Why I hate many Civilians - A Military-member's Manifesto

[sealybobo]

I admit it is an issue, one I have been in myself, and still care greatly about.

But only a small percentage of homeless are like I was, and that way because of economics. In short, California unemployment does not even cover rent, let alone all the other things you need to survive. Out of work for more than a month or so in LA, and you will be burning through your savings, or on the street.

For me, it was only until I got back to work again. But one thing about living like that, I got to see the real issue first hand. And the biggest problems are substance abuse and mental illness (quite often the mental illness is caused by the substances abused).

And having worked with such individuals both in the military and civilian community, there is not a damned thing you can do short of incarceration to help those people until they are willing to stop using the drugs or get out of the bottle on their own. You can give them free housing, money to cover anything they want, and in the end all you are doing is supporting their self-destructive behavior.

And if you look anywhere that the homeless problem is the worst, the government is right there as an enabling co-dependent. Mostly to show that "they care". By giving them clean needles, safe places to shoot up, and now in many places actually getting involved in the distribution.

I was unemployed, a few times. Sales is tough especially through recessions and we've seen a few from Carter to Current.

I don't know many in MI who can live off $750 every two weeks either. If you have a real mortgage it's impossible. In the 90's I wisely purchased a condo on the lake for $58K instead of what everyone else did which was buy a $150K plus home. There were a couple of times I was glad my mortgage was as low as it was. If I was paying off something that was twice or 3 times as expensive, I don't know how I would have done it.

And even with low bills, it was tough living on $750 every 2 weeks. So while I was looking for a real job I would work for friends for $10 hr under the table.

AND, my parents would load me up with food, toilet paper, tooth paste, soaps, you name it. They would send me home with full dinners. This was so helpful when I was on unemployment.

 

[Mushroom]

In the 90's I wisely purchased a condo on the lake for $58K instead of what everyone else did which was buy a $150K plus home.

Not even close to economics in LA. When I left there, even almost 20 years ago "Affordable Homes" were in the $750k range and were over an hour away from LA itself. Where even a 300 square foot closet of a living space in a ghetto area is over $1k a month.

But the simple fact is, most "homeless" do not work, are not looking for work, and to be honest are unemployable. Most have been living like that for years, and all they really give a damn about is their drugs. Or are so mentally ill that they refuse to get treatment even if offered.

I spent one winter at a large shelter near Long Beach. A handful of beds set aside for those that worked, guaranteed for the night no matter when you came in. And the demand for "work" was not much, a single day a week at a day labor place was good enough. Only a few of us used them through, over half of them were never occupied. Maybe 1% even had a 1 day a week kind of job.

But the fact is, even the "Veterans" that end up in that situation have much more serious issues, most commonly drug abuse. And the percent of veterans in that situation is almost indistinguishable from the rate among the general population.