Submitted by db_2_k t3_zdb7rm in nottheonion
AdFresh3918 t1_iz0m00b wrote
"a 2021 study from the University of Chicago estimates that 53% of people living in homeless shelters and 40% of unsheltered people were employed, either full or part-time, in the year that people were observed homeless between 2011 – 2018."
SixIsNotANumber t1_iz0njrq wrote
Yay capitalism!
Where you can be employed 40 hours a week and still have to choose between food & shelter because you can't afford both.
jayfeather31 t1_iz0qq2q wrote
That's not exactly good for long-term stability, and it puts the system at one good economic downturn from collapse.
We have plenty of historical precedence for this too, and next year might be a repeat of 1929 or 2008.
Jampine t1_iz283zz wrote
Yeah, but who cares about long term, when we can make the magic bar bigger for this quarter than the last!
the_catshark t1_iz2nctw wrote
Thars okay though, its been really good for the shareholders these past few quarters!
Ma3vis t1_iz22rm4 wrote
Might as well refer to as corporate feudalism at that point. I guess this is what the late stage of capitalism is now?
Almainyny t1_iz2ao5j wrote
Goddamn. The game "Liberal Crime Squad" was supposed to be satire damn it, we're not supposed to have literal CEO Castles!
ArcticISAF t1_iz35vf5 wrote
Yeah but what about my AA gun for my safehouse home?
Almainyny t1_iz36f0i wrote
You know what, I might actually be cool with having “Flag Murder” on my otherwise pristine rap sheet.
ArcticISAF t1_iz36xjy wrote
Truly one of the most heinous of crimes! lol
coh_phd_who t1_iz3uqba wrote
I always said that if I was ever president I would issue an executive order that LCS had to be installed on all government computers (obvious exceptions) to remind every government worker what they were fighting/working for.
Cetun t1_iz3af9c wrote
>According to Bellemare, in the age of TCF, contra Marx, workers can be paid below subsistence levels, wherefore, they must now work a multiplicity of jobs and more hours in order to make ends meet.
BlooperHero t1_iz3tgod wrote
When I used to score standardized tests, there was a type of test paper we referred to as "The Attack of The Saurus." It referred to students who were trying to use a lot of big words, but didn't quite have them mastered.
Just thought I'd mention it. No reason.
WayneKrane t1_iz1ql2x wrote
Yup, my aunt and uncle work and live in their car. They make minimum wage in Denver where their income is too low to qualify for an apartment. They alternate between living in their car and living in cheap motels when they can afford it.
Cannablitzed t1_iz2suqz wrote
Serious question…if they can work out of their car, why not leave Denver for cheaper pastures? Minimum wage in Mesa County would go so much further. Grand Junction rent is half Denver’s.
whyamihereimnotsure t1_iz2u00h wrote
You need to be able to apply for jobs in those places first, otherwise it’s likely too risky to up and leave. Can’t afford to wait around for weeks or months to get a call back from an employer if you need to buy food in the meantime.
Cannablitzed t1_iz39st6 wrote
Nobody takes weeks to hire a minimum wage employee because any warm body will do. It doesn’t take weeks to find a minimum wage job for the same reason. Truly, I’m not trying to be an asshole, but I’m talking about a three hour drive down I70 to reduce cost of living by more than half. A 16 y/o with zero work or life experience starts at $16/hr statewide at our largest grocery chain. Two people pulling $16/hr could afford an actual roof in Grand Junction.
Waleis t1_iz3ks2s wrote
You're presupposing that that they simply haven't considered the possibility of leaving Denver, or that they're just too stupid to realize that other places with cheaper housing exist. Either way, not helpful at all. There are a million reasons why people (including very poor people) choose to live in urban areas. And many of those potential reasons are extremely personal, and can't be shared to strangers online.
I'm sorry for being so critical but i see posts exactly like yours every time someone talks about having financial troubles in urban areas, sometimes even when people talk about less-shitty rural areas. Posts like this are always irritating because they shift the cause of poverty away from its actual sources and onto individuals, specifically individuals choosing to live in urban areas.
You probably don't have bad intentions but please try to use your empathy and be more thoughtful.
Cannablitzed t1_iz4uzcd wrote
I’m not presupposeing anything. I asked for a logical reason why two people who are homeless wouldn’t relocate three hours to potentially not be homeless. You interjected all that other outrage and insult on your own. If you see many posts asking the same question as mine over and over, perhaps it’s time to answer it if you want people like me to continue shelling out empathy and resources in an attempt to solve the problem. I’m not blaming this couple for their poverty, I’m asking why they wouldn’t take steps to improve their own lot when the current situation seems so untenable. Poverty stricken people will cross the globe for a shot a better life, why won’t Americans cross a city line?
Just some info to straighten out your apparent assumptions about me, I lived in a VW Rabbit in Loudoun County, VA for two years trying to catch up after a job loss. Took me that long to realize it was never going to happen in the richest county in the US. I moved to Greeley, CO with $300, got a job waiting tables and was under a roof in three months because the COL was 1/3 that of LoCo. Life has only gone up since then. I don’t just have empathy, I’ve got the life experience.
HaikuBotStalksMe t1_iz3ppxf wrote
Normally I'd agree because it's expensive to move. But if you're already living in a car, you're not going to have to worry about... "What if I lose my job and then have to get rid of my belongings and live on the streets?"
eran76 t1_iz3uq2z wrote
>Posts like this are always irritating because they shift the cause of poverty away from its actual sources and onto individuals, specifically individuals choosing to live in urban areas.
The discussion was not about the sources or causes of poverty, but what people are going to do to get out of poverty now that they're in it. Wanting something you can't afford, even if the reason is extremely personal is effectively the same as choosing poverty. If you cash your entire paycheck and spend it on steak on pay day, you have no one to blame for your hunger the next day but yourself. If you choose to be homeless because you would rather live in a car in a city even though you can't afford that city but could afford another, then you're not only in denial, but are selfish. You are selfish because as non-tax paying car dweller you still draw resources from the community to sustain your car based lifestyle while the rest of the tax payers still have to pick up the tab for all the goods and services you are consuming but do not pay for.
This is not a question of empathy or lack there of. It's a question of people making choices that benefit them but cost others. These people are not stupid, far from it. They are free riders enjoying all the ancillary benefits of living in a large urban center while avoiding paying the true cost of existence and forcing everyone around them to subsidize them. People who insist on living in places they can't afford have the financial maturity of a preschooler: "But I want it!!!"
Waleis t1_iz3wfil wrote
This response only makes sense if you completely ignore the first paragraph of my post.
eran76 t1_iz4yy81 wrote
I'm not ignoring it, I am addressing it directly and saying you're wrong and your reasons are BS. Money spent on the homeless is a finite resource, something I am well aware of working in healthcare and being married to a social worker who works with the homeless. Fully functioning and employed adults who could house and sustain themselves if they moved but choose to be homeless take resources away from vulnerable people who literally have no options. These excuses propagated by people like yourself only enable the perpetuation of poverty, and add to the sense of lawlessness seen in many cities where the "rules" only seem apply to some of the people.
HardwareSoup t1_iz3i3i4 wrote
I can't imagine living in my car in one of the most expensive cities in the world, instead of just driving a couple hours in any direction and being able to afford an apartment.
You don't even have to go so far you can't visit family or whatever. It's just astonishing.
hiddeninplainsight23 t1_iz3l7lb wrote
Tbf it might make more sense but considering people in that situation in America will be suffering already, their thinking might be a little impaired by the stress of trying to survive. Also just uprooting your life and moving away from where you live is no easy thing, especially if you're moving from your needed support network who and essentially going to somewhere new where you don't know anyone and so are isolated whilst still being vulnerable, because a new city racks up the hours and costs quite quickly. There's also an element of risk in moving somewhere new, and if everything goes pear-shaped then you could find yourself at square one and even worse off then before.
barmskley t1_iz400jy wrote
Also, oftentimes people in this situation have unstable cars, so driving long distances could be more detrimental if the car breaks down
Nihilistic_Furry t1_iz3n67y wrote
It’s easy to suggest someone take bold actions when you don’t have to deal with the consequences.
HardwareSoup t1_iz5hhsq wrote
What's your point?
I've been homeless before, it sucks.
I had no phone, no car, no help, and I thought I might die, or get raped by the hundreds of predatory men you meet on the streets. (Nobody likes to talk about that eh?)
My point is, nobody should just accept a life on the streets, there's a way out for pretty much everyone, you just gotta fight for it.
Bobwords t1_iz3danq wrote
Head out to like canyon city and you can afford an actual house too.
pihb666 t1_iz4l4hf wrote
Will their car make a 3 hour drive?
Ill-Bat-207 t1_iz3vj72 wrote
A friend in Sweden was living in the wrong town for his occupation. Also saddled with debt and couldn't move. The local unemployment office payed his rent and covered other expenses. They have gotten their money back several times since then.
Psychological_Bid589 t1_iz17q1z wrote
Ah importing American stats to make the UK look the same. Nice.
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