Social services in America - homeless people situation

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trofimus

trofimus

Senior Member
#1
Aug 17, 2015
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#1
I was watching some videos about the situtation of the homeless people in the USA. There are whole quarters full of tents, aggressive people on drugs etc, even in the second most wealthy US city - L.A.

Why does the second most rich continent have so bad social services and nobody really cares?

The video is in Czech, but you can skip to 3:40, where you can see the streets:

[video=youtube;FRUx6vBifoY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRUx6vBifoY[/video]
 
Tommy379

Tommy379

Notorious Member
#2
Jan 12, 2016
7,589
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#2
trofimus said:
I was watching some videos about the situtation of the homeless people in the USA. There are whole quarters full of tents, aggressive people on drugs etc, even in the second most wealthy US city - L.A.

Why does the second most rich continent have so bad social services and nobody really cares?

The video is in Czech, but you can skip to 3:40, where you can see the streets:

[video=youtube;FRUx6vBifoY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRUx6vBifoY[/video]
Click to expand...
Social services is run locally.

Some localities run social programs better than others.

The homeless are often times, mentally ill and refuse help, or refuse to do what is needed not to be homeless.

Homeless people tend to congregate in cities where they believe they may receive more services, leading to social programs being overwhelmed, running out of money, and more homelessness.

Many of the people in tent cities are protesters and homeless by choice.

Los Angeles has good weather for being homeless.

I just took a class on this a year ago. Mental illness is the biggest cause of homelessness. Most people with mental illness, seek treatment, and are very productive. Some refuse treatment and they cannot be forced into treatment except under very strict legal criteria.
 
S

skipp

Senior Member
#3
Mar 6, 2014
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7
0
#3
trofimus said:
I was watching some videos about the situtation of the homeless people in the USA. There are whole quarters full of tents, aggressive people on drugs etc, even in the second most wealthy US city - L.A.

Why does the second most rich continent have so bad social services and nobody really cares?

The video is in Czech, but you can skip to 3:40, where you can see the streets:

[video=youtube;FRUx6vBifoY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRUx6vBifoY[/video]
Click to expand...
America has a very individualistic culture. As a result we tend to care less about the well being of the group as a whole and more about the well being of ourselves and our own families. There's both good and bad that can come as a result of that. There's many reasons for homelessness rather than just mental illness and I think your average person would be surprised by how many homeless people are actually employed with jobs. The problem is that so many jobs are low salaried jobs and so many areas of the country have such high housing prices that a lot of people are unable to get their heads above water. Many Americans are living paycheck to paycheck and just having their car break down or going through a medical issue can be financially devastating. A big chunk of Americans are just one paycheck away from being homeless.

Chronic homelessness though does tend tend to be the result of mental illness.
 
Yeraza_Bats

Yeraza_Bats

Senior Member
#4
Dec 11, 2014
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#4
skipp said:
America has a very individualistic culture. As a result we tend to care less about the well being of the group as a whole and more about the well being of ourselves and our own families. There's both good and bad that can come as a result of that. There's many reasons for homelessness rather than just mental illness and I think your average person would be surprised by how many homeless people are actually employed with jobs. The problem is that so many jobs are low salaried jobs and so many areas of the country have such high housing prices that a lot of people are unable to get their heads above water. Many Americans are living paycheck to paycheck and just having their car break down or going through a medical issue can be financially devastating. A big chunk of Americans are just one paycheck away from being homeless.

Chronic homelessness though does tend tend to be the result of mental illness.
Click to expand...
In my state there are plenty of govt housing projects that charge rent based on how much the person makes.

The help is there if the person is willing to seek it.
 
trofimus

trofimus

Senior Member
#5
Aug 17, 2015
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#5
Tommy379 said:
The homeless are often times, mentally ill...
Click to expand...
We in Europe are used to that if somebody is mentally ill, he is hospitalized and under control, not widely in the street...
 
trofimus

trofimus

Senior Member
#6
Aug 17, 2015
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#6
skipp said:
America has a very individualistic culture. As a result we tend to care less about the well being of the group as a whole and more about the well being of ourselves and our own families.....
Click to expand...
The man in the video says that there is a very weak middle class in the USA, many people are astronomically rich and many people are very, very poor.

Not so many somewhere in the middle...
 
Tommy379

Tommy379

Notorious Member
#7
Jan 12, 2016
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#7
trofimus said:
We in Europe are used to that if somebody is mentally ill, he is hospitalized and under control, not widely in the street...
Click to expand...
Well, good for Europe.
 
p_rehbein

p_rehbein

Senior Member
#8
Sep 4, 2013
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Visit one of those places, and ask to apply.........then see if you can manage to jump through all the hoops, paperwork, requirements as a white male.........without hiring a Lawyer to do it for you.

Social Services are designed to benefit Minority females, and single mothers in general.............they are not designed to aid the Veterans, white males, or those who lost their jobs for whatever reason.......Plant closings, etc.

Sure, they are there..........go try and receive the aid they promise, then get back to me.......

Yeraza_Bats said:
In my state there are plenty of govt housing projects that charge rent based on how much the person makes.

The help is there if the person is willing to seek it.
Click to expand...
 
hornetguy

hornetguy

Senior Member
#9
Jan 18, 2016
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#9
trofimus said:
The man in the video says that there is a very weak middle class in the USA, many people are astronomically rich and many people are very, very poor.

Not so many somewhere in the middle...
Click to expand...
That is simply not true. The vast majority of Americans are considered "middle class".

The ultra-rich are a very small percentage, and the very very poor are a fairly small percentage.

If you compare us to much of the rest of the world, our very poor are still very well off, and our middle class would be considered rich.

But... by US standards, the middle class is by far the largest. Why do you think legislators are reluctant to lower middle-class taxes? That is where the majority of our tax money comes from.
 
Yeraza_Bats

Yeraza_Bats

Senior Member
#10
Dec 11, 2014
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#10
p_rehbein said:
Visit one of those places, and ask to apply.........then see if you can manage to jump through all the hoops, paperwork, requirements as a white male.........without hiring a Lawyer to do it for you.

Social Services are designed to benefit Minority females, and single mothers in general.............they are not designed to aid the Veterans, white males, or those who lost their jobs for whatever reason.......Plant closings, etc.

Sure, they are there..........go try and receive the aid they promise, then get back to me.......
Click to expand...
Guess it depends on the state you live in, they are very easy to get into here. I know white single males who literally walked in and got an apartment : p
My advice to the homeless, go to northern states that have a smaller homeless community.
 
hornetguy

hornetguy

Senior Member
#11
Jan 18, 2016
6,646
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#11
trofimus said:
We in Europe are used to that if somebody is mentally ill, he is hospitalized and under control, not widely in the street...
Click to expand...
Yes... it WOULD be good if we could do away with all our rights as individuals, and just be placed wherever the "state" decides to put us.

What were our founding fathers thinking?

In THIS country, it is difficult to place someone in "protective custody" against their will. They have to PROVE to be a threat to themselves, or to others.... not simply be "thought" to be crazy.

Otherwise, I'd have locked up LOTS of people by now.... and would probably have been locked up myself....:rolleyes:
 
D

Depleted

Guest
#12
#12
trofimus said:
I was watching some videos about the situtation of the homeless people in the USA. There are whole quarters full of tents, aggressive people on drugs etc, even in the second most wealthy US city - L.A.

Why does the second most rich continent have so bad social services and nobody really cares?

The video is in Czech, but you can skip to 3:40, where you can see the streets:

[video=youtube;FRUx6vBifoY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRUx6vBifoY[/video]
Click to expand...
Because everyone thinks social service does the effort for them? Do you have to care as long as you dump the problem onto the government?
 
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