The Hobo Ethical Code of 1889

Just came across this. A lot of these are just general reasonable ways to live that seems kind of lacking in the world today.

I'm especially partial to numbers 1, 3,4,5,6, and 8 personally and feel like the world would be a better place if more people did these things.

www.openculture.com...

The Hobo Ethical Code

1. Decide your own life; don’t let another person run or rule you.

2. When in town, always respect the local law and officials, and try to be a gentleman at all times.

3. Don’t take advantage of someone who is in a vulnerable situation, locals or other hobos.

4. Always try to find work, even if temporary, and always seek out jobs nobody wants. By doing so you not only help a business along, but ensure employment should you return to that town again.

5. When no employment is available, make your own work by using your added talents at crafts.

6. Do not allow yourself to become a stupid drunk and set a bad example for locals’ treatment of other hobos.

7. When jungling in town, respect handouts, do not wear them out, another hobo will be coming along who will need them as badly, if not worse than you.

8. Always respect nature, do not leave garbage where you are jungling.

9. If in a community jungle, always pitch in and help.

10. Try to stay clean, and boil up wherever possible.

11. When traveling, ride your train respectfully, take no personal chances, cause no problems with the operating crew or host railroad, act like an extra crew member.

12. Do not cause problems in a train yard, another hobo will be coming along who will need passage through that yard.

13. Do not allow other hobos to molest children; expose all molesters to authorities…they are the worst garbage to infest any society.

14. Help all runaway children, and try to induce them to return home.

15. Help your fellow hobos whenever and wherever needed, you may need their help someday.

a reply to: dug88

The gentleman hobos guide to life!''

I like it and most if not all points are just as relevant today as they were back then

Seems a bit strange saying in point 1 "don't let others tell you what to do" and then from Point 2 to 15 it's a list of things others are telling a hobo what they can and can't do

Irony?

It's a good ethical list anyway

Neat glimpse in to a lifestyle that has passed away.
Homelessness ain't what it used to be.

I like this list. It does go beyond the edict of a hobo. Recognizing Respect for oneself and realizing that encompasses respecting others. We are all connected. What you do can and does reflect on others.

Thank you for sharing.

I believe this was written during the years following the crash of 1929; dust bowl era, where homelessness was common.

People were starving, homeless and sick with no government programs to help them. Drugs were not common so the need to steal to buy them did not exist.

Today, with drugs and mental illness, even with government programs, our homeless are living in desperation and taking it out on others and themselves.

Our society, in some ways, was actually better when people looked out for one another. Today, unfortunately, we just keep throwing out government handouts thinking that will solve the problems of society.

Your words and rules of the road are true examples of what really matters-caring for one another-respect of others.

originally posted by: Justso
I believe this was written during the years following the crash of 1929; dust bowl era, where homelessness was common.

People were starving, homeless and sick with no government programs to help them. Drugs were not common so the need to steal to buy them did not exist.

Today, with drugs and mental illness, even with government programs, our homeless are living in desperation and taking it out on others and themselves.

Our society, in some ways, was actually better when people looked out for one another. Today, unfortunately, we just keep throwing out government handouts thinking that will solve the problems of society.

Your words and rules of the road are true examples of what really matters-caring for one another-respect of others.

Everything still holds true now.
Medical care is out of the reach many. Mental health Care is even worse. Menial jobs that make sure you work just under the legal limit for health care options. Hire twice as many, no benefits.

I saw a van selling eyeglasses out of it in a shopping center parking lot...back alley surgery is coming soon.

Lmfao you are nut cases. The 20's and 30's into the 40's were horrific times for the human race all around. We have it a billion times better today.

This is some sort of garbage article. Hobo's were mostly losers that left their families and should NOT be looked at with any warm regards. You all need role models....

originally posted by: SR1TX
Lmfao you are nut cases. The 20's and 30's into the 40's were horrific times for the human race all around. We have it a billion times better today.

This is some sort of garbage article. Hobo's were mostly losers that left their families and should NOT be looked at with any warm regards. You all need role models....

A lot of hobo's worked in the mining industry what there was of it and would go to areas where they could mine or pan for gold during the warm months of the year then head to warmer climates in the winter.
There were others that worked in road building and construction during warm weather but by riding the rails to warmer weather where they could hunt and fish in the winter they could live off the little wages they made in the summer.

If you ever knew any of these hobo's you would know there were hobo's and bum's and there was a big difference.

a reply to: dug88

HOBO LIFE FOREVER.

I am become the Hobo.

originally posted by: SR1TX
Lmfao you are nut cases. The 20's and 30's into the 40's were horrific times for the human race all around. We have it a billion times better today.

This is some sort of garbage article. Hobo's were mostly losers that left their families and should NOT be looked at with any warm regards. You all need role models....

And are virgins feeding you grapes, Caesar?
Are you the "let's pour gas on the homeless and light them on fire cuz they are losers" type or the "dad left for a pack of smokes and never came back so I'm mad" type?
You must have bootstraps that need a patent!

Transient migrants or homeless bums? Immigrant farm workers or retired RV travelers are given more respect even though they are just as seasonally nomadic. It's a lifestyle choice that allows for freedom and individuality as well as thumbing noses at the corporate culture society most are enslaved to.

People who live off the grid get a little more respect, but only because they stay put and pay to play. Turning your back on the system seems to be the real reason there is disrespect for the gentleman hobo types, yet their self-reliance and resourcefulness is remarkable. Most would not be able to survive on their wits and resourcefulness under the best of conditions much less a nation wide depression.

a reply to: MichiganSwampBuck

To say I know a fair bit about survival is an understatement. To say I know it all is an exaggeration. In a serious situation where everyone had to live off the land indefinitely, I’d say I have a 35-40% chance of making it, which is about twice the odds of the average person and triple the chance of your average big city dweller.

The big three killers are dehydration, poisoning and exposure in that order. Sun stroke is an exposure problem. Cryptosporidia from tainted water is a dehydration problem. There is no boiling, filters or tablets to purify water polluted with toxic chemicals and heavy metals. Misidentification of a wild edible or improper preservation of food is again poisoning. So is cholera, which stems from sewage seeping into your water supply...outhouse was too close to the water table for your well and not necessarily your outhouse. Although dehydration will probably get you first.

Yep, it will be messy. In some ways the gunshot victims will be the lucky ones, unless of course they survived the shot and die of gangrene or starvation or exposure or the ever popular bleeding out.

originally posted by: the owlbear

originally posted by: SR1TX
Lmfao you are nut cases. The 20's and 30's into the 40's were horrific times for the human race all around. We have it a billion times better today.

This is some sort of garbage article. Hobo's were mostly losers that left their families and should NOT be looked at with any warm regards. You all need role models....

And are virgins feeding you grapes, Caesar?
Are you the "let's pour gas on the homeless and light them on fire cuz they are losers" type or the "dad left for a pack of smokes and never came back so I'm mad" type?
You must have bootstraps that need a patent!

Yes they are.

originally posted by: Asktheanimals
Neat glimpse in to a lifestyle that has passed away.
Homelessness ain't what it used to be.

#

There were hobo guides on how to jump onto a moving train without getting trapped underneath the "salami slicers". But given the speed of trains now, that really isn't possible. Then much of freight transported by rail now goes by road. Used to be the case that there was a railway station in every town and village.

They even had their own signs indicating which areas were safe and were not. They were still trespassing at times, even if it was just to sleep in a barn.

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