Clearly you’ve never worked with the homeless…it’s not the “look of poverty” as you alluded, it’s really more about active drug use or untreated mental health disorders.

Some people certainly fall on hard times, but many have serious mental health disorders that for a variety of reasons they are not managing. We often require an address and lots of paperwork to provide government benefits in the US, so it isn’t hard for people to fall out of the system.

Once that happens, it’s really hard to find your way back. There are certainly not enough programs to help people reintegrate with society. At the same time, a homeless encampment in a neighborhood is not a reasonable solution either.

I volunteered nearly every week feeding the food and housing insecure in Philly for nearly 3 years pre-covid (I moved shortly before Covid). It was a great experience and I got to know many people that I might have otherwise walked past, and it really underscored the value of social services and lack of help available.

It also taught me that people need to be in a place to accept help. The ones that were not in that place are the ones you worry about - they have nothing to lose. Most that came to the church to be served lunch (usually 100-200) were to an extent willing to receive help. Some had bad days or would relapse into drug use, but they were generally trying to do better.

But there were other, much darker, places in the city that people unwilling or unable to accept help went. Places like Kensington in North Philly. That was a huge problem for years…it was a huge open air drug market that basically occupied that area. Finally, I think just this year, police cleared the encampments there.

It’s not a great solution, but it also wasn’t tenable. My point is that you should understand that not all housing insecure populations are just good people that bad things happened to. Those not in a place to get help or actively using drugs can be dangerous. I certainly would not let my son near that group, nor would I gleefully accept an encampment near my house

With the exception of their little run in with Indira Ghandi, generally true

Awnings are also really ugly. Installing shudders that actually work is another option

AOC is actually not old enough to be president. Ironic given how old the candidates are…I agree, Biden has my vote

Number 6 is impossible. Some of this is useful, but it sounds like this only works for people in IT management. And even that us doubtful

No, you’re a fool if you truly believe this. Every generation has had some form of this feeling. Imagine considering having children during WW1, or WW2, or during Vietnam or Korea? Then after that we had McCarthyism and the Cold War - all seemingly hopeless days. Yet there is still so much beauty in the world, and there is so much that makes life worth living.

My son will turn 2 in a few months. It’s tough being a parent, but it is entirely worth it. You cannot give into myopia - every time I hear him laugh, I am reminded that there is good in the world and it is worth fighting for. He will have his own challenges to face in life, but it is our job as a society to equip him, and all of the next generation, with the tools they need to succeed.

I’m troubled about the future, but you cannot make that stop you from striving for better days. As Marcus Aurelius said, never let the future disturb you. You will meet it, if you have to, with the same weapons of reason which today arm you against the present.

I’ve been re-reading the Lord of the Rings lately, and there is a lot there on this topic, but I always think back to Sam. We all should be so lucky to have a friend like that, but what he says when all hope seems to be lost is truly striking:

“It’s like the great stories, Mr. Frodo, the ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger they were, and sometimes you didn’t want to know the end because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad has happened? But in the end, it’s only a passing thing this shadow, even darkness must pass. A new day will come, and when the sun shines, it’ll shine out the clearer. I know now folks in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn’t. They kept going because they were holding on to something. That there’s some good in this world, Mr. Frodo, and it’s worth fighting for.”

Tolkien wrote this after his experiences fighting in The Somme. If he could find hope and found the courage to keep striving for better days, then so should we.

Lol seriously. Also your conclusion was obvious, but I guess that is because I’ve also been paying a modicum of attention over the last few years

You could start with the systemic problems you mentioned. Go ahead

What systemic problems are you referring to? Seoul has some of the best public transport in the world and the vehicle was a sedan. The driver either was drunk/high or had a stroke.

You going to appreciate the high quality source you received and change your point of view?

Someone should tell them that Muslims are happy to use IVF and Catholics that oppose it mean less Christian kids. See how quickly they make a 180 on that!

I seriously doubt that communities marginalized by the justice system would ever take claims of unfair prosecution seriously from possibly the most privileged white guy ever…

This is not comparable.

The fuel is spent and sold. Gas stations usually only have a few days supply of inventory.

This is like holding engines in inventory to swap without notice on the spot. But in this case the engines cost $10k+.

The fee to swap is about $12…so you have to swap each battery about 800 times to break even. See how you’re wrong yet?

The answer is massive government support. The cost of those stations has to be insane…imagine the inventory holding cost of those batteries

Well, not every job is a career. At least you don’t have to chase them for payment and you know you’re a transaction to them. Develop skills and work somewhere that values you slightly more and at least gives benefits.

This is just not true…daily pay means that you get more compounding periods from your money and the company also has to somehow manage payroll for that.

I get paid monthly, so when you account for time value of money, I’m getting a bad deal. It costs the company less on a number of fronts to pay less frequently.

Jobs that offer daily pay seem to be lower wage jobs, so I get why you would associate that negatively, but at least you get your money quickly for time worked if you’re in a bind

I used to work at a movie theater and someone died once in the bathroom. So that is probably why

Beech A45 - read the article. Show some respect, this was a great man.

She also ripped out the rose gardens at the white house…that should have been a crime

Except it was the GOP that did their rendition of the Beer Hall Putsch last time they lost…so fuck right off with that shit