The Homeless

[ArrowLance]

I will be moving into town (Fairbanks, AK) this month and I am interested in meeting and associating with the homeless. The problem is I have no idea how to do this. I'm very shy and have no clue how I should approach a homeless person (or anyone really).

I want to become active and this sounds like a good way to do it to me. Could anyone give me some advice?

[dogfooddi]

offer to take one off the cold streets in for a beer or dinner. that's not a joke. you can question the ethics of it but people love beer and food and homeless people are no exception. find common ground.

i've gotten to know many homeless people this way.

[Dust Bunnies]

Homeless people are people just like you who have been wronged or destroyed by the Capitalist system in some way. Talk to one, maybe go to a local Dunkin Donuts or something, buy coffee or something for the two of you and chat it up. They will appreciate your gift and your company. You will walk out of there feeling like a million dollars too.

[Invincible Summer]

Both of the above are great ideas.. however I'd try to avoid mentioning Communism or Socialism unless mentioning only the abstract ideas, as we all know the association "communism = stalin"

[Dust Bunnies]

Both of the above are great ideas.. however I'd try to avoid mentioning Communism or Socialism unless mentioning only the abstract ideas, as we all know the association "communism = stalin"

He never said to recruit them, he just said to associate and chat with them. Though if he does decide to chat about Communism, then I recommend keeping the words "Soviet", "Stalin", or "Lenin" out of the first conversation (or if there is only one conversation, then out of the first few minutes).

[sascha]

hahaha. I am homeless 6 years (from 10.july 2003), you can come to homeless without problem, even if one is not friendly you can find next one. there are different homeless, those who are destroyed and those who are still able to participate in... whatever.
as people said, you can come to them and drink together with them from time to time, you can visit their places and take lunch, in denmark place is not limitted only for homeless than anyone can come and eat for free or for little money. in denmark homeless are social, they like to drink and speak and make jokes. but at other side, they are totally supporters of system and authorities (nationalists, patriots, etc). my advice is to find poor people who are politically motivated, it is not the fact that homeless are automatically interested for politics or for revolution. many of them are even connected with secret agency about spying of foreigners. but it is so in europe, I don't think that in USA homeless spy foreigners. mostly Polish, Romanians finish in places for homeless because they didn't get a job (racism) and then politicians decided to spy them ("to prevent criminality" after racists refused to give them job).

[Kyrite]

hahaha. I am homeless 6 years (from 10.july 2003), you can come to homeless without problem, even if one is not friendly you can find next one. there are different homeless, those who are destroyed and those who are still able to participate in... whatever.
as people said, you can come to them and drink together with them from time to time, you can visit their places and take lunch, in denmark place is not limitted only for homeless than anyone can come and eat for free or for little money. in denmark homeless are social, they like to drink and speak and make jokes. but at other side, they are totally supporters of system and authorities (nationalists, patriots, etc). my advice is to find poor people who are politically motivated, it is not the fact that homeless are automatically interested for politics or for revolution. many of them are even connected with secret agency about spying of foreigners. but it is so in europe, I don't think that in USA homeless spy foreigners. mostly Polish, Romanians finish in places for homeless because they didn't get a job (racism) and then politicians decided to spy them ("to prevent criminality" after racists refused to give them job).

Are you saying that there are secret undercover homeless spies that spy on foreigners? :rolleyes:

[Kyrite]

O and in responce to the question at the start of the thread, try bringing one of them coffee or food each day for a few days first. And when you bring him/her the food or drinks ask his/her name and a few details. Then after a few days of small talk offer to take him/her for a drink or out for a meal. That way the fact that you are shy shouldn't be as big a problem because you will already have a basic relationship with the homeless person before you offer to take him/her out.

[A_Ciarra]

You might want to check with Food Not Bombs (http://www.myspace.com/fnbanchorage) (leftist group), they can get you going, and always need volunteers. There is a chapter in Anchorage, I know that's a ways from you, but they could probably help you get going where you are if even it's on your own.

[sascha]

Are you saying that there are secret undercover homeless spies that spy on foreigners? :rolleyes:
you mix people who work for secret agency as spies and get salary for it and people who cooperate with secret agency (on the basis of patriotism or whatever). homeless don't get money for their spying, but they can get some benefits if they do it longer time (address, social help, help at solving of some problems). so, in cases when danish spy foreigners, they do it on the basis of patriotism.
but, in denmark, in places for homeless, it is case that mostly foreigners spy foreigners. danish homeless don't do it so often, not because they like foreigners, than because secret agency find foreigners who will spy foreigners. therefore I call them betrayers, because they spy people from their language region and they betray their class also, we are all more or less poor foreigners from the same countries and with similar status. africans who got right to stay in denmark, they spy other africans, people from ex-yugoslavia, spy other who speak their language. etc.
I know you don't believe in this, but it is dirty job of secret agency, not only to spy people, than to spread bad opinion about somebody who is not good for danish authorities.
as you see, "job" of people who cooperate with secret agency is not only to spy in order to arrest someone, their job is also to control situation, to check who came to ask for job and who came to be criminal, and to make blabla against those who are not good for authorities.
danish authorities massively spy (poor) foreigners, especially Muslims, because these 2 groups are marked as enemy of their small xenophobic society. of course, I don't speak about foreigners from berlin or london, than foreigners from third world countries and from new EU countries (Polish, Romanians, etc).
you can believe in it or not, it is so. in place where I go, I am sure that one italian, one hungarian, one yugoslavian, one iraqi, are spies. this italian and hungarian are directly connected with inspectors, other are just "lower rats/cooperators". they check people: why they came to denmark, are they illegal, and in some cases they help to secret agency concretely to spy someone whom authorities see as bad. in any case it is racist spying because it is based on fear of racist authorities that foreigners from poor countries occupied their small society. As I said, they don't spy someone from London or any old EU country, but they spy people from Poland, Africa, Yugoslavia, etc. it is simply racism which exist during centuries and fascist take care to keep fascism alive (they still think that they are better/higher as nation than East Europeans), they accepted Poland to be EU, but they hate when Polish come to EU to ask for job. It is common politics and atmosphera in denmark, they massively refuse Polish and Romanians when they ask for job, just because they believe that they will go out from denmark if they don't get a job, those who stay, they become homeless and Danish hate them. what to say about third world countries when they hate East Europeans who already became EU. racism against foreigners is based on materialism which is very important component of capitalism.
I must mention that Swedish authorities use the same methods of spying of foreigners, especially those who asked for political asylum. I don't believe to anyone who got right to stay in sweden, I am 99% sure that he got it just because he accepted to spy people from his region who come to ask for asylum. those who are refused about asylum, they are good, they didn't sell themselves.
very pesimistic situation, but it is so. spying is massively present, not only with aim to arrest people, than with aim to control situation.

should I tell you what I think about pacifist western activism? clear result of control made by secret agency. they started infiltration before 20 years (after and during RAF and Red Brigades actions) and now mostly western activists make only peaceful demonstration. when million people do the same and think the same, something is wrong. for me, only diversity is natural, if most of activists want only peaceful actions, it is not natural, it is result of control and of good life. of course, that is my opinion, you can think like you want. I am sure that secret agencies in EU didn't watch passively RAF actions than they mixed their people in movement and they spread many years propaganda against violent actions against authorities. after 20 years, we have 80% pacifist movement, 20 per cent are still out of control. and I like this 20 per cent. although and pacified people are not bad, they just became product of acting of secret agency and products of good life (2000 euro per month, so people don't want to put ass in fire, they will rather wait revolution next 100 years and in the meantime they will fight little here and there and go little to Tenerifa to enjoy in life). therefore foreigners will burn France and Denmark, surely not mentioned 80% of activist from these countries. as I said, 20% are good for me and this 20% participated in burning together with foreigners.
in any case, if you believe that authorities succeeded to control society (with help of school, media, etc), why you think they could not control majority part of activists? how it is possible that majority of Danish refuse to give job to foreigners? they have 3% unemployment in denmark. just because fascist politicians spread propaganda in medias during years against foreigners. they created atmosphera of paranoia about foreigners. therefore everybody will refuse to give job, everybody will jump to help about spying of foreigners, etc. as you see, it is not sooo hard to make control, people are learned from childhood to be patriots and it is very easy to activate them to work for authorities.
but therefore foreigners will burn everything what they created, they don't share normal life with us, they keep us in poverty and they have a hope that we will go out from their country.

[Taboo Tongue]

Am I the only one who would suggest not really bothering with the lumpen...?
I live amongst many in my part of San Francisco. Occasionally I'll talk with them (there are so many people on our streets here you can't tell who is and isn't), but more often than not the ones in my district have crack problems.
Some are sympathetic to my signs, and my explanation of the red flag; others are crazy. Some are just fun to speak with =) But I don't know if the people I enjoy speaking and those who are more sympathetic are technically "homeless," but many are lumpen I know. (To stress again, too many people on the streets where I live to know exactly who is homeless)

Normally when I speak with people out on my streets I find something notable going on. "Like oh shit, that's a bad ass car wreck; when'd that happen?" (be sure to include a question)

Speaking with those who clearly lost their homes in a foreclosure would probably be more fruitful I would think.

[RedAnarchist]

Am I the only one who would suggest not really bothering with the lumpen...?
I live amongst many in my part of San Francisco. Occasionally I'll talk with them (there are so many people on our streets here you can't tell who is and isn't), but more often than not the ones in my district have crack problems.
Some are sympathetic to my signs, and my explanation of the red flag; others are crazy. Some are just fun to speak with =) But I don't know if the people I enjoy speaking and those who are more sympathetic are technically "homeless," but many are lumpen I know. (To stress again, too many people on the streets where I live to know exactly who is homeless)

Normally when I speak with people out on my streets I find something notable going on. "Like oh shit, that's a bad ass car wreck; when'd that happen?" (be sure to include a question)

Speaking with those who clearly lost their homes in a foreclosure would probably be more fruitful I would think.

The lumpen are people too, and deserve our support just as much as any working class person does. Like us, they are not living in mansions exploiting people, and like us they are not in positions of great power or priviledge.