Respectfully I’d like to know where $300 a week "is more than enough to afford rent"? Even making double that amount weekly it's very difficult to afford a decent place to live while also trying to pay for the essentials like food, utilities ect. A lot of folks turn to substances to ease the stress of just surviving. So many use alcohol multiple times a week as well to unwind and cope with surviving the grind of life. We tend to look down more on people turning to drugs rather than alcohol but we all know if alcohol was illegal there would be many people still using it and having to endure risking legal consequences, homelessness to obtain a drink much like people face when using illegal drugs. As a community we need to stop judging and assuming things about each other and turn that energy towards being angry at our government. If people are working a full time job but can't even afford to exist then there is a major problem with the system that the wealthy ruling class created to benefit themselves. How many people grow up in poverty and are able to escape it? The system is designed to keep you poor and in servitude to those who are wealthy. Of course there are people who can change the trajectory of their life after growing up in poverty but we all know how difficult this is. Most people turning to illegal substances daily to cope aren't doing it because it's fun they are doing it to escape an unjust and unfair system. Back in the 40s/50s a guy could work as a janitor and own a nice home and support a family of four on their own. Today a lot of people work multiple jobs and still will never own a house. We all need to be angry at the people who can fix this problem but chose not to because it doesn't benefit their interests rather than judging disenfranchised individuals.
Bostonbaked20 t1_j4ccg9u wrote
Reply to comment by RealMainer in Homeless in Maine, part 2: Struggling to survive even with a paying job by benpinette
Respectfully I’d like to know where $300 a week "is more than enough to afford rent"? Even making double that amount weekly it's very difficult to afford a decent place to live while also trying to pay for the essentials like food, utilities ect. A lot of folks turn to substances to ease the stress of just surviving. So many use alcohol multiple times a week as well to unwind and cope with surviving the grind of life. We tend to look down more on people turning to drugs rather than alcohol but we all know if alcohol was illegal there would be many people still using it and having to endure risking legal consequences, homelessness to obtain a drink much like people face when using illegal drugs. As a community we need to stop judging and assuming things about each other and turn that energy towards being angry at our government. If people are working a full time job but can't even afford to exist then there is a major problem with the system that the wealthy ruling class created to benefit themselves. How many people grow up in poverty and are able to escape it? The system is designed to keep you poor and in servitude to those who are wealthy. Of course there are people who can change the trajectory of their life after growing up in poverty but we all know how difficult this is. Most people turning to illegal substances daily to cope aren't doing it because it's fun they are doing it to escape an unjust and unfair system. Back in the 40s/50s a guy could work as a janitor and own a nice home and support a family of four on their own. Today a lot of people work multiple jobs and still will never own a house. We all need to be angry at the people who can fix this problem but chose not to because it doesn't benefit their interests rather than judging disenfranchised individuals.