Homeless People Lazy and Stupid?

[Bostana]

There is this Right Wing kid at my school I have been arguing with at my school. He says that all Homeless people are Homeless because they're lazy people who refuse to look for a job. I know this is complete BS, but he sticks too this anyway.
My teacher over heard us bickering and gave me this link that favors my side:
http://www.squidoo.com/why-homeless-people-dont-just-get-a-job

Anyway he still sticks to this 'Homeless people are lazy and stupid' argument. Anything I could day to him?

[ColonelCossack]

What if there aren't enough jobs to go around?

Ask him this; if there's enough jobs for the homeless to be employed, why do companies need to lay off workers during "economic downturns"?

[#FF0000]

Even if there are jobs to go around -- a lot of jobs simply don't pay enough to live off of. Not to mention the fact that some employers might not bother with an applicant whose address on the application is to a homeless shelter.

Being homeless also kinda makes it hard to get a job since they won't have access to things like, uh, phones?

And all of this is especially dumb because some homeless people do have jobs. I've worked with homeless people. I've gone to school with homeless kids. There are no jobs where I live and if you're lucky enough to get one, chances are it's minimum wage and simply can't pay for even a trailer up here.

[#FF0000]

Oh, uh, and there's also there's a ton of people out there right now who would lose their home if they suddenly lost their job -- which isn't at all unusual in these economic times.

[Decolonize The Left]

Go straight for his emotions - ask him why so many US war veterans are homeless if they're just lazy and stupid.


Although flawless counts are impossible to come by – the transient nature of homeless populations presents a major difficulty – the Departments of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and Veterans Affairs (VA) estimate that over 67,000 veterans are homeless on any given night. Over the course of a year, approximately twice that many experience homelessness. Only eight percent of the general population can claim veteran status, but nearly one-fifth of the homeless population are veterans.

Link to national coalition (http://www.nchv.org/background.cfm).

That'll shut him the fuck up.

- August

[RevSpetsnaz]

Im neither lazy nor stupid and ive had a hard time finding a job, although i do have one now. Ones suffering isnt always self induced, especially when living within a Capitalist system.

[Drosophila]

Also, most jobs require that you have a place to live, and an actual home address. People who bash on the homeless are inconsiderate assholes.

[Prometeo liberado]

One of the frightening things that I came to realize, I'm sure I'm not the only one, is the attitude towards an actual homeless person as opposed to the idea of homeless people amongst some on the left is startling. It was especialy visable during some of the Occupy encampments, the whole disdain of having "them" around. I hope that I assume correctly that it is just the liberal element that carries this hypocrisy around. To say one hates the fact that people are homeless yet aren't deserving of a place at a leftist campaign is nonsense. But thats not the point here.
As to your question. Homelessness is only one paycheck away for many. Without a family structure or the soon to be gone basic social safety net many, many more would, including myself be on the streets as well. Rarely do families and individuals choose to sleep with vermin and eat from a dumpster.

[o well this is ok I guess]

"have you ever, like, met a homeless person?"

conversation over.

[Comrade Samuel]

There is this Right Wing kid at my school I have been arguing with at my school. He says that all Homeless people are Homeless because they're lazy people who refuse to look for a job. I know this is complete BS, but he sticks too this anyway.
My teacher over heard us bickering and gave me this link that favors my side:
http://www.squidoo.com/why-homeless-people-dont-just-get-a-job

Anyway he still sticks to this 'Homeless people are lazy and stupid' argument. Anything I could day to him?

Please don't tell me there really is a person who is stupid enough to believe this. It only makes sense that some people will exploit the system but to say ALL homeless people are lazy is like saying all the people in the middle east are terrorists (which I imagine this guy would also believe). If this is his only argument then I think it shouldn't be too hard to find a simple statistic on how many where recently laid off or how many are vets.

[Bostana]

Please don't tell me there really is a person who is stupid enough to believe this. It only makes sense that some people will exploit the system but to say ALL homeless people are lazy is like saying all the people in the middle east are terrorists (which I imagine this guy would also believe). If this is his only argument then I think it shouldn't be too hard to find a simple statistic on how many where recently laid off or how many are vets.

Like most crazy conservatives, he does

[GoddessCleoLover]

I choose not to spend my time arguing with reactionaries. Life in a capitalist society con deliver some hard blows, and perhaps if this happens to the young jackass in question it may knock some sense into him. If not he is just another reactionary enemy, but rest assured that his viewpoint is not broadly representative of the the opinions of working class people.

[Klaatu]

It seems to me that the "Right Wing kid at my school" is the one that is lazy and stupid.
Lazy because he does not try to get the facts, and stupid because he does not have the facts he was too lazy to get. :rolleyes:

[GoddessCleoLover]

He is just some reactionary brat still living off of his parents' earnings. Karma can be a *****, and I hope he gets some.

[Ocean Seal]

He is just some reactionary brat still living off of his parents' earnings. Karma can be a *****, and I hope he gets some.
Yeah I would go for this one. Does he have a job?

[MotherCossack]

It seems to me that the "Right Wing kid at my school" is the one that is lazy and stupid.
Lazy because he does not try to get the facts, and stupid because he does not have the facts he was too lazy to get. :rolleyes:

yes i quite agree.
i am also stupid for allowing tales like this to affect me.... i have spent much of my life trying to train myself to ignore such blatent ignorance and to accept that some people are without an iota of intelligence and have not the wit or desire to question any of the crap that is flung at them.
it seems that i am as incapable of adopting a sensible approach and ignoring them as they are of having any sense at all.

lets just say that if there is any justice in the world then they will never be offered any of the much needed employment that would be far more deserved by someone who appreciates its value.

long may they languish in homeless despair...
unemployed and without hope or welfare.

[AmericanCommie421]

Claiming that most people in those situations chose that is equal to saying that the starving children around the world are starving because they are too lazy to eat.

[Klaatu]

It is a truism that the vast majority of people (in Western countries ) do not understand:

Capitalism creates unemployment (and therefore poverty and homelessness)

[Cencus]

A survey done in the 80s estimated that about 15% of all rough sleeping males in the U.K. suffered from schizophrenia. This was before care in the community (A Tory policy of turfing people out of mental hospitals without the neccessary support structures in place) would have upped these numbers considerabley so fuck knows what the numbers are now.

[trubkin pipeface]

i'm lazy and stupid and i have a job. we're all way more lazy than people walking hella miles, pushing a cart, collecting cans out of the trash to feed themselves. some of my family is homeless but that's because of schizophrenia, meth, and lack of access to treatment for both, not laziness.

[Klaatu]

i'm lazy and stupid and i have a job. we're all way more lazy than people walking hella miles, pushing a cart, collecting cans out of the trash to feed themselves. some of my family is homeless but that's because of schizophrenia, meth, and lack of access to treatment for both, not laziness.

Don't forget alcohol.

Alcoholism is responsible for the fall of a lot of good people. I have seen what it can do in my own family and to the guys that roam the streets looking for bottles and cans.

And yet in the big city, there is a liquor/lottery store every block, with huge billboards advertising alcohol and state lottery. Here in Detroit, the gambling casinos rake in gazillons, while a street away there are burned-out houses, dope houses, guys living in cardboard boxes and abandoned cars, etc

What is the cause of all of this? Capitalism, in part, that's what.

[Marvin the Marxian]

As many other good comrades here have said, homelessness is almost invariably caused by the capitalists and their policies. Capitalism creates structural, cyclical, and other kinds of unemployment; it also denies resources for treating drug addicts, alcoholics, and the mentally ill (preferring to stuff them into prisons when possible).

[Grenzer]

I was reading an article on the Wall Street Journal's web page a few days ago that was about social programs and charity. In the comments section, most peoples' complaints about charity and welfare is that it does not "rehabilitate" the poor or homeless, speaking of them as if they were somehow diseased. This seems to be a pretty typical reaction, though given that the Wall Street Journal's target demographic are bourgeois assholes, it may be a little skewed; but I doubt it's by much.

It is angering, but unsurprising that there has been a concerted attempt to stigmatize the presence of the homeless in the Occupy Movement; though I have also seen equally as many articles slamming against attempts by Anarchists and Communists to "hijack" the movement. Some of it is actually pretty damn funny. There was some petty bourgeois fuck who had decided to take a trip down to his local Occupy, and described seeing a man holding a sign that simply said: "Fuck Capitalism"

He wrote about it in some editorial and described how it had "disturbed and shocked" him to his "very core." These people are going to be in for a nasty surprise some day, it's amazing how oblivious some people are to the crises of capitalism.

[scarletghoul]

Tell him hes a prick and dont bother talking to him again; people like that are just not worth wasting time on. Unless you have an open minded audience.

[TrotskistMarx]

KXTj5nd2oKQ
Let's arm the homeless with marxism knowledge !!

If I was US president I would create a new class of homeless. The new homeless people will Donald Trump, Bill Gates, all the bankers and all the capitalist owners of large corporations. And all the present homeless people of the USA, will move to live in the houses of Bill Gates, Donald Trump and all the bankers and capitalists of the USA.

.




There is this Right Wing kid at my school I have been arguing with at my school. He says that all Homeless people are Homeless because they're lazy people who refuse to look for a job. I know this is complete BS, but he sticks too this anyway.
My teacher over heard us bickering and gave me this link that favors my side:
http://www.squidoo.com/why-homeless-people-dont-just-get-a-job

Anyway he still sticks to this 'Homeless people are lazy and stupid' argument. Anything I could day to him?

[Ele'ill]

Just because a field is 'hot' now doesn't mean that the millions of people looking for work have the background, training or skill-sets needed to succeed in those niche positions.