General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: If you are in the 1% you are nothing but an exploiter [View all]haele
(12,650 posts)Panhandlers here are generally either homeless, couch-surfing, or living in RVs with others, because even if you could collect $100 a day, you'd have to be out every single day to make any headway - just renting a room costs a minimum of $500 a month, and studio apartments usually start around $1000 for an unfurnished - even the old coldwater flat ones with a common bath at the end of the hall.
And not all homeless are panhandlers, either. Many work. Which is something the poster I was discussing didn't seem to understand; he seemed to equate homelessness with panhandling and definitely connected panhandling with taxpayer/worker exploitation. And that was what I was trying to address, as most of the panhandlers I was aware of were homeless.
However - most homeless around here are not panhandlers; they are day-laborers, minimum wage/under the table workers, or too disabled, too old, or too young (teen homelessness is a big problem) to just go out and work a living wage job where there's taxes taken out of the paycheck.
Potential to for a person "get a job" rather than live on the streets and beg is not synonymous with a person's actual capability to "get a job" rather than live on the streets. PTSD runs rampant. Chronic or Clinical Depression can easily be triggered by over-stressing of even the seemingly strongest person, and once it has it's grip on someone, you can't just tell them to get over it. Clinical Depression just doesn't work that way; time, therapy, brain chemical changes or a combination of all three are pretty much the only way someone can "get over it" and turn their lives around.
The issue some might have with just saying "too broken to work" is that chronic homelessness also does a number on mental health of an individual; while mental health is not a predicator of one becoming homeless, the fact that over 30% of homeless have mental health issues indicates that not everyone can bounce back from hitting rock bottom, no matter what services are available to do so.
And that's where a lot of people make the mistake of judging homeless. I apologize if it seems as if I was indicating all homeless were mentally ill, panhandlers and jobless.
A lot of mis-understanding can be present when socially-based hot-topic buttons are talked about; everyone has their own perspective, and with many, a selection of anecdotes is all that is required to reinforces their argument.
Haele