Homeless people

Do you really blame them for having substance abuse problems in light of the fact their sleeping on the streets, particuarly in the freezing cold, with all sorts of traumatic life experiences rummaging around their heads.

I'm guessing your friend was homeless at the time?

I will ever respect homeless people. Nor will I ever help them - I have a thing about not helping people who wont help themselves. Also, if the tables were turned, they wouldn't bat an eyelid, so neither would I.

http://www.soldiersoffthestreet.com/ http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/Soldiers-Off-The-Street-SOTS/146394338732643?v=photos Still won't help the homeless?

I personally wont, but do respect the soldiers and anyone who helps them. Fact of the matter is that is that most of the homeless are not soldiers.

Show me proof I think you'll find a fair few are and if they aren't a lot of them have no choice but to be there. Some choose to, fair do's, and not everybody on the street deserves help imo, but it's like JSA and the "scum" that we see on the front of our newspapers a lot - the bad ones are shown because the good ones don't make interesting news.

I'm guessing your friend was homeless at the time?

I will ever respect homeless people. Nor will I ever help them - I have a thing about not helping people who wont help themselves. Also, if the tables were turned, they wouldn't bat an eyelid, so neither would I.

lol, you seem to assume that ALL homeless people CHOOSE to be homeless, this is not the case. While we take things for granted sitting in a heated home with a feast laid down on the table, they're in the cold thinking on how are they going to be able to eat. We are all human and it's in our nature to help others who can't help themselves.

I never said that they choose to be homeless, but the choices that we make affect our lives. In a country like England, everybody has access to education etc and thus there are very few excuses to be homeless. So why should I help someone who could have made something of themself. Learn the hard way.

I think you have a very arrogant opinion. If you refuse to talk to them or find out anything about them, how do you know if they havent tried to improve their situation? There is a reason many of them are addicts, you dont become an addict for fun. Alcohol numbs their pain and warms them up. Once you are an addict it is incredibly hard to get out of this, especially if you dont have the social network to support you. You should do some research on this before you judge them all.

Alcoholism destroys the brain and often results in psychiatric disorders and depression, you are not advised to just stop drinking abruptly because it can be very dangerous plus the withdrawal effects will be unbearable to cope with without any help. It is people like you who dont even think they are worth talking to that make them feel even worse about their situation.

It is easy sitting on a high horse and looking down on those who became homeless. We are so lucky not to be in this situation. Saying it is their own fault they became homeless is plain ignorant. You cant generalise it, they all have their own individual story.

Fair enough if you dont wanna give them money because you worry that it will be used for alcohol or drugs. Why dont you go and buy them some food instead or give them warm clothes.

It is obvious that you are clueless about this topic and i think you should volunteer at a homeless shelter to gain some perspective.

When did I criticise their alcohol use?

It is not luck that keeps us from being homeless...

I'm sure their stories all involve them being lazy bastards at some point in their lives. Or getting into drugs before they even became homeless. Why should these people get my sympathy and money?

Why would I want to buy them anything. My mum and her 'partner' both work hard for what we have (we're only working class folk) so why should their hard earned money go to people who refuse to put in the effort?

Please don't try to take a moral high-ground when you know full well that you would go out of your way to avoid them on the street, just as 99.9% of other people who try to defend them would.

As for me volunteering... erm... no. I really couldn't care for another perspective of these people. Mine is correct for the vast majority of instances.

For some french homework I've gotta come up with a 1 minute long transcript/presentation about homeless people. I can take one of two opinions and I've chosen the first:
What do you do when you see a homeless person?
"I don't stop. It's because they are alcoholics or drug addicts that these people are on the streets. I took pity once on a homeless guy from my area offering him a small job. He refused!"

So I guess that's basically the opinion that we shouldn't help the homeless. Bit extreme

Anyway, if you have any points you could give me to contribute - because I am dreadful at thinking up idea points - it would be much appreciated

You can even turn it into a debate if you wish. But I just need a one sided argument for the moment.

Thanks xxxx

do a handout where you know that resources are being put to good use?

Reasons why not to help them, well what I said above about being attacked. Also, why are they homeless? We have a system in the UK to help the poor, why aren't they using it?

Hi,

I used to live on the street as a teenager after leaving home. I won't bore you with how it happened, though it was pretty nasty. There are a few reasons why they don't just go and get help.

The first is there is a priority list. When you go and ask for help, they ask you if you're female, have dependants, disabled or an immigrant, as they did for me. If you're none of the above, they tell you that you're not a priority and to give them an address and they'll contact you when they have something to assist.

Here lies the second problem. You can't claim benefits or get assistance without a fixed address. You also can't get a bank account. We used to sleep in the graveyard around this area, and some kind souls (living ones that is) would come around with hot drinks in the winter. After sleeping in soaking wet clothes over and over again, this was very welcome.

The third problem, which doesn't apply in all cases is age. They wouldn't help me because I was too young. I can see why they do it - to encourage young people to go back home. For me though, sleeping rough was heaven compared to that. There are some hostels that allow you to stay temporarily, but they're difficult as hell to get in to.

In my experience, drink and drugs are for the minority of the homeless. Even those that I met that did drink wouldn't harm a fly. They were more like eccentric old men with a million stories to tell. Drugs were rarely seen, but you could spot them a mile off. About 9 out of 10 of us were clean (in the substances sense anyway), but we were well aware that others walking past lumped us in to the addict box.

Crash course in 'is this homeless person a threat?'.

If they're shouting a screaming, or acting rowdy, stay away. If they're not, you have about as much a chance of running in to trouble as you do talking to any other stranger. The reason for this is because those of us who were sound of mind were very aware of how many lumped us in to the same, scary 'to be avoided' box - understandably so. We were deliberately extra humble, polite and friendly to put them at ease should someone stop to talk to us. We were also deliberate in not asking for more. Having to ask in the first place is degrading enough.

There was no hate for the rich either.

As far as I'm aware, we all managed to fix ourselves within a few years, purely from the donations of others (deposit on a flat is the big thing). We are now teachers, business owners, care workers, doctors, engineers, programmers, designers and the like and remain humbled by our experience. We are of course all paying back in to the system rather than draining it. So, if you see the quiet friendly type, and you're comfortable to do so, say hello. They won't lop your arms off and steal your pretty things.

Just a bit of a view from the other side if anyone is interested. Slightly longer than I anticipated

I think we both know that ex-soldiers make up a very small percentage of the homeless. Unless you can prove otherwise?

And I do agree with your closing point, but I stand by my earlier point that I would never take the time to help the homeless. Especially as they are usually so deceitful.

When did I criticise their alcohol use?

It is not luck that keeps us from being homeless...

I'm sure their stories all involve them being lazy bastards at some point in their lives. Or getting into drugs before they even became homeless. Why should these people get my sympathy and money?

Why would I want to buy them anything. My mum and her 'partner' both work hard for what we have (we're only working class folk) so why should their hard earned money go to people who refuse to put in the effort?

Please don't try to take a moral high-ground when you know full well that you would go out of your way to avoid them on the street, just as 99.9% of other people who try to defend them would.

As for me volunteering... erm... no. I really couldn't care for another perspective of these people. Mine is correct for the vast majority of instances.