Tent cities have sprung up outside Los Angeles

reply to post by Relentless


We all know that this nation faces a serious problem that can affect everybody. I can see how finger pointing can be counterproductive. On the other hand assigning blame must be done to come up with a fair and effective solution to the problem.

The people who are most at fault for the problem should be the ones that shoulder most of the burden in rectifiying. This means irresponsible lenders and borrowers should have to shoulder the burden. Bailouts subsidized by taxpayers to lenders or borrowers should be minimal and should be coupled with obligations to pay out every cent borrowed.

Second, the best way to solve the problems with speculative bubbles is to prevent them from forming in the first place. Too many people think that Uncle Sam is always going to be there to pick up the pieces if their venture goes south. If people knew that they would have to take responsibility for their own poor business decisions, there would be less people making foolish investments. This country would be better off if people made prudent investments or just put their money into savings accounts rather than tried to get rich quick off tech stocks, real estate, or gold. Assigning blame again helps us identify who made foolish mistakes, what the foolish mistakes were, and how the foolsih mistakes can be deterred in the future.

I did not read the entire thread, but here is my opinion.
I think this is a result of the banks making loans to most any body who requested on, takeing little interest in weather or not they will be able to pay it back. Then after takeing there home away, they can charge all sorts of fees and handling expenses to stuff there pockets with even more money. This is how the elite are staying elite, and the rich getting richer.
There has been some talk of a bail out, if that happens, it should be the banks who pay for it, but I doubt that will ever happen.

Here is another good thread to look at.
banks keeping control

[edit on 15-3-2008 by RedGolem]

reply to post by sy.gunson


Your right sy.gunson, they can do more. Having been homeless myself I have seen both sides of the fence. It took a lot of hard work to get out of. Let me tell you I don't blame people for not wanting to stay at homeless shelters. In my opinion they are like mixing a prison with an insane asylum. I can tell you this first hand.

The life of a homeless person is a life of patience. You wait for everything. Myself I formulated a plan. I found a fellow homeless person that I felt at the time like me was just down on his luck and together we found a way out. It's not easy at all to do. I have seen many people on the streets where yes indeed a mental handicap is preventing them from seeking actual work. Also I have seen those that just plain refuse to work anywhere.

The situation in the US is likely to get much worse before it gets better. The statistics I showed don't show the reality of the situation. You loose your job then you loose your house. It is difficult almost nigh impossible to get a job without a residence. So the cycle continues.

reply to post by whatukno


I would imagine it being near impossible for a homeless person to get off the streets without some help from charity. Could you recommend a charity or a type of charitable program that we coud donate time or money to? What exactly does a homeless person need to pull himself off the streets? Does he need a place to stay for a few weeks and clean up? Does he need medical or psychological services? Food? Clothes?

reply to post by hotpinkurinalmint


Having been a homeless person at one time myself, the first thing they need is dignity and self-respect. This makes it very hard to accept charity. Which is probably why the immigrants in tented camps around the South of England refuse assistance.

reply to post by RedGolem


The lenders are certainly to blame. The banks do not necessarily profit from this. Banks have lost money, which is why Wall Street is jittery.

Let us say somebody bought a house for $600,000 with an interest only loan. Let us say they paid $100,000 in mortgage payments over the past 3 years. Now the home is worth less than $400,000. If the bank forecloses the property, it will lose over $100,000.

The bottom line to all of this is that the debt value far exceeds the amount of available capital to repay it. Now what would be the purpose of perpetuating such a system? There does not exist a dollar for every dollar owed. This is a verifiable physical and mathematical fact. For what reason does this madness -- if there is a such thing as evil then this surely is it -- continue to exist?

reply to post by Myrdyn


So would a good plan to help the homeless be one which offers the homeless room and board for a day's work? For example, let us say there exists a charity which has homeless people get 3 meals, and a place to sleep in exchange for spending the day working in people's yards or cleaning the streets. Would this be a good charity to support or even start?

I could see people being critical of this charity in that they may feel homeless people are either getting exploited as cheap labor and/or undercutting the labor market.

reply to post by hotpinkurinalmint


Well, yeah, but better than the homeless being left to fend for themselves in the Concrete Jungle, eh?

i paid off my house in 2001, because i took a 15 year loan back in 86, and avoided $55,000 more in interest, then it would have been for a 30 year. it's a 1500 sq.ft. house in a clean and nice, if modest neighborhood. so being frugal has it's advantages. how ever, i also came from a decent home, from good parents, had the advantage of middle class living. no problems (well little ones) in school, and had a well-grounded up-bringing. i guess what i'm trying to say is that i had other advantages, besides being frugal with my money. other people were not as lucky. i think that social problems that we see with adults have alot to do with their initial up-bringing and continue into adulthood. people that come from dysfunctional households have a harder and steeper mountain to climb, and common sense along with good judgement were never taught. so, was it their fault? sure... but let's not judge others by our own good fortune, when we know nothing of the life, or people they trusted, that they have had to deal with.

reply to post by hotpinkurinalmint

I think you've got the right idea, but you're putting a negative 'spin' on it. That's exactly what happened to me, however it wasn't through a charity. I began working for very low pay and was able to rent a 'shack'. It wasn't much, but it was better than a tent. I was lucky and found kind-hearted people who were willing to give me a step up. I repaid their kindness by doing all kinds of odd jobs for them. By the way, this all happened in the US.

A little bit of kindness goes an awful long way when you're really down on your luck.





[edit on 15/3/08 by Myrdyn]

Ever since Bush went into power this country has fallen to its knees...when gas hits 5 dollars a gallon- I hope people riot in the streets.

reply to post by PimpyMcgibbins


Petrol (gas) is currently the equivalent of $7.55 per US gallon in the UK.. and you think you have it rough?

reply to post by PimpyMcgibbins


There are far more rebellious and lawful ways of expressing your displeasure with the current state of things than going out and rioting. If you went out tommorow and broke a store window, the net result would be one broken window and possibly one person (you) going to prison and getting raped.

One way to rebel is to vote with your wallet. Votes in the ballot box might not mean that much these days, but voting with your wallet does. Try and go out of your way to buy goods made in the USA. Research companies and find out which ones are good to their workers, and support them.

You should also try your best not to support companies that are harming the US. Do everything you can to limit your oil consumption. Use your credit cards sparingly. I am what the credit card industry calls a deadbeat because I hardly ever use my credit card, and when I do I pay off the entire balance immediately.

At the end of the day, by voting with your wallet you did far more damage than smashing a store window in a riot. You caused thousands of dollars of lost profits to the companies you despise.

Ive always dreamed of creating a foundation that hires unemployed an homeless to work an run the company..... most of the positions are run by people in need of work, our job would be to house, feed, clothe and create a resume of experience for people to take what they have learnt an use it to empower themselves in todays world...

what we would do for work wouldnt be pretty, we would have teams to recycle from everywhere... and seell the recyclable materials to whomever that certain type of material would benifit..

Metals to metal recyclers

Plastic to plastic recyclers

Glass and organic for composting...

I have never worked out the legal aspects of this as im sure there are plenty... but seeing how I have my own defaults and medical problems the money to get such a wondrious idea is way beyond my reach.......

reply to post by hotpinkurinalmint


Wise words HotPink

This just shows you why it's very important to have a rainy day fund and not to overspend on debt.

Originally posted by PimpyMcgibbins
Ever since Bush went into power this country has fallen to its knees...when gas hits 5 dollars a gallon- I hope people riot in the streets.

Do me a favor and stop whining about Bush in every thread like an angsty teenage jackass.

I don't know whether it's because this subject hasn't attracted the usual bunch of 'Loonies' or whether they just haven't woken up yet, but we're seeing some pretty intelligent thoughts coming through here. Not all would work, but obvious concern is generating some interesting ideas. I'm pleased to be part of this discussion and I hope it's of some use.

Originally posted by anxietydisorder


I really urge every American to get involved, and bloody hell, take an hour out of your precious lives and go vote. A 50% turnout is not a democracy.

The winner's die has already been cast. Any and all elections are easy to rig using the software and hardware that are provided. It's been done before. Why else would the US be pushing it's "Democratic Government" idea on every country?

Back to topic: It's a sad state of affairs that some people have gotten themselves into. Sadder still is that disappearing middle class which will now be forced to rely upon the government for refuge.

Originally posted by anxietydisorder

Originally posted by 44soulslayer

But why are you using such harsh words towards people who have just lost their homes? Show a little compassion eh buddy?

I'm sorry if I sounded a bit harsh but I don't have much compassion in situations like this. Part of my job is to appear in court to evict tenants and recover the property for the landlord.

I see people on a regular basis that would rather spend their money on booze and drugs before they pay their rent, so where I come from these people deserve to be out on their ass.

My interests lie on the side of the rightful owner.

Sounds like they keep you in business.