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I Got a Dare for All of You

mixedmedia said:
Thanks for that totally remote and uninformed assessment of my choices, but I'm doing just fine without ya, HellMaster, Duke of Doom, whatever the hell your name is :p
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lol....That's the "Duke of Love" to you shorty.... The Good Reverend *AWLAYS* delivers. :thumbs:
 
Redress said:
By the way, college educated does not mean knowledgeable about diet.
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I find this quite a stretch. To get to college, most people have to go through elementary, middle and high school. In my experience of those institutions, nutrition education was frequent, boring and made us all day dream about the next pizza. But we did get the indoctrination.
 
Redress said:
Actually, as I mentioned, I volunteer at a soup kitchen/homeless shelter. I don't think I would be surprised at all. Do you know how many homeless are vet's? It's enough to make you cry.

By the way, college educated does not mean knowledgeable about diet.
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Hmm, show me someone who does not know "eat to much, you get fat"
 
Juliet Bravo said:
We've got a group here that panhandle as homeless but live better that most of us.
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We had the same in Memphis TN when I lived there. The same group of a few men would stand on the roadway and ask for handouts. These men looked to be poor and homeless. They had been doing this for over a decade.
The local paper decide to do a story on the men only to discover that they made 6 figure incomes off of begging.
 
Baralis said:
We had the same in Memphis TN when I lived there. The same group of a few men would stand on the roadway and ask for handouts. These men looked to be poor and homeless. They had been doing this for over a decade.
The local paper decide to do a story on the men only to discover that they made 6 figure incomes off of begging.
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But you see, this (if it's true) doesn't bother me, either. It's the way they've chosen to live. I don't care if someone puts on a suit and sits in an office, swings a baseball bat, works in a butcher shop or stands on the corner asking for handouts all day. All of them can and do involve their little dishonesties...some not so little. Fact is, only a marginal sector of our society is going to choose to do the latter regardless of how much money is in it and perhaps it's because I do understand the difficulties of navigating this system we call civilization that I don't begrudge them their rejection of it.

Perhaps the problem is giving because you feel pity or because it makes you feel better about yourself. You're not buying something. The way I see it, if someone asks me for a dollar and I have it, I give it to them and walk on. Who they are and why they are asking is inconsequential to me.
 
Jerry said:
Well see, it's not an addiction for me. Even though I was, for a time, one of 'those people' who only got up in the morning to log on and play all day, when I decided to quite I didn't experience any symptoms of withdrawal.

It's not an addiction, it's a distraction, and a powerful one.
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I can totally relate to this. Before I got divorced, I started playing Runescape with my kids, as a way of keeping track of their online activities. I had my niece and nephew living with us at the time, and there was a point where 5 of us were actively playing RS. We hung out online, helped each other with quests, and played jokes on each other.

When I separated from my ex, we were sharing a house. He took one half of the house, and I took the other half (living in our home office). We did it to keep things sort of stable for the kids. I was so miserable, and had terrible insomnia, so I'd play runescape until 2-3 a.m. because I couldn't sleep at all.

When the divorce was over, and things started to improve in my real life, I stopped playing, entirely.

It was just a way of escaping from a miserable situation, for me at least. I could go on there, talk to my online friends, think about something else entirely, and be normal there when everything else was falling apart around me. I didn't neglect my kids, I only played after they were in bed for the night at that point.

It was just an escape. And, far better than drowning my sorrows in a bottle, frankly.
 
mixedmedia said:
Fact is, only a marginal sector of our society is going to choose to do the latter regardless of how much money is in it and perhaps it's because I do understand the difficulties of navigating this system we call civilization that I don't begrudge them their rejection of it.
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The problem is that you are enabling a lifestyle of grief. People who are addicts and on the streets usually haven't hit their own personal rock bottom yet, and as long as they are sustained at some minimal level, probably won't deal with their addictions. Your actions are helping them maintain that minimal level that keeps them from getting help.
 
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In certain parts of the world, people give-up all material possessions to reach the height of spirituality. In India, for instance, holy men take a vow of poverty and travel into the mountains to reconnect with nature. Many subside on the charity of others. There will always be the poor and homeless. Some argue that when we help these people, that we are really doing so to feel good about ourselves. If so, then I guess I can see where Mixedmedia is coming from. If she is doing the right thing in her heart, what matter does it make what the money she gives is spent on? It doesn't. She is giving freely with the intention of helping someone who is less fortunate. It makes her feel good to help, and probably makes her appreciate what she has in life. I say kudos to her.
 
Catz Part Deux said:
The problem is that you are enabling a lifestyle of grief. People who are addicts and on the streets usually haven't hit their own personal rock bottom yet, and as long as they are sustained at some minimal level, probably won't deal with their addictions. Your actions are helping them maintain that minimal level that keeps them from getting help.
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I am giving them a dollar. You are not only pigeonholing and assuming but you are also very dramatic.
 
mixedmedia said:
What exactly is your beef, then?
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My beef is this notion of handing a bum your pocket change is anything to be proud of. My beef is this sort of activity, does nothing but make the person who gives the pocket change feel good about themselves and enables the bum to continue his existance in shambles.

If you REALLY cared, you'd give him %40 of your income. ;)

We used to call you "ducks"... I dunno why, but that was the vernacular.


btw its not really a "beef", just an internet opinion. :thumbs:
 
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mixedmedia said:
I am giving them a dollar. You are not only pigeonholing and assuming but you are also very dramatic.
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I've worked with addicts for a long time. It isn't just a dollar. It's subsidizing a lifestyle that is incredibly dangerous, demeaning, dehumanizing, and debasing.

(how's that for alliteration?)

There are many ways to help people in need. If you care about the needs of the homeless, then donate to the local Salvation Army, or Goodwill (which helps people build employable skills), or Disabled Veterans of America. Or, for that matter, to the local battered women's shelter. All of these programs help people help themselves. They are designed to get people out of dangerous situations and into a life that is positive and healthy.

Being on the street is a horrible way to live, and you are literally helping people to stay there. It isn't glamorous, it isn't adventurous. It's a terrible, terrible life. These aren't rugged individualists who don't fit into the cogs of the machine, they are human beings trapped in a terrible degrading struggle, in most cases with addictions that strip them of even their humanity and dignity.

You call it over-dramatic, but I'm full up on know-nothing do-gooders who do more harm than good.

A basic rule that most of us can agree on, no matter what our background or religious preferences is: First do no harm.

That dollar does harm.
 
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Reverend_Hellh0und said:
Note how you thanked qwendoline for giving bums her pocket change to assuage her personal guilt, but you did not consider my contributions and time with covenant house.

Strange.
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Kind of you to speak for me, but not necessary.

I don't help others to "assuage my personal guilt". What a peculiar thing to say. Is that why you help people?

I help others "to help them". And out of caring, not from personal guilt. That was a weird thing for you to say.

You call and regard the homeless as "bums" - I call and regard them as people and human beings. You go on about what one or two dollars does for the homeless. But I can tell you that your crap regard for them, is something you do that diminishes them, and that doesn't help at all. If you are happy doing that, fine, but before you accuse others of not helping the homeless by giving them a dollar or two, take a look at your crappy and ungenerous attitude towards the homeless.
 
Reverend_Hellh0und said:
My beef is this notion of handing a bum your pocket change is anything to be proud of. My beef is this sort of activity, does nothing but make the person who gives the pocket change feel good about themselves.

We used to call you "ducks"... I dunno why, but that was the vernacular.


btw its not really a "beef", just an internet opinion. :thumbs:
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I'm not proud of it. Any more than I am proud of tipping a waitress. It's not something I think about afterwards or pat myself on the back about.
 
Catz Part Deux said:
I've worked with addicts for a long time. It isn't just a dollar. It's subsidizing a lifestyle that is incredibly dangerous, demeaning, dehumanizing, and debasing.

(how's that for alliteration?)

There are many ways to help people in need. If you care about the needs of the homeless, then donate to the local Salvation Army, or Goodwill (which helps people build employable skills), or Disabled Veterans of America. Or, for that matter, to the local battered women's shelter. All of these programs help people help themselves. They are designed to get people out of dangerous situations and into a life that is positive and healthy.

Being on the street is a horrible way to live, and you are literally helping people to stay there. It isn't glamorous, it isn't adventurous. It's a terrible, terrible life. These aren't rugged individualists who don't fit into the cogs of the machine, they are human beings trapped in a terrible degrading struggle, in most cases with addictions that strip them of even their humanity and dignity.

You call it over-dramatic, but I'm full up on know-nothing do-gooders who do more harm than good.

A basic rule that most of us can agree on, no matter what our background or religious preferences is: First do no harm.

That dollar does harm.
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Very good point Catzs, but let me ask why is it that we should work to rehab and change these people's lives? Is not everyone responsible for their own life? We live in a free society and there exist avenues for the homeless or addicts to take in order to rehab their life for themselves. I have many times heard people who give money in passing to bums as doing harm and the lot, but are they not being generous in their intent? Must a person fully commit themselves to watching-out for the beggar and being sure not to enable them? Each are responsible for themselves and when Mixedmedia gives a dollar or whatever she has decided to be generous for whatever motive and that is the end of it. If she wanted to be more involved she would be working in a soup kitchen or shelter. However, she gives as she wishes, which is allowed, and her part in the matter is over. Society has become inundated with the philosophy that we must be responsible for the actions of others and this is tragic because it lessens the beggar farther than they already are. Regardless of the beggars circumstances they are still free people to manage their lives or not to as the case may be. But to criticize someone for openly giving because they are not taking responsibility for the person they are giving to is unfair.
 
Gwendoline said:
Kind of you to speak for me, but not necessary.
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What do you think giving a bum "1 or two dollars" accompishes really?


I don't help others to "assuage my personal guilt". What a peculiar thing to say. Is that why you help people?
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I do it for the tax write off.... :lol:



At least I am honest with myself.



I help others "to help them". And out of caring, not from personal guilt. That was a weird thing for you to say.
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If you cared you would not be enabling them.


You call and regard the homeless as "bums" - I call and regard them as people and human beings. You go on about what one or two dollars does for the homeless. But I can tell you that your crap regard for them, is something you do that diminishes them, and that doesn't help at all. If you are happy doing that, fine, but before you accuse others of not helping the homeless by giving them a dollar or two, take a look at your crappy and ungenerous attitude towards the homeless.
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The difference is, I donate a couple grand a year to various charities, volunteer my time at a few places, and spend my capital on help, not feel good handing a bum my pocket change.


You are *not* helping anyone but yourself.
 
Reverend_Hellh0und said:
A dollar does **** for them, it does more for you, than them.
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How do you know a dollar does **** for them? You don't know.

You make all kinds of assumptions, and guess what? It's the homeless person with the dollar that knows what it does for him / her, not you.
 
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