"No more talking about the homeless"

[Heidi Mull]

I was homeless for many years when on CRVL.

I considered myself homeless despite having a vehicle because I never got to the point of being able to live comfortably--sufficient food, a comfortable bed, clean clothing and sheets, warm enough in winter and cool enough in summer. All the suggestions and advice in the world could not make me more capable of building my setup beyond what I already had, or make my limitations--which cut out large swaths of options, e.g. using laundromats or hanging out in a coffee shop to cool off or using much food from food banks--disappear.

Moving into the RV was a night and day difference. Though I technically still meet some definitions of "homeless", I no longer consider myself so.

I became homeless and stayed homeless because a variety of factors put me there and kept me there. It was not drugs or alcohol or a refusal to be civilized. I was too disabled to work, in fact too disabled to care for myself even. I'd be unable to leave my van at all for days on end, and sometimes had to rely on strangers to help me drink water because I didn't have the strength. I was only well enough to drive on some days, and would regularly get so sick that it was coming out both ends while I was in level 10 pain and my van would get trashed by it. And I would be too weak to clean it up.

No one wants to live in their own filth. No one.

I was in touch with all social services available to me at the time. They were not able to do much for me, and I was exasperated as I ran circles around my case manager whose job it was to find me resources and solutions. They did a 5 minute google search, whereas I researched extensively and made phone calls and did everything possible. I was not medically able to do shared housing, as my airways react severely to the products other people use. Also, my PTSD reacts severely to noise other people make in shared living spaces. When I moved out on the streets, I began to heal. But progress was stymied by the immense stress of fighting daily for survival amidst cruel and unusual limitations and situations.

All of my best efforts were not enough to spring myself out.

Every stage of improvement has come about by 1) community, and 2) luck.

I only even had a van in the first place because two internet friends pooled together a loan for me to get one. When it turned out to be a lemon and I was in debt and it was not running after over 1K in repairs, my dad got me another van and traded it to me for the old one. (Later that turned into a loan, but I can handle that now.) Various strangers saved my life on various occasions, most dramatically from severe hypothermia. Then I began dating my now fiance, who moved in with me when I collapsed on our third date and needed caregiving. With a caregiver, better food, and an abundance of happiness,
my condition improved.

We lucked out when a car accident that wasn't our fault totaled his van but kept our injuries minor enough to walk away. (Though it still took about a year to recover). The money from that made it possible to buy the RV, which we lucked out on because, following up on a Craigslist ad, we found out his aunt was the seller and we got an incredible deal! After a *year* of RV spots falling through, we lucked out on getting a spot at this RV park, only because we happened to visit on a day when they had a cancellation and hadn't yet called the wait list. "If you want it, it's yours."

People want to think that if you just try, you can get somewhere. In my experience the trying is important, but people helping and luck are two other essential factors.

Now I have a job (again, luck--I work at a place that employs only two people and caters to folks with my medical condition), and I pay the bills while my fiance continues his healing journey. I'm now more able-bodied than he is. There are a couple homeless people who hold signs at a street corner near us. I do what I can, which is usually hand out ginger candy and chat with them while waiting for the light to turn. I learn their names, I tell them to hang in there and that somebody cares. I say I know how it is and that I wish I could do more. I ask what they need most and if it's something cheap, like a $2 tarp, I get it for them when I can.

I have never seen them drunk, high, or behaving in a disorderly manner. They have always been completely respectful to me. They tell me about their plans, their dreams, and their day to day life. One of them isn't all with it, you can tell by talking to him, but ask him about his crows and he'll describe their behavior and reasons for it with more knowledge than anyone on the discovery channel.

I just see people. People who were once me and could one day be me again. Everyone tries. Not all limitations are visible, or able to be overcome by sheer willpower.

[Wabbit]

You made me tear up Heidi, I'll get you for that! 8-) Thank you for sharing that, I'm really happy that you're in a better place. You mention love as a healing tool, 6 years ago I would have mocked that(in ignorance), today I can say love saved me. Not someone else loving me, I can't seem to recognize that. It was me loving someone else, if that makes much sense.

[Ballenxj]

 An awful lot of them remain homeless by choice. They would much rather drown their sorrow with alcohol, and or drugs. They don't really want to be bothered with pretending to be civilized, but instead lay in an alley and puke themselves to death, while leaving a swath of broken bottles, crap, and vomit on peoples property. I've seen it first hand when I worked security. You try to be nice to them and they take you for being soft, and keep returning to create the same mess over and over.

I don't buy into this sentiment. I get that it is popular thinking, but not much in life is as simple as this. Saying that, I have felt this way in the past, but not anymore. Might be kinda nice if life was as cut and dried and there were no complexities, but I imagine it would be boring and there would not be many life lessons to learn. I might feel that I live in a predatory universe, but that doesn't mean I have to think\act like a predator(not saying that to anyone specific here) to survive. I can be me and if I cry or feel for myself or another person, I don't believe that makes me weak, it makes me human.

Not a sentiment, rather a personal observation. I had seen the same people do this night after night, making a total mess that had to be cleaned up on a daily basis. The people I'm referring to had absolutely no regard for others.

[TrainChaser]

There are all kinds of homeless people, and they are homeless for all kinds of reasons.

The population of the U.S. is poorly educated, by design -- It’s easier to control ignorant people than educated people.  It’s also the most expensive educational system of all the industrialized nations, to keep help keep you in debt afterward.

The U.S. has been in a constant state of war and conflict since 1812, with a corresponding rise in the National Debt.  See American Military History at https://www.historyguy.com/american_mili...qWaHGdy6g0  For a chart of our National Dept, see http://www.polidiotic.com/by-the-numbers...t-by-year/

In 1913, our country’s finances were handed over to the greediest people on the planet (bankers) by Congress, because they were too lazy and too stupid to do it themselves, as instructed by the Constitution.  In slightly over 100 years, the Federal Reserve has decimated the finances of this country, currently paying bills with ‘money’ they have created electronically out of thin air.  If a dollar was worth a dollar in 1913, it is now worth 3 cents, a horrendous drop in just 105 years.  See Inflation Calculator at http://www.usinflationcalculator.com/

Our country not only wants to control every facet of OUR lives, it wants to control every country on the planet, and every person in those countries.  But they learned how to do it right by practicing on us:  we have been trained to do as we’re told, in practically every respect.  We have been trained to equate ‘want’ with ‘need’; we spend money like drunken sailors on shore leave, and are encouraged to not consider anyone but ourselves.  We believe practically every lie our govt spouts.

They control us with fear of everything:  terrorist attacks, gun control, lack of gun control, govt and economic collapse, identify theft and credit card fraud, health insurance costs, biological warfare, tracking of personal data, getting into yet another war, climate change, nuclear weapon attacks, nuclear accidents/meltdowns, pollution of everything around us, being the victim of a tornado/hurricane/earthquake/flood/major storm, pandemics and epidemics, polluted drinking water, home invasions, widespread civil unrest, mass shootings, massive collapse of electrical grid, theft, spiders, widespread drought, illegal immigrants, being maimed or murdered, use of drones, financial fraud, sexual assault, gang violence, becoming ill, being victim of a racial or hate crime, stalkers, needles, small closed spaces, technology, germs, flying, tainted blood, strangers, ghosts, zombies, clowns, rabid animals, pit bull attacks….. the list is endless.

And our ignorance is absolutely appalling:  we don’t understand the basic concepts of life, are unable to figure out cause-and-effect, have an average vocabulary consisting of fewer words than ever in the history of mankind (with the possible exception of humans living in caves 200,000 years ago).  We don’t understand the fundamental principles of physics as experienced in our everyday lives.  We choose our significant others and elect our politicians based on their looks.  And we are dead-certain-sure that nothing bad will actually ever happen to us.

We are fed and exposed to more chemicals than any country in the world, and we have the poorest diet with an endless amount of processed food.  Oddly enough, we also have a lot of cancer, heart disease and strokes, diabetes, Alzheimer’s and dementia, kidney disease, autism, A.D.D. and A.D.H.D, ad infinitum, FAR more than in the days prior to WWII.  These chemicals are found in newborn babies, breast milk, urine and other body tissues; virtually no one is immune.

Many of the vandwellers are seniors, a group that is considered past providing much tax revenue, thus we’re seen as worthless.  The Department of Housing and Urban Development (2016) said that 31% of the homeless are seniors.  And if we die, the govt doesn’t have to pay us SS !

Does this sound like a recipe for disaster to you?  It does to me.  But the real kicker:  after all this, THEY INSIST ON BLAMING THEIR VICTIMS.  


Oh, and about that Bill Gates quotation above:  “If you are born poor its not your mistake, But if you die poor its your mistake.” ……….. BILL GATES IS THE SON OF ONE OF THE RICHEST FAMILIES IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST.   Some people would call that ‘hypocrisy’.  At least, the ones who know what the word means.


Consider this one, by former president Rutherford B. Hayes:  “This is a government of the people, by the people, and for the people no longer. It is a government of corporations, by corporations, and for corporations. — How is this?”   He said that in 1888.  Do you think much has changed?

[Putts]

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Until social, governmental, and commercial institutions reflect a motive to love people before profit nothing will really change. Good luck with that.

We're on our own, and the nomadic lifestyle does seem like the sane response to the system as it is.

[TrainChaser]

^^^ YEP!

[frater secessus]

I really don't understand how anyone in North America would or could be blind to the fact it is a class-based society?

For those interested in the topic, Paul Fussell's Class expertly dissects the American class system.  Paper only, no kindle version available.  :-(

[Scott7022]

I am not going to copy/paste Trainchasers great Rant (I am not being sarcastic) here in responding to it.

Interestingly my current employer was an invited guest at the Davos summit. I can't type names or too many connections as well, Mr. Orwells familla are reading as I am not on a Sat connection.

I read Trainchasers Rant to my employer as we shared a coffee. He was interested in what I was reading and so I showed him. He asked me to explain a few conceptual ideas that were past his grasp of English within the cultural perspective. He knew what the sentence meant but he wasn't sure what TC meant by the sentence. I think he is fluent in 6 languages, but the meaning and cultural context meaning is very different at times.

He smiled and said, "And here I thought the herd/colony/indoctrination (he used a Russian word that means these three things exactly) project was completed in the USA." I shut up and waited/baited him to continue. "Few people understand what was systematically done in the early 1900's. What started as an experiment of corporate and human resources management carried on past the tipping point. I haven't been to the USA for six years but I am going to assume everyone is still concerned about sports and TV sitcoms. Don't get me wrong, I too like watching sporting events but I still pay attention to the ball that is my life as well. When a poor nation with a huge military has its leader show the world how advanced that poor countries military is and uses words televised to the world such as "Can you hear me now?" The time to pay attention would be now. The three options open to the current clown/puppet are 1] Do nothing. 2] Get into an arms race they can't afford. 3] Start a war no one can win. They won't let him start a war and so it will be interesting to see what will happen. But I already liquidated my US holdings and if I were you I'd take the advice of my analyst." It was obvious he wasn't going to say more without encouragement so I asked. "When you say 'they' you mean the US citizens that elected him?
"No, not at all. I'll be ready to go in twenty minutes."  He smiled and walked into his study to organize his meetings for the day.

In writing my second book I did a great deal of research into the NWO idea. To be honest I thought it was a great fictional springboard to bounce into a really good yarn. I now wonder how close I got...

When we hear terms like the 1% we picture Trump and Musk. It was pointed out to me, doing my research, that they don't make the cut for the real 1%.

I think personally Putts has it most correct. It is all bullshit and Timothy Leary might have had it right all along. Not the medication stuff he is famous for but the Love, Freedom, and to hell, with the PLAN we all got sold.

[technomadness]

Heidi talks about luck, but I see a lot of not giving up and pursuing possibilities that turned out to be “lucky”. That’s pulling yourself up by the bootstraps.

And while you can have unlucky events— as everyone does— perseverance eventually results in success.

The important thing, though, is not to squander it when you get it. Nurture the success and save wisely for the future.

Cause when you are over 50 it’s a lot harder to bounce back against particularly bad luck.

If we had stayed true to the founding principles of this country there would be no federal reserve, no terrorism and no poverty. Poverty and homelessness and drug addiction are all three consequences of our oppression.

Drugs are addictive because of the drug war. When you criminalize something you incentivize snuggling. The economics of smuggling mean that more potency in smaller areas is more profitable. This instead of chewing bulky cocoa leaves we get cocaine, and then crack.

I’ve been homeless myself but fortunately I had both a good safety net and a high value skill.

For those that don’t, or that have medical disabilities, we need a charity system. Charities are a whole lot more effective than government at solving problems.

But do long as the government is taking all the money via taxes and the federal reserves monetary inflation, there is a lot less available for private charities.

Hell, instead of saving for retirement we are all forced to pay into the social security Ponzi scheme.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Cammalu]

When you criminalize something you incentivize snuggling

Well, that’s a good thing isn’t it?