[yid]

Oh get off that pedestal. OP was talking about the Tenderloin. Have you ever walked through the Tenderloin? A large fraction of the homeless people there clearly have severe psychological or drug issues. They're not there because of the economy.

[kohanz]

For some those issues (mental health, substance abuse) are the causes of their homelessness (e.g. financial struggles), but for others, they are a symptom. Reduce the amount of people falling through the cracks, reduce mental health and substance abuse issues.

[pron]

Maybe, but do you feel proud to live in a city where those unfortunates who have drug or "psychological" issues lie in the streets? It's shameful that you feel that those stricken by bad fortune should be left to rot out there.

[yid]

> It's shameful that you feel that those stricken by bad fortune should be left to rot out there.

Where are you getting this from? I didn't imply it at all.

[nickthemagicman]

I AGREE!

I'm sure every single person in the Tenderloin is there because they're just losers!

That's why I'm proposing Bumfights.

It could be an awesome startup.

Pit them against each other Hunger Games style.

Fuck those loser homeless.

[yid]

You seem to be the only one in this thread calling them losers. I'm not sure where you're getting that from my comment.

[nickthemagicman]

No You're right! I know you weren't implying that the homeless should LOSE out on OP's offer due to detrimental qualities like "psychological or drug issues".

Indeed, these are WINNING qualities!

That's why I think we should name our bum fighters after their winning qualities.

Find out which winning quality is the best!!

(But you know you would bet on 'Junkie' Bob over 'Lazy Hammock' Steve any day.)

[serf]

what don't you get? He's making fun of the assumption you seem to make that none of the residents of the area are there due to economic reasons, and then you cite anecdotal evidence (a walk through) as evidence as such.

[rprospero]

I wrote an incredibly angry reply to you, but I've calmed down enough that I can try to explain my point without attacking you.

mrharrison stated that the root cause of much of our poor handling of homelessness comes from our poor handling of the disabled. To avoid going with anecdotes, I'll simply point out that 13% of the homeless population are veterans. Physical and mental disabilities are quite common and our society has decided to just dump these people on the streets as opposed to helping them.

However, then nickthemagicman comes along and makes the implication that stating that a homeless person is disabled is equivalent to stating that the person deserves to be homeless. That's the most offensive thing that I've ever seen on the Internet, and I've been to 4chan. Just because a person has a disability doesn't mean that they don't deserve basic human dignity.

Though I am descending into anecdote here, my wife was homeless when I met her. She also has a physical disability which cost her her job and her home. There was a wonderful government program to help her out of poverty by letting her haul 40lb bags of sand around, but it's not much use to a woman who walks with a cane and can't carry more than 20lb without needing a week of bed rest. If we were willing to talk about the root cause, then she'd be getting the treatment she needs to be healthy again and be happy to carry those 40lb bags. Unfortunately, the system was designed by bigots like nickthemagicman. When she applied for disability, she was told that they would only pay for her medical treatment if she agreed to never work again under punishment of jail time. After all, basic dignities like the joy of contributing to society aren't allowed for the disabled. Just the able bodied homeless, I guess.

[scotty79]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crack_Baby_Athletic_Association

[nickthemagicman]

First "Faith + 1" then this.

The South Park guys always one step ahead with capitalism.