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More Cities Are Making It Illegal To Hand Out Food To The Homeless

Anyone Feeding The Homeless Should Be A Crime


  • Total voters
    55
If there were adequate shelters and sources of food for these people, do you really think they would be begging for food? Of course not.

Although I am against a huge welfare state, I am 100% for making sure that every city has large and easily accessible shelters/'soup kitchens' that are federally government funded and never run out of food.
With the huge number of obese people in America, it is inexcusable that any American should have to beg for food.
And I do not think there are nearly enough food options for the homeless at this time...so giving food to them is perfectly fine, IMO.

My only agreement with you would be that - having been an ex-drug addict (though I had plenty of money at the time - I knew a lot of addicts you didn't), you never give something to an addict that they can sell to feed their addiction...and many homeless are addicts of one kind or another.
So, you make sure you do not give the homeless a food product they can easily sell...give them opened products (like a loaf of bread with a slice or two removed) or buy them a Big Mac but just as you are handing it to them, cut a small piece off of it to make it unsellable (you might be surprised what an addict will sell for addiction seed money).

Who would buy a Big Mac from a homeless person whether there was a piece cut from it or not?
 
Who would buy a Big Mac from a homeless person whether there was a piece cut from it or not?

I saw something similar happen...they don't sell to the normal public, they sell to people on the streets that are a little better off then they are or they barter it.
They would sell used cigarette ashes in bags to crack addicts (if you have ever done crack, you would know why).
ANYTHING that has ANY value is sellable on the streets.
 
If there were adequate shelters and sources of food for these people, do you really think they would be begging for food? Of course not.

Although I am against a huge welfare state, I am 100% for making sure that every city has large and easily accessible shelters/'soup kitchens' that are federally government funded and never run out of food.
With the huge number of obese people in America, it is inexcusable that any American should have to beg for food.
And I do not think there are nearly enough food options for the homeless at this time...so giving food to them is perfectly fine, IMO.

My only agreement with you would be that - having been an ex-drug addict (though I had plenty of money at the time - I knew a lot of addicts you didn't), you never give something to an addict that they can sell to feed their addiction...and many homeless are addicts of one kind or another.
So, you make sure you do not give the homeless a food product they can easily sell...give them opened products (like a loaf of bread with a slice or two removed) or buy them a Big Mac but just as you are handing it to them, cut a small piece off of it to make it unsellable (you might be surprised what an addict will sell for addiction seed money).

I have a history from which I write on this matter with a high degree of experience and I guess I could say, authority. To establish some credibility, I spend one evening every week working in a rescue mission in downtown Los Angeles. Call it giving back, otherwise known by insiders as the "there but for the grace of God, go I" effort.

There will never be enough beds, or enough food, to feed all the people who chose to live the life that puts them in such terrible circumstance. One of the more persuasive factors in turning that circumstance around occurs with someone finally becomes sick and tired of being sick and tired. Sadly, that usually occurs when they were too late to get a bed again, or too late to get fed. If food and shelter was never ending, the occurrence of people finally surrendering and seeking long term help would be extremely rare.

While I recognize people feel compassion and want to help, and that is good, they have no clue what they are dealing with, and are not helping the problem with their defiance of good policy.
 
I have a history from which I write on this matter with a high degree of experience and I guess I could say, authority. To establish some credibility, I spend one evening every week working in a rescue mission in downtown Los Angeles. Call it giving back, otherwise known by insiders as the "there but for the grace of God, go I" effort.

There will never be enough beds, or enough food, to feed all the people who chose to live the life that puts them in such terrible circumstance. One of the more persuasive factors in turning that circumstance around occurs with someone finally becomes sick and tired of being sick and tired. Sadly, that usually occurs when they were too late to get a bed again, or too late to get fed. If food and shelter was never ending, the occurrence of people finally surrendering and seeking long term help would be extremely rare.

While I recognize people feel compassion and want to help, and that is good, they have no clue what they are dealing with, and are not helping the problem with their defiance of good policy.

I never worked in a shelter (good for you, seriously), but I up have known a lot of addicts/homeless.

Yes, many cannot even help themselves.

But, IMO, there are not NEARLY enough government-run shelters/'soup kitchens'.

And as I said above, if the homeless had access to enough food, they would not beg for it.

So as long as there is not enough for these people, I say there is nothing wrong with handing out food to them.
And these municipal governments are pathetically hypocritical by stopping people helping the hungry whilst not offering adequate resources for these needy people.
I think their attitude is the worst kind of bureaucratic nonsense.

You disagree, fine.
 
I saw something similar happen...they don't sell to the normal public, they sell to people on the streets that are a little better off then they are or they barter it.
They would sell used cigarette ashes in bags to crack addicts (if you have ever done crack, you would know why).
ANYTHING that has ANY value is sellable on the streets.

I've never done crack, so I'm not sure why anyone would buy ashes, but I hear what you're saying about buying anything on the street. Still, these are desperate people who have nothing, so how much are they going to be able to pay?

What a life. Nothing matters but the next fix. They are enslaved to a chemical substance that runs their lives. One would think they would jump at any opportunity to get free of their addiction.
 
What a life. Nothing matters but the next fix. They are enslaved to a chemical substance that runs their lives. One would think they would jump at any opportunity to get free of their addiction.

Why would they want to get free of it? Doing so would mean that they must face the realities of life as it is. That can be extremely difficult to do for some people. Most of the people I've known who have serious drug problems weren't doing it for the high, but for the escape from addressing life problems and issues.
 
I've never done crack, so I'm not sure why anyone would buy ashes, but I hear what you're saying about buying anything on the street. Still, these are desperate people who have nothing, so how much are they going to be able to pay?

What a life. Nothing matters but the next fix. They are enslaved to a chemical substance that runs their lives. One would think they would jump at any opportunity to get free of their addiction.

To be fair, the example of a burger re-sale I saw I think was a barter, not a flat out sale.

Btw, the ashes are for the crack pipe. When you smoke crack crudely, you need some cigarette ashe (not sure why exactly) to put in between the crack and the pipe (often a used pop can that is flattened on two sides with small holes poked in it).
And since cigarettes are expensive (and not every crack user smokes), the ash in bags can come in handy.
 
Why would they want to get free of it? Doing so would mean that they must face the realities of life as it is. That can be extremely difficult to do for some people. Most of the people I've known who have serious drug problems weren't doing it for the high, but for the escape from addressing life problems and issues.
Why not then take the ultimate escape route and simply jump from a tall building?
 
Yet, I'm pretty sure my life is a lot easier than theirs.

It depends on the individual. Some drug addicts have a relatively easy life, but they can't manage routine stress. Other addicts have horrible lives.
 
It depends on the individual. Some drug addicts have a relatively easy life, but they can't manage routine stress. Other addicts have horrible lives.

Yes, I can see that. The ones living on the street and willing to do anything for a fix can't have easy lives.
 
Does government cheese count has human food?
Don't knock it. I used to buy that stuff* and it's actually pretty damn good. Works wonderfully for melting.

*- I know, I know, I was aiding and abetting a crack head, most likely, but the cheese was that good.
 
Depends on if the homeless person is competent or sane. Many aren't
Well if they're not competent, they need training, and if they're not sane, they need mental care.

It's getting them those things that is the issue.
 
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