Feeding homeless people is a bad thing, apparently

[Wolferz]

If the law dogs caused a stampede and got trampled by the herd.


Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day.
Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.

But, alas, the game warden will show up and ask for a fishing license.

[Oberon]

It's the homeless peoples fault for being homeless, if they didn't want to be homeless they would not be homeless and therefore they obviously want to be homeless.

[CCIP]

That said, it's not just aesthetics. Having spent some time in another large Florida city, I've learned to stay away from city parks, because the homeless people there harass bypassers and occupy public-use areas. They are difficult to deal with, and they render whole areas of the park unusable to anyone else. It becomes a safety and sanitation issue. I'm sorry, but that's not just trivial - it's making public-use land publically-unusable.

[Oberon]

Originally Posted by CCIP

That said, it's not just aesthetics. Having spent some time in another large Florida city, I've learned to stay away from city parks, because the homeless people there harass bypassers and occupy public-use areas. They are difficult to deal with, and they render whole areas of the park unusable to anyone else. It becomes a safety and sanitation issue. I'm sorry, but that's not just trivial - it's making public-use land publically-unusable.

Fair point.

It is a Catch-22 situation I must admit, because there are people out there who will abuse the system (just as there are people who abuse the benefit system) but as someones signature (Steves?) says "A right should not be witheld from people on the basis that some abuse it" (or something a bit like that) and that step from poverty into employment is surely a right that should be provided by the government...after all, what else is such a system in place for than to protect and defend the people who have created it? (in theory, of course )

[Wolferz]

Some people prefer to be homeless. It's a burden free life not having to worry about working to pay all the bills that go with home ownership.
Then there are those who are forced into the wide open spaces through no fault of their own.
There are reasonable solutions available to assist the less fortunate that would keep them out of the parks and still provide a modicum of freedom and a place where good Samaritans can feed them to their heart's content.

All that would be needed is a large unused lot and some shipping containers.

Many of them are unemployable for the simple reason of having no permanent address.

[Oberon]

Originally Posted by Wolferz

There are reasonable solutions available to assist the less fortunate that would keep them out of the parks and still provide a modicum of freedom and a place where good Samaritans can feed them to their heart's content.

All that would be needed is a large unused lot and some shipping containers.

Many of them are unemployable for the simple reason of having no permanent address.

Agreed, and surely this is where the homeless shelters come in, however again we have the problem of finance. What would people say if the government funded the homeless shelters? Probably not good things, so they have to rely heavily on donations, charity drives and fund-raising...and guess which area suffers the most firstly in any financial recession?