21074th poster gets a cookie (cookie thread (Part 7)) (Part 8)

General
#14112

it’s a common misconception that substance abuse causes homelessness when really it’s the other way around.

looking at a study of homeless people in California, 50% of respondents didn’t use drugs in the past 6 months. of those how had, 40% started after they became homeless (meaning that only 30% were on drugs beforehand). so let’s say you’re 50% to give money to a user, there’s still not even a guarantee that they would use your money on drugs when they otherwise wouldn’t. like maybe you do, but they also might use it to buy a new blanket or socks or idk cold medicine or hot food.

2 Likes
#14113

my mind is at

money > food > expensive food >>>> drugs

i want to give them the exchange that would be most benefical for them

but im concerned about drugs, because i have an idea in my head that its the worst thing ever and it kills people and destroys lifes and whatnot

so my only solution is, given the area, to give them expensive food from nearby, but i would really rather prefer them buying their own food or getting clothing or whatever they need at that moment

i’m trying to figure out how big of a concern homeless people buying drugs are, both in likelihood and danger

2 Likes
#14114

if you wanna give them money then give them money and don’t worry about it. if you’re gonna stress about how they’re using then don’t.

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#14115

thanks for trying anyway

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#14116

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#14117

i toss twenty to panhandlers and idfc if they do wrong with it

my general hope is that one good deed i did encourages them to do their own good deed

we’re all God’s children, to the highest king to the lowliest beggar

simple as

5 Likes
#14118

why didn’t god hire a baby sitter

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#14119

people won’t always tell the truth about this kind of thing, the actual numbers are probably much higher

and starting drug use after they became homeless doesn’t really help your case either because there is nothing there that means it doesn’t stop them from becoming not homeless (it definitely does)

#14120

i think theyre dying of exposure, usually

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#14121

im lurking bcus i dont want to write my essay
hi
it’s less creepy if i just admit it right?

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#14122

to clarify, ones actions of giving someone money or not, or food or not really doesn’t matter; it’s the fact that they are without a home and that no one is helping them get a home that’s the main issue.

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#14123

its not creepy at all

go do your essay

3 Likes
#14124

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#14125

The number one thing that helps homeless people is giving them homes. It significantly reduces drug use. They tend to become self-sufficient within like a year or two, and much more stable. There a lot of ways to become homeless, deserved or not, but it can be virtually impossible to become housed again on your own. If you don’t have a house, it’s hard to maintain personal hygiene and like how are you gonna keep a work uniform clean? If you don’t have a car, it might be extremely difficult to get to work on time. You may not even have a good way of setting things like alarms because you don’t have a phone or electronics that don’t run on batteries. Anything nice you own is easily stolen when you’re asleep.

Fun fact: a lot of homeless people who get on meth say that they started because their belongings kept getting stolen at night so they did meth to stay awake. Shelters rarely, if ever, give you a place to lock up your stuff at night and then they often have bed bugs and it goes on and on and on and on.

#14126

i understand its not a world saving affair, i’m just trying to make somebody feel a bit better for even an hour. i know theres obviously systems in place to keep people down, like, i think, drugs, and everything very obviously surrounding keeping homeless people down

i don’t think giving some form of monetary help makes me feel like i’m a hero, spending money usually makes me feel pretty terrible, it’s just that i’m trying to find the objective best way to help someone else without risking my or their livelihoods

which is why ignoring the possibility of someone getting seriously hurt or worse because of my actions doesn’t work for me. i want to find the right answer, not brush everything and go “if it makes me feel good it must be good”.

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#14127

if drugs aren’t as dangerous as i think or if theres an extremely low chance of them buying drugs (disproven earlier), please tell me

i don’t want to hurt people, but i want to do the best i can.

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#14128

this is why i use they/them pronouns

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#14129

i dont interact with beggars or strangers because they’ve often been aggressive or dangerous. most of them have been predatory

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#14130

beggars are scary what if they want my dead vote token? i don’t know if they’re evil or not they just travelled in

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#14131

#exileallbeggars

1 Like