6 ms·

I have a pet theory that love is a basic human need (and a requirement for good mental health), and governments are notoriously bad at providing love no matter

by umvi 2y ago

I have a pet theory that love is a basic human need (and a requirement for good mental health), and governments are notoriously bad at providing love no matter how much money you throw at mental health therapy, treatment programs, UBI, etc. Barrows is setting a good example here, but how to get more citizens involved so the burden isn't all on a few rangers?

II2II 2y ago
I suspect that few people want to be involved. It is difficult and dangerous work. It requires a personality that both cares for others, while being resilient enough to face the challenges of those in their care. By in large, it is also a thankless job. Just look at many of the responses here. The public don't care about the time and effort involved. Many think that it is best to just lock them up. Quite often the recipients don't care. They are too busy battling their own demons. It's probably best to have safety nets in place so that people don't reach these depths in the first place.
- aprilthird2021 2y ago
  We have social safety nets in the US. We just don't have one robust enough that you can live in housing and have enough income without working in San Francisco permanently.
- bloomingkales 2y ago
  The safety net for everyone is your friends and family. Drug addiction destroys that, so you are left alone. They kind of don't have anyone else. People see homelessness, but all I see is a slow trek to a suicide for many. They are dying slowly - and do not make any mistake about that. It's fatal. Overall, there are many drugs addicts and homeless people in the world. It only bothers us when it obstructs our vision, very disgusting sentences like I cant even visit the beach anymore. I think that's fine, there are many beaches and many other places. You can visit the beach somewhere else, these people are dying. Millionaire Rogan found the sight of homeless people unbearable so he had to leave the state (could be the taxes, but he's also filthy rich. I don't want to say he's just rotten, that's mean. I'll say a few other things instead). Your society creates an inordinate amount of homeless people, that's first. Worry about the view later. You are lucky that you even get to see poverty up close, most just move the living fuck away from it. Wait. Edit: I bring Rogan up because if you go through his entire catalog, you will see he has hours and hours of content that just bullies homeless people. He has done that to a few other groups, literal hours if you stack them side by side in a compilation. So there was already a lot of damage done in terms of mindshare by this media-arm.
  - throwaway7783 2y ago
    Trivializing other people's concerns and worries is not the best way to get their help - even when priorities are pretty clear. It is very similar to trivializing "oh you shouldn't be an addict in the first place" We are dealing with humans here, and all of them, including the homeless and people complaining about views, make up our society.
    - bloomingkales 2y ago
      Again, I said a specific sentence, and I think it's the most important sentence to me. You have to be lucky to be witness to poverty, it provides incredible perspective. I undermine other's concerns about the unsightly view because I believe their attitude is immoral, and I have no issue drawing a red line there.
      - ty6853 2y ago
        Having been homeless a couple times the way out is rather simple in most cases if you're sane and sober. A days day labor is enough for food, propane, and bus passes for a week. Anything beyond that us enough to buy a shower at a truck stop and get cleaned up for an interview at a warehouse. You can trivially survive outside with a weeks day labor wages worth of REI gear on the coasts and most the lower 49 ( of course a junky would hawk this as soon as they are dope sick ) On both occasions I used this equation homeless -> day labor for Airbnb to clean up for warehouse/factory interview -> work in factory until deposit on apartment earned to get out. Most the people actually on the street are nuts or drugged out. People like me would clean construction site, then take a bus to edge of town and climb a flat roof and sleep where no one sees us. What you're witnessing isn't so much poverty but insanity.
        bloomingkales 2y ago
        [flagged]
        JumpCrisscross 2y ago
- tsimionescu 2y ago
  > It requires a personality that both cares for others, while being resilient enough to face the challenges of those in their care. Not only resilience to the challenges, but resilience to the fact that some people you will just fail to help. The more you care about those in your care, the more it will generally consume you when they don't succeed. This is a hugely difficult thing to overcome, and it's a big reason why, for example, hospital doctors typically end up with relatively little empathy for patients: it's very hard to maintain your mental health while empathizing with people hurting and dying every day. You really have to build some kind of wall between you and them to cope with the inevitable losses.
dannc 2y ago
Get more folks involved in local volunteering opportunities, especially ones with direct outreach to people in need. I'm heavily involved with Austin Bicycle Meals [1]. When a homeless person already knows you are there to help, it creates an entirely different social dynamic than normal. You get opportunities to make conversation and connections, which humanizes how we view these issues. That's a total reversal to how most people interact with the homeless: in an entirely avoidant manner either randomly on the street or through a car window. That's why so much of the general public is numb to their plight. The change in mindset that happens is really powerful, can take only a couple of hours of volunteering to happen, and something I hope more people seek out. https://linktr.ee/austinbicyclemeals https://linktr.ee/austinbicyclemeals
anon291 2y ago
There's this thing called religion where we chant hymns and sing songs in an attempt to reorient our psyche to suppress our innate selfishness. By raising our oxytocin levels amongst our community via shared belief and communal celebration, we leave the room in an exuberant mood to serve others. I know people think the prayer meetings et al are corny, but when you realize what comes afterwards (or should) then it really all makes sense. And it's not just about helping strangers it's about helping others who are maybe not your best friend but still in your circle. Congregational religion is one of the most tragically trampled upon secular fences. It's no surprised that the same methodology was arrived at by the world's great religions. Buddhist and Christian mendicant and service-based monastic orders come to mind
moralestapia 2y ago
You'll be glad to know that your "pet theory" is a topic that has extensive literature around it, even going back milennia. I've read a lot around this, happy to provide some suggestions if you choose to dive into this.

by umvi 2y ago

II2II 2y ago

I suspect that few people want to be involved. It is difficult and dangerous work. It requires a personality that both cares for others, while being resilient enough to face the challenges of those in their care. By in large, it is also a thankless job. Just look at many of the responses here. The public don't care about the time and effort involved. Many think that it is best to just lock them up. Quite often the recipients don't care. They are too busy battling their own demons. It's probably best to have safety nets in place so that people don't reach these depths in the first place.

aprilthird2021 2y ago
We have social safety nets in the US. We just don't have one robust enough that you can live in housing and have enough income without working in San Francisco permanently.
bloomingkales 2y ago
The safety net for everyone is your friends and family. Drug addiction destroys that, so you are left alone. They kind of don't have anyone else. People see homelessness, but all I see is a slow trek to a suicide for many. They are dying slowly - and do not make any mistake about that. It's fatal. Overall, there are many drugs addicts and homeless people in the world. It only bothers us when it obstructs our vision, very disgusting sentences like I cant even visit the beach anymore. I think that's fine, there are many beaches and many other places. You can visit the beach somewhere else, these people are dying. Millionaire Rogan found the sight of homeless people unbearable so he had to leave the state (could be the taxes, but he's also filthy rich. I don't want to say he's just rotten, that's mean. I'll say a few other things instead). Your society creates an inordinate amount of homeless people, that's first. Worry about the view later. You are lucky that you even get to see poverty up close, most just move the living fuck away from it. Wait. Edit: I bring Rogan up because if you go through his entire catalog, you will see he has hours and hours of content that just bullies homeless people. He has done that to a few other groups, literal hours if you stack them side by side in a compilation. So there was already a lot of damage done in terms of mindshare by this media-arm.
- throwaway7783 2y ago
  Trivializing other people's concerns and worries is not the best way to get their help - even when priorities are pretty clear. It is very similar to trivializing "oh you shouldn't be an addict in the first place" We are dealing with humans here, and all of them, including the homeless and people complaining about views, make up our society.
  - bloomingkales 2y ago
    Again, I said a specific sentence, and I think it's the most important sentence to me. You have to be lucky to be witness to poverty, it provides incredible perspective. I undermine other's concerns about the unsightly view because I believe their attitude is immoral, and I have no issue drawing a red line there.
    - ty6853 2y ago
      Having been homeless a couple times the way out is rather simple in most cases if you're sane and sober. A days day labor is enough for food, propane, and bus passes for a week. Anything beyond that us enough to buy a shower at a truck stop and get cleaned up for an interview at a warehouse. You can trivially survive outside with a weeks day labor wages worth of REI gear on the coasts and most the lower 49 ( of course a junky would hawk this as soon as they are dope sick ) On both occasions I used this equation homeless -> day labor for Airbnb to clean up for warehouse/factory interview -> work in factory until deposit on apartment earned to get out. Most the people actually on the street are nuts or drugged out. People like me would clean construction site, then take a bus to edge of town and climb a flat roof and sleep where no one sees us. What you're witnessing isn't so much poverty but insanity.
      - bloomingkales 2y ago
        [flagged]
        JumpCrisscross 2y ago
tsimionescu 2y ago
> It requires a personality that both cares for others, while being resilient enough to face the challenges of those in their care. Not only resilience to the challenges, but resilience to the fact that some people you will just fail to help. The more you care about those in your care, the more it will generally consume you when they don't succeed. This is a hugely difficult thing to overcome, and it's a big reason why, for example, hospital doctors typically end up with relatively little empathy for patients: it's very hard to maintain your mental health while empathizing with people hurting and dying every day. You really have to build some kind of wall between you and them to cope with the inevitable losses.

dannc 2y ago

Get more folks involved in local volunteering opportunities, especially ones with direct outreach to people in need. I'm heavily involved with Austin Bicycle Meals [1]. When a homeless person already knows you are there to help, it creates an entirely different social dynamic than normal. You get opportunities to make conversation and connections, which humanizes how we view these issues. That's a total reversal to how most people interact with the homeless: in an entirely avoidant manner either randomly on the street or through a car window. That's why so much of the general public is numb to their plight. The change in mindset that happens is really powerful, can take only a couple of hours of volunteering to happen, and something I hope more people seek out. https://linktr.ee/austinbicyclemeals https://linktr.ee/austinbicyclemeals

anon291 2y ago

There's this thing called religion where we chant hymns and sing songs in an attempt to reorient our psyche to suppress our innate selfishness. By raising our oxytocin levels amongst our community via shared belief and communal celebration, we leave the room in an exuberant mood to serve others. I know people think the prayer meetings et al are corny, but when you realize what comes afterwards (or should) then it really all makes sense. And it's not just about helping strangers it's about helping others who are maybe not your best friend but still in your circle. Congregational religion is one of the most tragically trampled upon secular fences. It's no surprised that the same methodology was arrived at by the world's great religions. Buddhist and Christian mendicant and service-based monastic orders come to mind

moralestapia 2y ago

You'll be glad to know that your "pet theory" is a topic that has extensive literature around it, even going back milennia. I've read a lot around this, happy to provide some suggestions if you choose to dive into this.