How to help the homeless?: Philosophy Forums

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How to help the homeless?

Willowz
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Posted 06/18/09 - 02:56 AM: Subject: How to help the homeless?	#1
Lately I have been watching the homeless. One of them I saw was walking like a robot, I think he had Parkinson. Other homeless are normal, when you talk with them. I'm sure not all of them are mentally sick. The homeless seem to be like, prisoners which Platon described in the allegory of the cave. My simple question: When you see a homeless on the street, do you give him/her money or food. Why or why not? Because that they are in this group should we help them or should we leave them alone in suffering? I'm sure that some of them took part in the rat race. The problem is that if some can't keep up, they give up. I don't think that the answer for the homeless is some utopian state. Man has reached a level where the law of the jungle should not be prolonged. Still that law is kept alive and because of it people who are less suited for there own welfare, fall into problems. Edited by Willowz on 06/18/09 - 04:39 AM
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Cadrache
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Posted 06/18/09 - 10:57 AM:	#2
But homeless people already have a place to live! Where-ever they are; like everybody else! 20$ doesn't even buy you a single nights' stay at even the cheap "Here is a cot." locations. Providing money to a homeless person because he is a homeless person doesn't solve the fact that he doesn't have a 'building' to live in. The assumption of "The law of the jungle" is logically flawed as well. There can't be a law if there is no intelligent thought behind a statement. Therefore no "law" of jungles exist.
"...There was a writer who asked why it was that when we find positive experiences we say that only the physical facts are real, but in negative experiences we believe that reality is subjective. He made an example of those who say that in birth only the pain is real, the joy a subjective point of view, but that in death it is the emotional loss that is the reality." - Tony Ballantyne, Recursion. _____________________________________________ Truth is want. - The internal state of matters. Truth is Need. - The external state of affairs.

Willowz
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Posted 06/19/09 - 02:53 AM:	#3
Cadrache wrote: But homeless people already have a place to live! Where-ever they are; like everybody else! Ok maybe in Canada there are places for homeless. Cadrache wrote: 20$ doesn't even buy you a single nights' stay at even the cheap "Here is a cot." locations. Providing money to a homeless person because he is a homeless person doesn't solve the fact that he doesn't have a 'building' to live in. Sorry but I find your reply self contradictory. First you say that they have a place to live in now you say that they don't... BTW giving 20$ is not even enough for a log house. Cadrache wrote: The assumption of "The law of the jungle" is logically flawed as well. There can't be a law if there is no intelligent thought behind a statement. Therefore no "law" of jungles exist. I might give an example of the "law of the jungle" as a corporation or a way a society is run.
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Cadrache
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Posted 06/19/09 - 07:12 AM:	#4
Not at all. And I didn't say they had a place to live in; only that they had a place to live. If I am in the park on 26th street; then i have a place to live. Living can only happen when you are somewhere. If I go to a store; I am living at the store. Etc. A home is at best a designated area that creates a pre-determined location for living sometime in the future. A homeless person may not have this; though they may already know they will be down on 14th avenue tommorrow to look for bottles.
"...There was a writer who asked why it was that when we find positive experiences we say that only the physical facts are real, but in negative experiences we believe that reality is subjective. He made an example of those who say that in birth only the pain is real, the joy a subjective point of view, but that in death it is the emotional loss that is the reality." - Tony Ballantyne, Recursion. _____________________________________________ Truth is want. - The internal state of matters. Truth is Need. - The external state of affairs.

lexusdominus
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Posted 06/20/09 - 08:34 AM:	#5
The best help you can give to a homeless person is to remind them that they are a homo-sapien, and one of the most successful species on this planet. That they have evolved a massive brain, and can use it to adapt to new environments. While "civilisation" is essentially a new environment, it is not necsessary for human survival and can be abandoned by an individual. They therefore have a choice to make: continue to accept food aid from other members of society re-adapt and find a useful place in civilized society abandon civilised society i.e. migrate, hunt & forage, build own shelter, mabye even grow some simple vegetables & build simple tools & weapons to defend yourself & territory.

Ratheius Netheros
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Posted 06/20/09 - 10:04 AM:

I fail to see how homeless individuals can simply hunt and forage, build their own shelter, and establish a desirable life. Taking money and living on the street is easier and, at least in their limited educational information, a better option.

I occasionally give money to homeless when they specifically ask me. Some of them walk right up to you while others simply stay in the corner. I'm sure most of them spend in on drugs based on how they speak to me. One guy gradually tried to raise the amount I was giving him as if he had something he was bargaining with. He wanted me to go to the bank. I sympathize with him, but I'm a student. I don't have much money myself.

Learning to ignore the homeless is something that killed part of my humanity. However, I can do it. I suppose it prevents me from being homeless as the result of giving all my money to others. However, I can't help but think if someone did become homeless from excessive generosity, maybe they are the only one of us truly actly ethically?

Aetixintro
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Posted 06/20/09 - 11:18 AM:	#7
"How to help the homeless?" I think the best way is to make a demand in the political system that homeless people should have a decent offer of a place to stay whether it's sleeping halls or something else. Obviously, I sympathise with the political systems that have this in place. Basically, I find the requirement of minimum wage and the guarantee to have a place to stay very compatible and useful. Perhaps one can avoid crime to some degree if homeless people are not required to live like animals. Also, perhaps people get more calm when this abyss of atrocity is closed.
Efficacy of "for since it is at present manifest to me that even bodies are not properly known by the senses nor by the faculty of imagination, but by the understanding alone" - Descartes, Meditation II I'm always wanting more, Anything I haven't got, Everything, I want it all, I just can't stop - The Cure, Want

coriolis
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Posted 06/20/09 - 12:04 PM:	#8
So far, my wife and I have at different times taken in 3 friends of my son who found themselves homeless. One of them was kicked out of his house by his father because he had a drug and alcohol problem and was stealing from his parents. He's now in jail. One girl had an abusive step father and came to stay with us for a while. She has since moved back with her mother. The third is still here. He was kicked out of his house because of drinking. He found work and we gave him until the end of July to move out. My wife has the heart of Mother Theresa and would do anything for anyone. In my experience there is no one answer to everyone's problems or decisions. MOST homeless people have family and for one reason or another living with them is not an option. I can see that some people suffer from the problems of others and just feel compelled to leave, some people don't want to conform to the rules and standards of behavior in the place they were staying, others may have lost a job - the possibilities are endless. But in two of these three cases, the individual became homeless because of their own bad choices. Also, in one of these cases, I see the individual using the help as an opportunity to make his life better. The first one may never shake out of it and may become addicted to getting things handed to him (or taking things from other people) My point in all this is that every homeless person has different circumstances and any political policy decision may help some and not others. It kind of makes sense to not have too liberal of a policy towards "helping" them becaue it will encourage even more people to drop out. There is some usefulness in letting some "tension" remain to provide a kind of incentive for people to want to do good and improve themselves. Some people will not respond to pep talks and need to face a harsh reality before they will take the steps they should. Put simply, some people need help, and some people need a kick in the butt. Government is not very good at making the distinction. Sometimes I wonder if people who want the government to provide for the homeless, take that position because it provides an easy way to avoid making any personal effort or sacrifice. If you really want to be sure that you're helping someone, you almost have to get to know them. Most of us don't have time for every homeless person on the street. They are going to encounter people who will give them a handout and other people who won't. It doesn't matter much to them whether you, as one person, helps them or not. If you do, great. If not, they'll move on. They come to expect that. Edited by coriolis on 06/20/09 - 06:48 PM
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