Helping the Homeless: Soon to be a Crime?

the law will never be passed people will vote against it,most people are not that heartless

What sociopath politicians really think of the homeless:

South Carolina Lt. Governor Andre Bauer Compares Poor People to Stray Animals

“My grandmother was not a highly educated woman, but she told me as a small child to quit feeding stray animals. You know why? Because they breed. You’re facilitating the problem if you give an animal or a person ample food supply. They will reproduce, especially ones that don’t think too much further than that. And so what you’ve got to do is you’ve got to curtail that type of behavior. They don’t know any better.”
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In some cities, there is now direct advocation to citizens to "give to the charities and let them handle the problems".

We all know where the money goes. Down a black hole. I don't trust charities. I donate money and time directly.

reply to post by ashanu90


Unfortunately, I think you are incorrect.

The homeless, as a group, are politically weak. They of course have no money and they have little or no political organization.

The people that oppose pan handling measures, like merchants who believe pan handlers are driving away business, are strong. They have money. They can organize and lobby politicians.

As far as popular sympathies go, unfortunately the homeless do not get as much popular sympathy as you would think. As shallow and disgusting as this sounds, many people view homeless people as sub-human because they are dirty, smelly, and do not look good. Although many homeless people are good people, some can be rude or commit crimes. Furthermore, many homeless people are mentally ill which makes them frightening rather than sympathetic.

I am, sadly, never surprised when some idiot politician says something like that. The guy is probably loaded, with a fancy home, multiple cars, kids in private school, country club membership, etc, and is only trying to do this because HE is offended by people not as fortunate.

It's simply not true that all the homeless are there because of some addiction. Sure, some are, but some got there through a series of hard knocks. For those here that are not wealthy, think about this; hos many steps are you from homeless? Say you lose your job, your car is repossessed, and you can't pay for your housing? You could, very quickly, be on the street, homeless. There are entire families living like that, not just drunks, addicts, crazies, and runaways.

Some politicians would love to see a law like that, because then THEY would have control. Of course, they would screw it up, but then, they would not care, since the homeless don't vote anyway. Truly sickening attitude. For myself, I will help whoever I darn well please, and I don't care who doesn't like it.

I've never been homeless but I certainly know what it feels like to be broke. I've been close to being homeless many times. It wouldn't take much for me to be homeless. I have had many people tell me that I should ignore the homeless and walk away but I have a hard time doing so. I know if they made it illegal to give money to the homeless I would still give them money regardless of the law.

[edit on 4/27/2010 by BrandonK]