schmorp@slrpnk.nettoAsklemmy@lemmy.ml•How do you deal with the poor and desperate around you? (Homeless or some stranger who is in an utterly helpless position)English
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2 months agoImprove your local community in other ways. Or give in other ways. Not sure what would apply in your local community - I live in rural Western Europe and that’s very different from what you describe. People here set up donation boxes, swap shops, create food banks, organize markets, create safe spaces for minority groups, community gardens … mostly volunteering time. Not sure you are in the position to do this? Sorry things are so heartbreaking. I hope we all figure this out soon.
Why should the homeless have no right to organize? It’s funny that the only places with (rough but efficient) functioning self-organization I could find so far were among the homeless and the small folk. Those with stuff left to protect are too much up their own arse to want to play well with others.
Also, the plans to get off the street are real, most of the time. Every kindness you show is a seed that one day will point towards the right direction.
I’ve been hanging out with the homeless as a kid, and lived on the streets for a few months as a young adult, travelling and panhandling. I met many very kind, and often very damaged people. They are on the streets because it’s for a variety of reasons the only option they can manage, not because they enjoy scamming you out of a few coins and do nothing all day.
If you are concerned about your money look at the suit wearing people, most of it ends up with them.