[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWNQ5zbKw-Q]YouTube - ‪Hurting the Homeless‬‎[/ame] Any kids doing this, should be prosecuted as adults....
The people were actors, and the folks walking by stepped in to help. It was a great video, I think. But yes, if kids are hurting people they see as defenseless, they need to go to prison.
I've been homeless- I made damned sure to find someplace to shower and try to make myself presentable. So did most of the folk I encountered. If they're attacking someone who presents them-self as a human, then it's time to step in. If you let yourself reek of stale piss, I'm unlikely to view you as human, be you homeless or a millionaire. If you have such little respect for your own self, why should I care about you? Some 'people' merit less respect that the average dog. That's real talk. I wonder what those folk would've done if there weren't other people around to judge their actions.
Did I say it was justified or did I say I'm unlikely to care? If you don't care about you, why I should I care about you? How's it any different than kicking a garbage bag at that point? How can you expect to be treated like a human being if you don't present yourself as such? I mean, burning ants with a magnifying glass isn't justified either, but I don't get terribly upset about it. Even dogs generally practice some level of hygiene. I'm just being honest- and anyone who was being honest and not simply trying to save face in front of the eyes of the rest of society would say the same thing. In your heart, you're thinking the very same thing. I'm just saying it. I'll bloody my hands and blades for a decent human being who's being attacked simply for someone else's cruel enjoyment. That is a matter of principle. I'll be rather upset and might or might not be willing to risk as much if the average dog is harmed out of pure malice. But why get upset over someone kicking a piece of trash down the street?
Look, I don't claim to be doing much for the homeless, but I like to think my willingness to help someone wouldn't depend on their odor. We have lots of alcoholic men in my family (for some reason, not the ladies). So far, knock wood, no one has become homeless through it -- but it could happen. I think if you can watch someone being beaten and think "that's just trash", something human has been lost in you.
So if you'd been there when they were dragging Mussolini through the streets? Or if Ricardo Ramirez had been caught by few folk one night and beaten to a bloody pulp? Once can surrender their status a human being.
Ever consider the possibility that by denying someone their humanity because of the way they smell or dress you are actually devaluing yourself? There is absolutely no difference between debasing someone because they are mentally ill than debasing them because of their skin color or sexual orientation. Yet you sit back and condemn others because they are racist and/or bigots. Take a good look at yourself in the mirror sometime, you should be ashamed of yourself.
It is not the Richard Ramirezes or the Mussolinis of the world who surrender their humanity, it is those who treat them as trash who surrender theirs.
