Going Homeless By Choice, page 2

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reply posted on 7-1-2009 @ 12:00 PM by ImaginaryReality1984

reply to post by Aeons

I think you missed the point of the thread in all honesty. They could right now be doing very well, having a nice home, all the comforts of modern life, structuring their futures in companies and they have decided against it.

If you don't think it takes bravery to say no to such things then i think yo uare well out of touch. Today you are required to build up your credit record, have a decent employment history and other things to get on in life. They have my utter respect in saying no to all of this and choosing their own course.

They might have some money to keep them going but that money is to be used for travel and not living. They are trading their labour for food and anything they can make or trade is to be used in a similar way.

My friends could have picked the easy life, they were both offered very well paying careers. I have to ask how many people could turn that down.

When you're in that position, please post again.

reply posted on 7-1-2009 @ 12:04 PM by ImaginaryReality1984

Originally posted by whitewave
Sounds to me like it's intentional and well-prepared homelessness rather than "oops, we're broke and out on the streets" homelessness.

The prepared version is a lot more fun. I've done both.

Best of luck to your friends and keep us posted.

In all truth the "oops we're homeless" crowd are rare. I have worked in homeless shelters and i can tell you that a lot of them took things with them before they left.

Some people went without simply because they left overnight, however that's not about money it's about thinking ahead. A great deal of them picked up a sleeping bag or something before going out alone.

reply posted on 7-1-2009 @ 05:19 PM by Sestias

People who are homeless by choice are making a social/political statement about the lives they are leaving behind. That's great for them.

But I've heard too many people write off the homeless with the callous words, "They are where they are because of the choices they have made. It's their own fault, we're not going to sympathize with them."

A lot of people are losing their homes now. I've no doubt there will soon be tent cities such as there were during the Great Depression. Most of these people will definitely not be living outdoors by choice.

Personally, I'd be terrified at the prospect of no home, no medical care, no hot baths even. That fear has kept me toiling away within a social and economic system that I can clearly see is often exploitative and unjust. But I see homelessness not as freedom but as another form of slavery--to poverty and want.

reply posted on 7-1-2009 @ 05:32 PM by Aeons

In what position? The high paying job? I have that. And the nice house, the minivan, the cell phone.

I didn't always have those things.

I maintain that "homeless" is a state of problems. Those who are living without a home due to choice or political statement are not homeless. They are merely without a home.

I don't care if you respect them. So what? A couple of people off playing for a while. Good for them. Whatever.

However, not needing a home for the time being and not being ABLE to have a home are not at all the same thing. Presenting it as if being "homeless" is the same thing as some people playing is disingenuious.

reply posted on 8-1-2009 @ 08:14 AM by ImaginaryReality1984

Originally posted by Aeons
In what position? The high paying job? I have that. And the nice house, the minivan, the cell phone.

I didn't always have those things.

Ok now give all that up and say it's easy.

Homeless means being without a home, dictionary definition. They are without a home and therefore homeless. They will also be out of money at some point so they'll be in the position you speak of.

reply posted on 8-1-2009 @ 08:39 AM by huckfinn

I am kinda of doing the same thing. Honestly, I am not seeing much that is attractive about the way I was "raised" to live or what I was taught and expected to obtain in life. Eventually, me and the wife will settle, but it's quite liberating to just blow around the states like clouds.

Americans should take the time they have to learn how to live again; to take chances like in the past. Have only those things in your life that are worth having and tossing the rest.

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