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how do you prevent assholes vandalizing these or people taking the items and reselling them? (in SF people get stuff from the food bank and then sell it on the

how do you prevent assholes vandalizing these or people taking the items and reselling them? (in SF people get stuff from the food bank and then sell it on the sidewalks around mid-market)

perfmode 7y ago
sometimes you've gotta place your trust in the goodness of others. and when you're proven wrong, trust and trust again. furthermore, such violations of trust are helpful indicators of the types of structural issues present in one's community. sure. there might be places in crisis where such a system wouldn't be able to get enough traction to function. in such a place, one should turn one's attention to the big picture.
Baeocystin 7y ago
You can't, and it gets trashed. We had just such an honor system set up by well-meaning folks here in Gilroy, and it lasted for all of a few weeks before the first time everything was taken and the box trashed and smeared with feces. The majority of the people who needed to use the box did so respectfully and properly. There is a huge need, particularly here in the bay area of California, where the number of people forced into homelessness has exploded over the past several years. The problem with systems like this is that they have no oversight, the bad apples find them and take/destroy with glee, and it doesn't take many of those folks to ruin it for everyone else.
Broken_Hippo 7y ago
You prevent vandalism to these boxes the same as you prevent vandalism of anything else on the street: You really don't. Most folks won't do that sort of thing. As far as reselling items: Prevention is simple. Make a safety net, make sure folks have housing, and make sure there is medically backed addiction help out there. It won't solve all of it, but it surely raises the bar as folks won't be so desperate to rob a bunch of tiny pantries instead of a store. Other sorts of prevention just punishes people struggling, both the one selling and the one buying. Edit: Also, stores selling illegal goods should be prevented now. SUrely we have the tools if not the manpower.
klyrs 7y ago
The thing about charity is that people often need money more than food. People who haven't ever been poor, or been significantly close to poor people, often don't understand the differences in cost/benefit analysis between themselves and poor people [0]. So you hear concepts like "I'd give them a $5 sandwich but not a dollar because they'll blow it on drugs." Which is basically the ethos behind food banks. So you end up with food rich, cash poor homeless folks It's actually okay that panhandlers sell food on the street. They're exchanging a plentiful commodity for a liquid asset. They need money to live, not just food. And dollars per hour, sadly, drugs are about the cheapest form of entertainment our society has to offer. [0] https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/11/your-brain-on-poverty-why-poor-people-seem-to-make-bad-decisions/281780/ https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/11/your-br...

how do you prevent assholes vandalizing these or people taking the items and reselling them? (in SF people get stuff from the food bank and then sell it on the sidewalks around mid-market)

perfmode 7y ago

sometimes you've gotta place your trust in the goodness of others. and when you're proven wrong, trust and trust again. furthermore, such violations of trust are helpful indicators of the types of structural issues present in one's community. sure. there might be places in crisis where such a system wouldn't be able to get enough traction to function. in such a place, one should turn one's attention to the big picture.

Baeocystin 7y ago

You can't, and it gets trashed. We had just such an honor system set up by well-meaning folks here in Gilroy, and it lasted for all of a few weeks before the first time everything was taken and the box trashed and smeared with feces. The majority of the people who needed to use the box did so respectfully and properly. There is a huge need, particularly here in the bay area of California, where the number of people forced into homelessness has exploded over the past several years. The problem with systems like this is that they have no oversight, the bad apples find them and take/destroy with glee, and it doesn't take many of those folks to ruin it for everyone else.

Broken_Hippo 7y ago

You prevent vandalism to these boxes the same as you prevent vandalism of anything else on the street: You really don't. Most folks won't do that sort of thing. As far as reselling items: Prevention is simple. Make a safety net, make sure folks have housing, and make sure there is medically backed addiction help out there. It won't solve all of it, but it surely raises the bar as folks won't be so desperate to rob a bunch of tiny pantries instead of a store. Other sorts of prevention just punishes people struggling, both the one selling and the one buying. Edit: Also, stores selling illegal goods should be prevented now. SUrely we have the tools if not the manpower.

klyrs 7y ago

The thing about charity is that people often need money more than food. People who haven't ever been poor, or been significantly close to poor people, often don't understand the differences in cost/benefit analysis between themselves and poor people [0]. So you hear concepts like "I'd give them a $5 sandwich but not a dollar because they'll blow it on drugs." Which is basically the ethos behind food banks. So you end up with food rich, cash poor homeless folks It's actually okay that panhandlers sell food on the street. They're exchanging a plentiful commodity for a liquid asset. They need money to live, not just food. And dollars per hour, sadly, drugs are about the cheapest form of entertainment our society has to offer. [0] https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/11/your-brain-on-poverty-why-poor-people-seem-to-make-bad-decisions/281780/ https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/11/your-br...