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> I'm quite tired of the entire thing. I increasingly want desperately to just be free of this shit and maybe that means I should just care less about injustice

> I'm quite tired of the entire thing. I increasingly want desperately to just be free of this shit and maybe that means I should just care less about injustice in the world and worry more about covering my own ass. "The World" certainly doesn't give a rat's ass about me or remedying any of the actual injustice in my life. A level of this is absolutely necessary because there's too much wrong in the world. I used to think a lot about how to solve the issues in my community growing up. I often wonder - could I go back there and help? I have more money now, I know more, etc. But realistically, I'm one person, and too small, and I don't _really_ know what's going on. All I can do is try not to exacerbate the issues. And yeah, the world doesn't care about you, or me. You're a chicken in a farm and someone's about to lop your head off for a sandwich. So it goes.

DoreenMichele 7y ago
But realistically, I'm one person, and too small, and I don't _really_ know what's going on. I'm just one person. I've researched this problem space for many years. I had a class on Homelessness and Public Policy well before I ended up homeless. I think I have some good ideas, but I can't get traction because people with money and power don't actually take me seriously, either online or in meat space. I wrote this recently and submitted it to HN. https://streetlifesolutions.blogspot.com/2019/08/a-small-town-with-big-city-problems.html https://streetlifesolutions.blogspot.com/2019/08/a-small-tow... I think it got one upvote. So I'm pretty fed up and feeling like it won't get fixed precisely because people actively want it to not be fixed, not because it can't be fixed. I'm a subject matter expert. It doesn't matter. People just want to keep justifying the status quo and calling homeless people junkies and crazies. Having been homeless, obviously, I'm crazy. No need to listen to fuck all I say, clearly.
- enraged_camel 7y ago
  Eh, sometimes you need to submit stuff on HN multiple times for it to get traction. Don’t get discouraged.
  - DoreenMichele 7y ago
    It's not the only thing I submitted from that site on that topic that's gotten ignored and I've been given a lot of shit at times over submitting my own stuff, so I think I've never submitted anything of mine more than once because I feel like it would just be an excuse to vilify me. I'm a woman. When I do the exact same things the guys do, it gets completely different reactions. Pointing that out fails to result in fair and equitable treatment. It just is a new reason to justify open hatred because "obviously, she's a man-hating Feminazi, just here to stir shit up." In the face of widespread prejudice, there is no good or right answer. Being good enough is never enough. In fact, it's another reason to find you offensive. I'm the only person who submits my writing here. There have only been two exceptions, both basically a case of people interested in gossip and shit stirring. There is absolutely no one interested in taking my work seriously. I've been here a decade. I had a corporate job when I joined. I appear to be the only woman to have ever spent time on the leader board. Nothing seems to ever genuinely change the fact that I'm not actually taken seriously. No one thinks I deserve an adequate income. No one sees anything wrong with continuing to exclude me and let me de facto starve while claiming it's somehow not sexism or classism. (But let's go with your theory. I'll resubmit it. Let's see how much bullshit that gets me.)
- fucking_tragedy 7y ago
  Doreen, I've always found your contributions to be both insightful and refreshing, especially in a monoculture like HN. As someone who comes from a similar background, I have a deep respect for your willingness to openly talk about your experiences despite the prejudice and discrimination you face because of it. Please keep submitting your work. The increasing reality for many working people is that they are one or a few misfortunate events away from losing their livelihood. While many HN have believe that they won't ever have to face that fate, their friends, family and neighbors increasingly will.
- wuschb 7y ago
  Vilifying the poor is part of the divide and conquer strategy of the ultra wealthy. They rely on us having a enemy other than them.
  - DoreenMichele 7y ago
    Although I am extremely frustrated with a number of things, I do not think this is true in most cases. Of course, you find awful people at all levels of society, but I think most rich people genuinely don't understand the needs of the poor, don't have good opportunities to really get a clue and a lot of what they do falls much more under the idea of "Never attribute to malice what can be readily explained by stupidity" -- only substitute ignorance for stupidity. One of the reasons I run my big fat mouth on the topic is because I do have a much more privileged background than I understood for most of my life, so I have the opportunity to bridge that gap to some degree. I wish to hell and back that it wasn't such a slog of an endless uphill battle. I'm tired of my life being such a drag and of feeling so burdened, etc. But I'm really not down with simply vilifying "rich people" in a broad-brush fashion. I see that as a lazy answer and a counterproductive answer. I'm fine with calling out specific instances, commenting on known track records of individuals, etc. I'm not fine with "those people" are "just bad people." If nothing else, it's a pot calling the kettle black kind thing and I abhor hypocrisy.
scruple 7y ago
> I often wonder - could I go back there and help? I have more money now, I know more, etc. I'm originally from a small rural community in southeastern Ohio. I've often had the same thought. I think I could help, genuinely, but I think there's a problem of acceptance there that I don't know if I could break through at this point. I've been gone for nearly 20 years. I don't really know that community any more. I wonder sometimes if I ever did. Maybe it's just my own ignorance or arrogance or naivety. Because I also don't know my adopted community of SoCal, either. > the world doesn't care about you, or me. Indeed. TFA and this comment thread reminds me of the Bukowski poem, "The Crunch." "...people are just not good to each other."

DoreenMichele 7y ago

But realistically, I'm one person, and too small, and I don't _really_ know what's going on. I'm just one person. I've researched this problem space for many years. I had a class on Homelessness and Public Policy well before I ended up homeless. I think I have some good ideas, but I can't get traction because people with money and power don't actually take me seriously, either online or in meat space. I wrote this recently and submitted it to HN. https://streetlifesolutions.blogspot.com/2019/08/a-small-town-with-big-city-problems.html https://streetlifesolutions.blogspot.com/2019/08/a-small-tow... I think it got one upvote. So I'm pretty fed up and feeling like it won't get fixed precisely because people actively want it to not be fixed, not because it can't be fixed. I'm a subject matter expert. It doesn't matter. People just want to keep justifying the status quo and calling homeless people junkies and crazies. Having been homeless, obviously, I'm crazy. No need to listen to fuck all I say, clearly.

enraged_camel 7y ago
Eh, sometimes you need to submit stuff on HN multiple times for it to get traction. Don’t get discouraged.
- DoreenMichele 7y ago
  It's not the only thing I submitted from that site on that topic that's gotten ignored and I've been given a lot of shit at times over submitting my own stuff, so I think I've never submitted anything of mine more than once because I feel like it would just be an excuse to vilify me. I'm a woman. When I do the exact same things the guys do, it gets completely different reactions. Pointing that out fails to result in fair and equitable treatment. It just is a new reason to justify open hatred because "obviously, she's a man-hating Feminazi, just here to stir shit up." In the face of widespread prejudice, there is no good or right answer. Being good enough is never enough. In fact, it's another reason to find you offensive. I'm the only person who submits my writing here. There have only been two exceptions, both basically a case of people interested in gossip and shit stirring. There is absolutely no one interested in taking my work seriously. I've been here a decade. I had a corporate job when I joined. I appear to be the only woman to have ever spent time on the leader board. Nothing seems to ever genuinely change the fact that I'm not actually taken seriously. No one thinks I deserve an adequate income. No one sees anything wrong with continuing to exclude me and let me de facto starve while claiming it's somehow not sexism or classism. (But let's go with your theory. I'll resubmit it. Let's see how much bullshit that gets me.)
fucking_tragedy 7y ago
Doreen, I've always found your contributions to be both insightful and refreshing, especially in a monoculture like HN. As someone who comes from a similar background, I have a deep respect for your willingness to openly talk about your experiences despite the prejudice and discrimination you face because of it. Please keep submitting your work. The increasing reality for many working people is that they are one or a few misfortunate events away from losing their livelihood. While many HN have believe that they won't ever have to face that fate, their friends, family and neighbors increasingly will.
wuschb 7y ago
Vilifying the poor is part of the divide and conquer strategy of the ultra wealthy. They rely on us having a enemy other than them.
- DoreenMichele 7y ago
  Although I am extremely frustrated with a number of things, I do not think this is true in most cases. Of course, you find awful people at all levels of society, but I think most rich people genuinely don't understand the needs of the poor, don't have good opportunities to really get a clue and a lot of what they do falls much more under the idea of "Never attribute to malice what can be readily explained by stupidity" -- only substitute ignorance for stupidity. One of the reasons I run my big fat mouth on the topic is because I do have a much more privileged background than I understood for most of my life, so I have the opportunity to bridge that gap to some degree. I wish to hell and back that it wasn't such a slog of an endless uphill battle. I'm tired of my life being such a drag and of feeling so burdened, etc. But I'm really not down with simply vilifying "rich people" in a broad-brush fashion. I see that as a lazy answer and a counterproductive answer. I'm fine with calling out specific instances, commenting on known track records of individuals, etc. I'm not fine with "those people" are "just bad people." If nothing else, it's a pot calling the kettle black kind thing and I abhor hypocrisy.

scruple 7y ago

> I often wonder - could I go back there and help? I have more money now, I know more, etc. I'm originally from a small rural community in southeastern Ohio. I've often had the same thought. I think I could help, genuinely, but I think there's a problem of acceptance there that I don't know if I could break through at this point. I've been gone for nearly 20 years. I don't really know that community any more. I wonder sometimes if I ever did. Maybe it's just my own ignorance or arrogance or naivety. Because I also don't know my adopted community of SoCal, either. > the world doesn't care about you, or me. Indeed. TFA and this comment thread reminds me of the Bukowski poem, "The Crunch." "...people are just not good to each other."