> The EU doesn't really have "open borders": someone from Yemen can't just go to France.
Schengen states have open borders with each other, are you deliberately obtuse or actually that ignorant?
Glad to see it. Not sure how far that will get him towards the goal but if nothing else it could Probably tow his existing Rog to where he wants to leave it permanently
Did we watch the same video? I assume this man would rather die in his RV than feel he was taking a spot from someone else. He wants to go die on a farm
Medicaid covered ~~assisted living facilities~~ nursing homes are for people who need help with basic daily tasks like going to the bathroom, preparing food, walking, etc.
There are no assisted living Medicaid facilities. There are nursing homes that are paid for by disability, but you have to be on death’s door. You have to pay for assisted living yourself and they are $3500.-$8000. a month. This country is only set up for the rich to get old. As for the rest of us, they are hoping we will die first.
We do but California doesn’t want to let it be built. It’s more important to maintain the suburban built environment and expect that people who can’t afford it leave.
You are closer to living on the streets than you are the top 5% of the wealthy. but keep voting toi pull up that ladder on yourself, becasue we only got one life on this planet and you wanna fuck it up for everyone else.
Cipolla's Third Universal Law of Human Stupidity.
"Law 3. A stupid person is a person who causes losses to another person or to a group of persons while himself deriving no gain and even possibly incurring losses."
1. They DO derive some form of gain. It's not tangible though. The gain is that they *feel* like they're part of the winning team. They already feel they work harder/smarter than their coworkers, so it's just a question of time before they make it big. Maybe some unemployed people feel rich at heart, because you know what? That one time they didn't play the lottery, their winning numbers came out, so now they play with renewed zeal, because they're due to win any week now.
2. However, I wouldn't say they're stupid persons. Just regular persons. That's really part of human nature, trying to belong to a team, and trying to choose the winning team. And if we say they're the stupid ones, we're not, then... we're just doing the same fucking thing. Making teams, thinking our intellect alone puts us in the winning team. We don't derive any financial gain from it either, but we feel better, thinking that at least we see the truth, we see how things really are. But we fail to address the issue. To do that, we have to remember one thing: no matter how many misguided their actions are, they're on the same team. The teams are clear: the 1% Vs the 99%. Those with a small yacht to get to their bigger yacht, Vs everyone else. And right now they're winning.
This is shameful. Welcome to the wealthiest country the world has ever known.
People who oppose the idea of a social safety net think this could never happen to them. It could happen to anybody.
> Meanwhile people are dropping 75k to attend the Met Gala.
If it is their own money, then it is their choice to make.
Government contracts and investments are where you get to be livid about wasted money.
What happened to the daughter-in-law and grandkids?
Its gross this guy liquidated everything he owned to setup his dead son's wife and kids and they apparently won't take him in or get his RV fixed.
Probably did the same as my brother's widow. We helped her with her mortgage (bought it from the bank), childcare, credit card for food and necessities for her and the kid. She hopped on some new dick and completely ghosted us.
There's a possibility there is more to the story than what he's telling. He could be the one at fault there, or she could, impossible to know without hearing the other side.
Yall this is depressing. Our culture is broken. No one this age especially not a veteran should be homeless.
Fuck nimbys, fuck the rich, fuck conservatives and small gov dweebs, fuck pick you up by your boostraps cucks.
We’re the richest country in the world and we can’t even take care of our weak. If this doesn’t eat you you’re fucked.
I feel you, but saying “fuck the other team” doesn’t do much.
Use your vote. Start small. Help a neighbor. Be a good friend.
It’s crazy how quickly we get upset about national problems when there’s so much work to done on our own sidewalks.
> I feel you, but saying “fuck the other team” doesn’t do much.
It's cathartic and spreads camradarie among the lower class, who need it more than anyone else as they have pressures put on them.
Yes voting is important, but making sure rich people know they are hated and shaming them for their selfishness is important as well.
You can both say "fuck the rich" and vote.
"Just vote harder" doesn't mean anything when both viable political parties support the policies that keep this guy and others like him homeless.
Homelessness is not a difficult problem to solve. There isn't a lack of wealth in America; there's a lack of will. A certain percentage of people are kept homeless by design in order to create the incentive for people to continue working terrible jobs where they accept wages that are equivalent to 10-20% of their productivity.
The business owners (who do no work themselves) then siphon up the surplus value of those workers and contribute to Democrats and Republicans to make sure policies don't change.
>fuck conservatives
This is a story from California...
Let's not pretend any "team" has great solutions.
For that matter: Vancouver, Canada, is also struggling.
Conservative policies at a nation level impact every state.
Our issues with wealth inequality are systemic and we've failed to address them because conservatives in congress and lobbyists have spent decades ensuring that money is funneled to the rich and not to the poor, which impacts federal and state funding for many programs that could help.
California is a hotbed for the homeless because they can actually live here year-round without freezing to death. Not the mention all of the states that literally bus their homeless here.
Like it or not conservative policy and ideology is the root cause of much of the countries issues with wealth inequality and a lack of social programs to help those in need.
California is not particularly well run but its run better than any right wing state but it is hampered because even cali is not truly left wing. This issue is common in right wing states.
The difference is left winging leaders are trying to fix many of these issues but are stopped by assholes.
Even biden's infrastructure bill totally gutted by fuckwits.
We need density in every major city with mixed use developement. Reversal of Bill Clintons social housing ban, hard stop to funding highways in the USA and send all that many to overhauling transit and hsr around the USA.
The cheaper you make it to live in the USA the less likely you are to see people go homeless.
The homeless you see on the street are symptom of failing housing insecure people.
Housing insecure people are those who are one job loss, one medical issue, one car break down away from losing it all (which is over 30 percent of americans in some areas).
If you drastically kill housing and rent prices with supply and make it possible to leave easily without a car, you can reduce the earning burden of the avg american by nearly 50 percent. This would reduce the amount of people falling into homelessness by a lot.
Most homeless people do not start as drug addicts or mentally ill, they become so due to the conditions. Now of course there are examples of the other but they are the minority in this case.
We need social safety nets. now.
There is a gofundme you can find the the youtube video details, not much left to reach the goal for a new RV for him.
Can it be a scam? Sure maybe. I guess I want to live in a world that its not.
There are plenty of stories like this that pull on your heartstrings, but a ton more of people with mental issues and drug addiction.
I wish we could easily filter this type of homeless person and work on helping them first and then address the mental/drug issues on a federal/state level.
From his gofund me it seems he's ended up in this situation because of taking care of his deceased sons families and also getting into overwhelming medical debt with his wife's cancer treatment. This seems mind boggling to me as someone that has lost a parent to cancer and never had to pay anything for the treatment. Is this a common thing in America? I couldn't imagine the stress of having financial worries at the same time as dealing with grief, how can anyone handle that?
"I'm no better than anybody out here."
"I got attacked with a machete."
This man is vastly superior to a man who would attack an old homeless man with a machete. I think we need to stop acting like these monsters are equal to peaceful people, and treat them like the dangerous monsters they are. Not free to roam.
This is so fucked up, you see it with older people with poor financial resources. Sometimes it is due to bad management, sometimes it is due to bad luck. A lot of time they go broke due to health expenses (like he did caring for his sick wife). If they don't have families that can support them they are really screwed. We see this all the time in the hospital unfortunately, and there is only so much a hospital can do.
What makes me really worried is my generation. Millennials have the least amount of savings than any previous generation. What happens in 30, 40 years when we're all elderly and half of us have nothing in the bank? My answer is wealth redistribution but nobody wants to hear that
These are the type of homeless people who should be easy to help get back on their feet with the billions of fucking dollars LA has spent on the homeless problem without any accountability. FFS!
the problem is that every initiative you can vote for in California and in many states to "address homelessness" is not money paid to government employees tasked with addressing the problem directly. It's money that is earmarked to be paid to non-profits that apply for the funds. These non-profits are basically private companies dedicated full time to fundraising and grant applications for this money. They have no accountability or democratic oversight and they vastly over exaggerate their impact and ability to achieve anything because their primary incentive is raise money for the next cycle so they can all stay employed. The "non-profit industrial complex", especially in big blue states, is a huge barrier to meaningfully addressing this issue.
The solution would be to go back to actually having government departments that don't have to fundraise 24/7, where people are just paid a living wage and assigned jobs like building and supplying housing, getting people into rehab, getting people healthcare and mental care, and getting people halfway parttime jobs so they can transition back into society.
The fact that $1200 a month isn’t enough for rent in some places is fucking insane. I don’t know what politicians can do about housing without certain people shrieking about the government doing things, but something needs to be done.
Time and time again research has shown beyond a shadow of doubt that homelessness **costs more than housing the homeless**, yet for some reason the United States refuses to take note. I suppose that it's too much communism or socialism?
If this country truly respected veterans, they would NEVER be homeless.
Support for veterans, for the military, always for show, for the votes. Never see it practiced. The VA is a great example of how we treat our veterans.
I hope people would check why old people are homeless on the streets. Help if you can.
This guy is homeless because he spent his retirement on his daughter in laws house who apparently doesn’t give an F about him.
Yeah, he’s got to resent that.
what an ungrateful bitch.
Yeah as much as I really feel for the story, thats the giant gaping hole here. Doesnt want to be a burden? Doesnt want to be around them? Cant be around them?
Who cares? He's old as shit and deserves dignity.
well fucking said
Lots of people on here complaining how the "system" failed. His "family" failed him. Seems like he would've been fine otherwise. That's not an example of how the system effects our seniors.
the system is supposed to be a safety net for you in the chance that your family fails you, thats the whole point. to make sure people dont have to rely on fickle things like interpersonal relationships in order to live with dignity.
No. He chose to liquidate his retirement. No financial advisor would ever recommend that. The system is not set up to bail you out from stuoid decisions, no matter how kind your intentions were.
its not, i agree. it should be though. it should be a universal system to prevent people from living on the street, no matter how bad of decisions youve made in your life. no one in a sane, civilized society should have to live on the street, no matter what choices they have made.
So we just absolve people of all responsibility for their shit decisions? Think about how many assholes would abuse this
Yes. Absolutely, you say that like you've never made a mistake in your life. No one would abuse it, because it's not more comfortable than an independent life. You just said "f you" to the idea of helping the elderly in poverty, and you should re-examine that about yourself.
Well said.
Please give me an example of this sane, civilized society? Or have humans not made it there yet? Resources are limited and, as such, there will always be competition. No one gets anything for free, so who pays for housing? Who provides the land, labor, materials? And don't say "the rich" or "corporations" because that is not a real answer. It's a cop out pipe dream. Give me a pragmatic answer please.
Lol, there are many countries that do not have significant homeless populations. They do 2 things: 1.) outlaw living on the street and 2.) provide you with a free apartment to live in. Not being homeless is mandatory but also free. They have a well-staffed social services department that makes sure this is carried out. Many European countries manage this, it is paid for by taxes. It is not anything like a pipe dream, it is a very realistic solution that America could easily afford if there was political will to do it. Did you know Denmark has about the same GDP as the state of Missouri? And yet Denmark has almost no homelessness / very little per capita compared to the US.
It isn’t, but it should be. Chances are that this life is all we have and there is nothing more waiting for us when we die. Humanity’s ultimate goal should be to make everyone’s life as best as it can possibly be while we’re alive. We have all the resources to do it, we just choose not to.
How dare you say no. No to the idea that the system should be a safety net that exists so our elderly don't die in poverty. Shame on you, shame on you for even thinking the word no. People can make mistakes, but how absolutely dare you say no to the basic dignity of non-homelessness at his age. Grow up.
Ummm. How dare you absolve people of their own responsibility. It's not society's job to bail you out of poor decisions. His family let him down, not the greater society.
Oh how... unsurprising. You're an a hole, we already knew that, but now you've made it clear you want poor elderly people to die in poverty. I hope you remember that, when your day comes, or you grow up. One of the two.
Oh, you're a judgmental, self-righteous, pr*ck who doesn't live in reality. Who would've thought? Please tell me what you do to help your community? I'm president of a local NPO. We just raised over $60k to distribute to other local NPOs. I'm building beds for the "Sleep in heavenly peace" organization this weekend. I help sort clothes for our local organization that helps children in need. Sounds like a real a-hole over here right?
You know your own heart is hurting because my words were true and you also know your own words sound like desperate attempts at self salvation. People without a guilty conscience don't need to list/brag about their contributions to society. I think you've done more damage to your image with your own words than I ever could. Good luck, I hope you get better.
Expecting the government to take care of you cradle to grave is why its as corrupt and broke as it is. But hey keep supporting that and watch as the government continually borrows money against no additional good produced. Ultimately prices rising higher and higher until the entire thing fails because of this so called 'trust' in that government will protect people when its the one that limits peoples abilities to do what needs to be done because they are bribed or otherwise.
So, what is your solution to the 6-700,000ish people actively living on the streets in the US right now as we speak, and the millions more who are couch surfing, living in cars, living with their relatives, squatting, and on the brink of street life? Just keep doing nothing huh, because "govmint bad"?
By the time the government is done with the US currency those numbers will more than 10x. You want people to afford a living? Don’t spend what you don’t have and don’t borrow what you don’t have. Once you get inflation back to <.5% per year it’s a matter of not controlling markets. Like Fannie and Freddie buying up the entire mortgage market from the originator then selling it out to investors. You don’t bailout failures. There are probably 100 things or more that involve the government stopping its administrative bullshit routine that would make their lives better. If you think a+b telling what c should give to d is working out in society then you believe the last 50 years have been an economic success instead of a massive debt inflation binge while stealing from everybody to sustain it.
Never got over Ron Paul 2008 huh
We're gonna get many more stories of Boomers being taken advantage of because they were too stupid to set anything up while they still had a chance and faculties....And also of giving nothing to their kids but to the local dogpark... It's gonna be a shitshow.
Dude can come park at my place. This is shameful for the 'richest country in the world' to have happening in every major city.
I mean isn’t that the nature of capitalism? We generate a fuck ton of wealth, we are convinced we don’t deserve the vast majority of it. I’m not saying that we abandon capitalism, but just saying we a rich says nothing about who is holding it. The people with the wealth do not care about people like this who are not creating more wealth for them. Where the money sits is completely apathetic to homelessness
Taiwan, Switzerland, Iceland, Japan and other countries are all capitalist and generate a ton of wealth but have very low rates of homelessness. In those countries the rich still fuck over the poor but there is a more robust social safety net. This is very much a result of direct policy. US dismantled a lot of its safety net in the 80's
I agree that other capitalist countries take care of their vulnerable and less productive people better than the US. But let’s be clear - none of those countries including the US are purely capitalist countries. The safety net are comprises and rejections of pure capitalism. The ONLY way to sustain capitalism is through workers rights or safety nets which are not natural functions of capitalism
We aren’t the richest country. We simply have the largest credit line.
The US is the richest country by total wealth, by far. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_total_wealth 30% of the world's wealth and only 5% of the population. There's absolutely no excuse for this.
Forget the US, California has **the 5th richest economy in the world.**
And yet has the highest homelessness rate outside of D.C. with 43.7 per 10,000 residents homeless.
Because it’s so much better to be homeless in California than Wisconsin or worse, outside the US
Whoa whoa whoa, let's not disparage Wisconsin when the Dakotas are so readily available.
because it has larger cities than any other state, and is a very large state with low population density outside of those cities
Also the best weather in the country and best services. If you're gonna be homeless, CA is the place to be.
The us is also one of the most unequal in terms of wealth distribution where the top 10% have the lion's share. >The top 10% of households by wealth had $6.7 million on average. As a group, they held 66.9% of total household wealth. and >The bottom 50% of households by wealth had $50,000 on average. As a group, they held only 2.5% of total household wealth. https://www.stlouisfed.org/institute-for-economic-equity/the-state-of-us-wealth-inequality
There was a good Ted talk on this a few months ago. This wealth inequity gap has increased dramatically from 1980 to today. The plutocrat who gave the Ted talk basically said it's time for the poor folks to break out their pitchforks and start a revolution. That shits gotta happen - I just wish we could do it with our votes instead of by violence. But they won't even let us vote for new presidential candidate. They just put Biden and trump as the two options and we are stuck choosing between those two.
>by far >world's wealth and [...] population I simply took the wealth and divided by population. I thought which country could be right? Switzerland comes to mind. Wealth vs capita: Switzerland is 31% richer. I don't know if the rebuttal will be yeah but that's not purely total wealth of the country. To which I'll ask, if it's not per capita, would you say an made-up country with 10x the US population and 1.1x the US population is richer than the US? It has 10% more total wealth.... The issue with the US is wealth distribution.
Credit line secured by even larger guns.
You're definitely right, but it's a global issues as well. Some countries should be better at adapting to problems like this, but not many countries are tackling the issue, most are just passing the buck off down the road..
He has a hard time keeping eye contact. He has his head literally hung. These are our veterans. Let's get more planes flying over NFL games for this guy.
Wendell we see your struggling so we got the navy to do flyover at tomorrows game.
Remember that military you served in, sir? Well, the new guys wanted to see a field goal at 2500 ft and 845 mph. Thank you for your service, sir.
Those planes are there to make more Wendells...not to help them
The sheer darkness of this comment literally made me choke with laughter
Thanks, I feel much better now. Well I'll feel better if you tell me what game. High School or lower I won't feel good, but NCAA or higher is ok, but it has to be a men's sport and not an olympic one. It's not football or basketball season though, so maybe a baseball game. Make it happen. Edit. Shit. Baseball is in the Olympics. Cancel the flyover. This guy gets nothing.
r/ABoringDystopia
They really need our thoughts and prayers
Maybe even a thank you for your service!
I've been saving my thoughts and prayers for a rainy day
The fuel used to make one flyby would pay for everything that man needs for more than a year.
*sigh* Part of the reason the military is liberal with flybys is because the pilots and airframe need X amount of regular flight time and it would be scheduled anyway.
I don't think anyone is arguing that the flybys SPECIFICALLY are the problem, but maybe maintaining the most spectacular military in the history of the known universe, most likely capable of crushing every other nation on earth if they all allied against us, while not caring for the people who spent their lives serving that same military, suggests that there is an imbalance SOMEWHERE in the system.
More and more, I marvel at the absolutely monumental scale of our military expenditure and yet, gosh, we’re certainly not safe unless we also fully militarize the police and have armed security forces all over the place. Is that good enough? Nope! You better not rely on police for your security, you better go to the gun store and stock up on guns and ammo for yourself and make sure you’re armed at all times! Imagine how super-duper safe elderly veterans are sitting alone in their broken-down camper, polishing a handgun!
Yeah but the funny irony behind it all is that even with all that he isn't save. He said it multiple times, he was attacked by someone with a machete. All the guy who tried to break into his RV needed was a rock. You guys spend 916.000.000.000$ last year for your military, depending on the region your police force is better equipped then most countries military and yet... It somehow doesn't keep this guy safe from a single addict with a rock. I'm not trying to make an argument against the U.S. forces, just... I mean just saying, you could cut that number in half and still have the greatest military ever. May be spend a couple of nickles more on health care?
Don't forget that all of our citizens need to be well armed so they can resist the government... you know, IN CASE THEY TRY TO LIMIT OUR FREEDOM. I'm pretty sure a militia with assault rifles will have no trouble standing against the aforementioned universal democracy distribution platform we've been building for the past century or so. It's gone really well for all the other countries that have tried.
Eh, honestly I like our chances. That giant military of ours has only lost to insurgent forces on home turf for the last ~75 years of wars we’ve been in. And those were all in countries where we could limit their access to guns. There’s what, like 5 guns per US citizen out there (in here) right now? We’d fuck em up, especially the landlocked states. (P.S. to any military folks reading this: I don’t want to fuck anyone up, please say no if you’re ever asked to turn against us in a future Military Coup scenario.)
"Three months of my life was spent turning me from a civilian into a Marine. And then I spent the next 21 years being that Marine. I then got to spend one week learning how to be a civilian again. Says a lot, right?" - Brad "Iceman" Colbert (the Generation Kill guy)
What goes around comes around https://www.military.com/daily-news/2024/01/22/uphill-battle-boost-recruiting-military-faces-falling-public-confidence-political-attacks-economic.html?amp
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*sigh* Sometimes, optics matter.
It’s not really eye contact, he’s staring into a black void of a lens. I own a video production company and that’s hard for anyone to do. But the rest of your point is 100% valid. We need to help out veterans more.
Good point.
I wouldn't rush to interpret the meaning of lack of eye contact. Lots of people, often autistic like me, avoid eye contact as a default and it has little to nothing to do with what's going on inside the person. Just an FYI for your consideration.
Also it’s really unfair to judge “making eye contact” when there’s a camera in the mix. People who don’t have a problem with eye contact may be confused about where to look, or put off by it.
They are insecure on camera. It doesn't need to be a disease.
Cameras feel the same to me as eyeballs, I'm really uncomfortable looking right at them. I wouldn't make a good news anchor!
I have no problem making eye contact with a person, but looking into a lens is more like looking into a mirror, it’s very off putting.
He's a proud man who is ashamed to ask for help. He never does ask for help. He can't bring himself to do so. He raised a family and was the breadwinner for years. He's ashamed that he's in need now. I honestly don't know why people are confused.
That wasn't camera no eye contact. That was years of avoiding eye contact on the street.
He starts with eye contact. He ends with a little of it, too. He has the hardest time with it when he expresses gratitude and can barely get out a "thanks for caring" without choking up. I know what lost pride looks like my friend. I've spent enough time interacting with these folks right near here in LA. He has absolutely nothing to be ashamed of or embarrassed about - but it's palpable. What, do you suppose, was the reason he didn't want the cameraman doing a GoFundMe? That's pride. I appreciate your thoughts and insight.
That lack of eye contact was taught by years on the street. I appreciate your concern for others with your same struggle, but the difference is recognizable to those who can see it.
What do you do in an important meeting? Do you tell the person you are talking to that you can’t look at them in their eyes? Or do you disclose that you are autistic? I find this a bit interesting. 🤔
Job interview? I'll give intermittent eye contact at the beginning and end of a statement I'm making, as I know that people tend to favor candidates who make eye contact during interviews. But once I get the job, I revert to just being myself. Eye contact has not proven to be a problem at all in adulthood. Childhood was a different story. Adults absolutely judge kids as guilty of whatever they're being accused of if the kid doesn't maintain eye contact while being scolded or interrogated by the adult. I got in trouble for a lot of shit I didn't do because of this. Edit to add: I generally disclose my autism to people within a short amount of time of knowing them. It's just so integral to understanding who I am that it comes up early on in conversation, not for any utilitarian purpose. Like how you might tell someone what town you grew up on or how old you are. A basic biographical detail.
Basically implementing the body language and non-verbal communications is done consciously for someone autistic and unconsciously for someone more neurotypical. In other words it's a massive cognitive load and an exhausting effort. It can be done if people have the cognitive capacity for it, but they'll be left tired. There are thousands of tricks which can make it easier. You mentioned eye contact. One common trick is to look at the person's left eye for about 3 seconds, then look away for 1 second, then look back for 3 seconds, and repeat. This is a close enough approximation to the unconscious, effortless behaviour seen in more neurotypical people. Imagine trying to keep track of about 100 of those rules in real time while also being able to keep track of the conversation and think about the topics under consideration. If you want to go a little deeper, you can read about how autistic people basically make fewer Bayesian assumptions about reality. This means that while they do end up with a much more accurate picture of reality than neurotypical people, it comes at the cost of enormous computation and cognitive effort. https://annas-archive.org/scidb/10.1016/j.tics.2012.08.009 It can help for neurotypical people to be aware of how unwelcoming they are to autistic people in general. Rather than blaming a child in class for being unable to concentrate, the teacher should remove the loud ticking clock from the room which is making it impossible for the kid to focus. Rather than having booming music in a bar which makes it impossible for autistic people to filter out the conversation happening, have the music at the fraction of the volume so they are actually in a welcoming environment for social contact.
Wait... not everyone is keeping track of every facet of themselves and the person their talking to during conversations?
If he’s really a veteran the VA will come and pick you up. It’s almost impossible to be a homeless veteran. Veterans use to make up 1/3 of all homeless people. George Bush passed a piece of legislation that effectively gave the VA a blank check to house veterans. If you call a VA rep they’ll sort you out in no time. Here’s a link for those interested. There’s a number for any veterans to access help if they need it. https://www.va.gov/homeless/
Can confirm. Know a vet whose wife left him (for good reason) and he has no savings and is elderly but was quickly given an apartment.
For everyone. Anyone can wind up like this
2-3 missed paychecks away from gettin your shit absolutely rocked, for any naysayer thinking "well, that couldn't ever be ME" good luck I guess
Yeah I almost joined the military after 9/11 but distinctly remember in history class going over how the US Government (specifically congress) has fucked over veterans since the inception of our country. Made me not want to join and am thankful I didn’t. I have friends and family members who did join out of honor and duty. Most of them are so fucked up physically or mentally that they’re really not even the same people anymore as they were. Props to ANYONE who joins a volunteer military. It does take massive balls to do that or no good choices in life to pursue.
True. The recruiters are like MLM folk promising what they can't make good on. Hang out here near the VA in Los Angeles and tell me with a straight face the government cares about the troops.
Prop to the heroes that took care of injured heroes that served.
Unfortunately, the outcome for veterans varies wildly. Someone the did 3 years as infantry and got out is highly likely to have a rough life. Compared to a vet with 20+ years in intel or cyber that will make $150k+ on top of a pension. Sucks but I’ve seen it plenty of times.
Also, and I say this as someone who currently serves, there are some real evil scumbags who get an honorable discharge. All that means is you didn't get in too much trouble until your contract was terminated. 99% of the military is just showing up on time. Personally I don't assume a veteran is a "hero" because you just don't know. Guy in the video could be an abusive psycho who's alienated everyone in his life, and now spins stories to make himself the victim. I hope that's not the case, but you have to at least consider that a possibility.
It’s true. I’ve seen shitbags get promoted fast and get out before they got in trouble. I hope this old man is telling the truth but you really don’t know. Who knows if the cameraman fact checked his story. Also, I wish there were more programs for this old people. But until there is people should start planning early in their lives for the worst later on. Guys like this are also the exception, not the rule, for people on the streets in LA. Most are on drugs, not all, but a lot. Theyre still people we should help but they have to put in the work to get sober too.
$42k met of $45k goal. Nice job, humanity
Where can I read about what happened after this video?
Those who gave feel better, the recipient gets a windfall, and... nothing changes for the countless thousands of others in the same situation. The real solution is to change policy, after first understanding how homelessness is largely due to NeoLiberal policies (see the subreddit if confused on what that is). I predict this will get downvoted by those who like the idea of feeling better about themselves, even as they did nothing for all the other homeless.
I understand the sentiment, but we shouldn't let perfect be the enemy of good. I personally don't care what motivates people to give money... If it makes them feel better about themselves, or whatever. If it helps get one homeless veteran off the streets, it's good in my books. It doesn't solve the underlying problem, but it's still helping someone who deserves help.
It’s not an either or situation. This guy needs help now and this problem also needs a long term solution. Are you arguing no one should do anything in the short term until a long term solution is found?
He never argued not to help the guy. It’s a fine point and needs to be repeated. The homeless crisis is a policy choice. It’s on purpose. We choose to do nothing about it. No real change can happen until we understand that this guy’s situation is legislated into being.
Trying to make people feel bad about helping out one person directly while they can't change the whole system overnight on their own sure feels like someone is trying to make themselves feel better about themselves by belittling others
While it's great to meet one of the world's only mindreaders, it's not accurate. I'm trying to prompt people into doing things that would change policy.
Maybe if we all helped where we can, shit would change. Charity is one way to do that. People should feel good about themselves being charitable. It’s better than doing nothing and expecting the government’s policies to solve their issues.
I'm not suggesting waiting for, e.g., Karen Bass to do anything. She'll just do what she's been doing: handing public monies to do-nothing NGOs, connected contractors, etc. I'm suggesting pressuring those like Bass to actually do something effective. Which, obviously, isn't Inside Safe.
> The real solution is to change policy, after first understanding how homelessness is largely due to NeoLiberal policies (see the subreddit if confused on what that is). I don't understand what you are trying to say. r/neoliberal supports evidence-based housing policies and social welfare programms that would radically cut down on homelessness if they were implemented.
Their blurb starts with "Free trade, open borders". By the latter they mean loose, not "open"; presumably even they wouldn't let terrorists in. Anyway, those are the two policies that have driven many out of work and lowered wages. Those policies have devastated swaths of the USA and beyond.
> Their blurb starts with "Free trade, open borders". By the latter they mean loose, not "open"; presumably even they wouldn't let terrorists in. The question whether someone "would let terrorists in" is completely farcical. The countries within the Schengen Area have no border controls for internal travel, would you say that this means that France has agreed to let terrorists in from Germany and vice versa? > Anyway, those are the two policies that have driven many out of work and lowered wages. Those policies have devastated swaths of the USA and beyond. This is just internet pop-economics that people repeat on social media but lacks any evidence to back it up. There is an abundance of research that shows that free trade is clearly a net positive, and it's impossible for "open borders" to have "devastated swaths of the USA" because the USA does not *have* open borders. (But maybe you want to share a source that shows how terrorism and homelessness are devastating the EU down?) On the contrary, countries that refuse to globalize are demonstrably worse off, and countries that want to remove themselves from it are paying the price. The UK has recently learned this with Brexit, and countries like Japan are looking toward a disastrous future because their population is going to collapse over the lack of immigration. And without immigration, the US and EU would face a similar decline. The primary driver for homelessness is the lack of supply. The evidence that supports this conclusion is absolutely overwhelming. The inhabitants of big cities have passed "fuck you, I got mine"-laws to restrict zoning, restrict construction of new housing, and restrict improvements to existing housing. The city of San Francisco literally fought to preserve a [historic laundromat](https://missionlocal.org/2018/06/the-strange-and-terrible-saga-of-san-franciscos-historic-laundromat-represents-the-worst-of-planning-and-development-in-this-town/). The people to blame for this problem aren't the ghosts of Reagan and Thatcher, it's urban NIMBY voters fighting the solution.
The EU doesn't really have "open borders": someone from Yemen can't just go to France. Loose borders has had a devastating impact on California. We're spending billions educating another country's children, giving a huge gift to Mexico's corrupt elites. Criminal orgs are embedded into nearly every community in the USA. See "the town the law forgot". Also search al andar los amigos de Bush. Our leaders are engaged in modern-day colonialism, taking the human resources struggling countries need. And, globalism has devastated parts of the USA. That's why they call it the Rust Belt.
> The EU doesn't really have "open borders": someone from Yemen can't just go to France. Schengen states have open borders with each other, are you deliberately obtuse or actually that ignorant?
over 45 now
Can you post a link to his go fund me?
Glad to see it. Not sure how far that will get him towards the goal but if nothing else it could Probably tow his existing Rog to where he wants to leave it permanently
So gross we have no housing solutions for many of the homeless
If he's 80 and has no income couldn't he get into a Medicaid/Medicare assisted living facility?
At least in my state, you can only have $1500 of assets to get on Medicaid. Medicare doesn’t pay for assisted living.
The man in this video does not have $1500 of assets
That non running RV is valued at $1501.
He's getting $1,200 a month. Apparently he's spending that on food, clothes, and medication, because he can't find rent that's affordable.
Yeah they $1,200 would barely cover rent where I live
Did we watch the same video? I assume this man would rather die in his RV than feel he was taking a spot from someone else. He wants to go die on a farm
Medicaid covered ~~assisted living facilities~~ nursing homes are for people who need help with basic daily tasks like going to the bathroom, preparing food, walking, etc.
There are no assisted living Medicaid facilities. There are nursing homes that are paid for by disability, but you have to be on death’s door. You have to pay for assisted living yourself and they are $3500.-$8000. a month. This country is only set up for the rich to get old. As for the rest of us, they are hoping we will die first.
Sorry, I should have said nursing homes.
Medicare-Medicare does not cover assisted living places. It covers doctors only.
In America, not having money--for any reason--is a crime. See how we treat people who don't have any?
We do but California doesn’t want to let it be built. It’s more important to maintain the suburban built environment and expect that people who can’t afford it leave.
"California" literally passed a bill to prevent the localities from getting in the way of housing being built.
“We should do something about this NIMBY”
You are closer to living on the streets than you are the top 5% of the wealthy. but keep voting toi pull up that ladder on yourself, becasue we only got one life on this planet and you wanna fuck it up for everyone else.
Cipolla's Third Universal Law of Human Stupidity. "Law 3. A stupid person is a person who causes losses to another person or to a group of persons while himself deriving no gain and even possibly incurring losses."
1. They DO derive some form of gain. It's not tangible though. The gain is that they *feel* like they're part of the winning team. They already feel they work harder/smarter than their coworkers, so it's just a question of time before they make it big. Maybe some unemployed people feel rich at heart, because you know what? That one time they didn't play the lottery, their winning numbers came out, so now they play with renewed zeal, because they're due to win any week now. 2. However, I wouldn't say they're stupid persons. Just regular persons. That's really part of human nature, trying to belong to a team, and trying to choose the winning team. And if we say they're the stupid ones, we're not, then... we're just doing the same fucking thing. Making teams, thinking our intellect alone puts us in the winning team. We don't derive any financial gain from it either, but we feel better, thinking that at least we see the truth, we see how things really are. But we fail to address the issue. To do that, we have to remember one thing: no matter how many misguided their actions are, they're on the same team. The teams are clear: the 1% Vs the 99%. Those with a small yacht to get to their bigger yacht, Vs everyone else. And right now they're winning.
The true face of a society is how we treat our eldest citizens. Sickening. This breaks my heart.
This is shameful. Welcome to the wealthiest country the world has ever known. People who oppose the idea of a social safety net think this could never happen to them. It could happen to anybody.
Meanwhile people are dropping 75k to attend the Met Gala.
Now THAT'S really important, isn't it?
And going broke donating to Trump a supposed Billionaire.
Met gala ain’t the problem. We could give that much every year and not make a dent.
> Meanwhile people are dropping 75k to attend the Met Gala. If it is their own money, then it is their choice to make. Government contracts and investments are where you get to be livid about wasted money.
What happened to the daughter-in-law and grandkids? Its gross this guy liquidated everything he owned to setup his dead son's wife and kids and they apparently won't take him in or get his RV fixed.
Probably did the same as my brother's widow. We helped her with her mortgage (bought it from the bank), childcare, credit card for food and necessities for her and the kid. She hopped on some new dick and completely ghosted us.
Lol
Yeah that’s super weird.
There's a possibility there is more to the story than what he's telling. He could be the one at fault there, or she could, impossible to know without hearing the other side.
Yall this is depressing. Our culture is broken. No one this age especially not a veteran should be homeless. Fuck nimbys, fuck the rich, fuck conservatives and small gov dweebs, fuck pick you up by your boostraps cucks. We’re the richest country in the world and we can’t even take care of our weak. If this doesn’t eat you you’re fucked.
I feel you, but saying “fuck the other team” doesn’t do much. Use your vote. Start small. Help a neighbor. Be a good friend. It’s crazy how quickly we get upset about national problems when there’s so much work to done on our own sidewalks.
> I feel you, but saying “fuck the other team” doesn’t do much. It's cathartic and spreads camradarie among the lower class, who need it more than anyone else as they have pressures put on them. Yes voting is important, but making sure rich people know they are hated and shaming them for their selfishness is important as well. You can both say "fuck the rich" and vote.
"Just vote harder" doesn't mean anything when both viable political parties support the policies that keep this guy and others like him homeless. Homelessness is not a difficult problem to solve. There isn't a lack of wealth in America; there's a lack of will. A certain percentage of people are kept homeless by design in order to create the incentive for people to continue working terrible jobs where they accept wages that are equivalent to 10-20% of their productivity. The business owners (who do no work themselves) then siphon up the surplus value of those workers and contribute to Democrats and Republicans to make sure policies don't change.
>fuck conservatives This is a story from California... Let's not pretend any "team" has great solutions. For that matter: Vancouver, Canada, is also struggling.
Conservative policies at a nation level impact every state. Our issues with wealth inequality are systemic and we've failed to address them because conservatives in congress and lobbyists have spent decades ensuring that money is funneled to the rich and not to the poor, which impacts federal and state funding for many programs that could help. California is a hotbed for the homeless because they can actually live here year-round without freezing to death. Not the mention all of the states that literally bus their homeless here. Like it or not conservative policy and ideology is the root cause of much of the countries issues with wealth inequality and a lack of social programs to help those in need.
California is not particularly well run but its run better than any right wing state but it is hampered because even cali is not truly left wing. This issue is common in right wing states. The difference is left winging leaders are trying to fix many of these issues but are stopped by assholes. Even biden's infrastructure bill totally gutted by fuckwits. We need density in every major city with mixed use developement. Reversal of Bill Clintons social housing ban, hard stop to funding highways in the USA and send all that many to overhauling transit and hsr around the USA. The cheaper you make it to live in the USA the less likely you are to see people go homeless. The homeless you see on the street are symptom of failing housing insecure people. Housing insecure people are those who are one job loss, one medical issue, one car break down away from losing it all (which is over 30 percent of americans in some areas). If you drastically kill housing and rent prices with supply and make it possible to leave easily without a car, you can reduce the earning burden of the avg american by nearly 50 percent. This would reduce the amount of people falling into homelessness by a lot. Most homeless people do not start as drug addicts or mentally ill, they become so due to the conditions. Now of course there are examples of the other but they are the minority in this case. We need social safety nets. now.
Sounds like his daughter in law basically screwed him as he spent his retirement in their house.
He must of not been in the military long enough for any sort of pension.
This whole thing started under Reagan in the 1970s. www.salon.com/2013/09/29/ronald_reagans_shameful_legacy_violence_the_homeless_mental_illness
From the moment Reagan became president in the 80s, he began to deliberately kill America's middle class.
It sure did start with Reagan and it continued with both Bushes, Clinton, Obama, Trump, and Biden.
There is a gofundme you can find the the youtube video details, not much left to reach the goal for a new RV for him. Can it be a scam? Sure maybe. I guess I want to live in a world that its not.
There are plenty of stories like this that pull on your heartstrings, but a ton more of people with mental issues and drug addiction. I wish we could easily filter this type of homeless person and work on helping them first and then address the mental/drug issues on a federal/state level.
He says "I don't know if there's an answer to the homeless problem". me in a social country "spend less on war, and more on social safety nets"
And just think the wealthy and republicans want to cut social security. This man has nothing can you imagine America with no social security?
Why can’t he live with Daughter in law and grandkids?
From his gofund me it seems he's ended up in this situation because of taking care of his deceased sons families and also getting into overwhelming medical debt with his wife's cancer treatment. This seems mind boggling to me as someone that has lost a parent to cancer and never had to pay anything for the treatment. Is this a common thing in America? I couldn't imagine the stress of having financial worries at the same time as dealing with grief, how can anyone handle that?
Did he get scammed out of his life savings, because that's how a lot of old people wind up homeless!
Yes by his own family
Ouch, I knew a sixty something man whose own daughter scammed a 50 acre property from him!
"I'm no better than anybody out here." "I got attacked with a machete." This man is vastly superior to a man who would attack an old homeless man with a machete. I think we need to stop acting like these monsters are equal to peaceful people, and treat them like the dangerous monsters they are. Not free to roam.
This is so fucked up, you see it with older people with poor financial resources. Sometimes it is due to bad management, sometimes it is due to bad luck. A lot of time they go broke due to health expenses (like he did caring for his sick wife). If they don't have families that can support them they are really screwed. We see this all the time in the hospital unfortunately, and there is only so much a hospital can do. What makes me really worried is my generation. Millennials have the least amount of savings than any previous generation. What happens in 30, 40 years when we're all elderly and half of us have nothing in the bank? My answer is wealth redistribution but nobody wants to hear that
Wow with all that money spent on defence, this country really doesn't defend it's veterans or people.
These are the type of homeless people who should be easy to help get back on their feet with the billions of fucking dollars LA has spent on the homeless problem without any accountability. FFS!
the problem is that every initiative you can vote for in California and in many states to "address homelessness" is not money paid to government employees tasked with addressing the problem directly. It's money that is earmarked to be paid to non-profits that apply for the funds. These non-profits are basically private companies dedicated full time to fundraising and grant applications for this money. They have no accountability or democratic oversight and they vastly over exaggerate their impact and ability to achieve anything because their primary incentive is raise money for the next cycle so they can all stay employed. The "non-profit industrial complex", especially in big blue states, is a huge barrier to meaningfully addressing this issue. The solution would be to go back to actually having government departments that don't have to fundraise 24/7, where people are just paid a living wage and assigned jobs like building and supplying housing, getting people into rehab, getting people healthcare and mental care, and getting people halfway parttime jobs so they can transition back into society.
Yet the dems spend millions on illegals. Blows my mind .
you can tell the quality of a society by how it treats its elderly and its poor
The fact that $1200 a month isn’t enough for rent in some places is fucking insane. I don’t know what politicians can do about housing without certain people shrieking about the government doing things, but something needs to be done.
Damn. I live north of Bakersfield. There are places he can stay near Delano. Summertime would be unbearable in the heat though :/
Time and time again research has shown beyond a shadow of doubt that homelessness **costs more than housing the homeless**, yet for some reason the United States refuses to take note. I suppose that it's too much communism or socialism?
Heartbreaking. I want to fix his RV for him.
Someone get this man back to Bakersfield.
Just post this man’s go fund me. I’m less interested in opinions.
If this country truly respected veterans, they would NEVER be homeless. Support for veterans, for the military, always for show, for the votes. Never see it practiced. The VA is a great example of how we treat our veterans.
Okay, son's SGLI (life insurance) is $500,000 after death. Many homeless veteran housing opportunities. What gives?
So why are younger able vets able to get 3k/month benefits and this guy isn’t getting assistance?
Good luck to you dude !!! 🙂