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The economy is sucking big time right now. My half baked idea
would be for all us stung or about to be stung by the
recession bug to go out, en masse, and ask these homeless
people for money. I would venture to ask all of you to pester
them as blatantly and without any couth as they have done
to
all of us at one time or another. Let's make this happen.
The Big Issue
http://www.bigissue.co.uk/
Helps the homeless, and is a damn good read too. [-alx, Feb 08 2001, last modified Oct 21 2004]
[link]
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"Sucking big time"? You ain't seen nothing. |
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No question that this'll stick it to the folks responsible for all your problems -- who, as we all know, are people exactly like us who are just living on the street, raving, and eating garbage for a lark -- but isn't it something that all sorts of would-be clever idiots already do? |
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I propose selling: your G3 that continually crashes, your Rolex and your SUV. Your ideas are more about personal discomfort than inventions and there's an underlying tinge of social class-elitism that is more disturbing than amusing: |
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"I can show off the look and feel of a Rolex® without worrying if the weirdo creep from Queens (or the Bronx)..." |
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"...but the people who live in the shadows of NYU thought it'd sound better to out-of-towners or relatives to say, 'Oh yeah, I live in Noho,' jerks," |
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Ease up (...or you may find yourself in one of dsm's creations.) |
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Perhaps with a bit of semantic gymnastics we can turn this idea into a sign of economic strength: "The economy is sucking big time right now" --since "sucking" can be considered a type of "consuming," "sucking big time" would mean moving very fast, similar to a runner who can be said to "eat up ground" as he or she is covering distance. So with the economy so fast and strong, some of us must be having doubts, thinking we are "about to be stung" by a recession. All we need do is go ask a homeless person for money to reassure ourselves. After all, if the homeless have money, the economy must be great.
All is not what it seems. |
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iuvare: so, you're just assuming that this 'elitist' uses a G3?
Do I sense some Wintel elitism? :P |
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I couldn't bring myself to do this anyway. But once again,
this could work in reverse; declare this as a national
holiday and give the homeless permission to sock 'em a
good one. |
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Valrus: Actually, iuvare's G3 comment refers to an earlier
idea posting (since deleted?) about a G3 that always
crashed. I don't remember who posted it originally, but I
assume it must have been d-eschew, based on iuvare's
comment. |
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And I would also agree that d-eschew probably needs to
wake up to how good he has it. |
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I asked a homeless guy for money. He said "no" then he
beat me up. |
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My comments do seem elitist when taken out of context, but Potatostew got it: my annotation was a response to a couple of ideas ["G3 That Continually Crashes", "Shorten the White House Lawn--d-eschew's 2/8/01 response", and this gem] d-eschew posted about a month ago. Each idea was laced with complaints about the difficulties of being rich and not having things go d's way ("Making McDonald's Employees Smile"...??) |
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That said, my AMD will kick your fruit's ass any day of the week. |
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My experience of the homeless is rather different to d-eschews. For the most part they just sit quietly and are surprised if you even acknowledge their existence. |
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I must agree with iuvare. I am an elitist, though you can't
really blame me. Being a direct descendent of royalty
affords me the freedom of reflecting about things peons
usually don't or can't. I'm sorry if my missives have
offended anybody from any social class. I think it's safe to
say that I would not be the proper candidate for
President of the United States. |
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When panhandlers shake their cup of change in my face I say, "No, thanks. I already have plenty of money." |
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A friend of mine was ernestly working on his shit-box van a while back (which was the only thing keeping him solvent, and which kept breaking down) when some scumbag wandered up his front driveway and asked 'Could you spare me any money?'. He said to him, 'Well I'm out of work myself, perhaps you could help me out with some money?'. |
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d-eschew, chew d-es. I'll say this without couth... you suck blatantly. So what if you're a direct descendant of royalty? So am I. I'm also part peon. But being part peon has its perks... for instance, I'm not inbred. Your limited thought and/or expression thereof shows lack of affording freedom of reflecting about things. I'd feel cleaner if I were homeless, terminally ill and shat upon than to be such a bilious excuse for a human being. What you really ought to do, since you just don't get it as of this juncture... is help homeless people. THEN you'll get more out of them than you could ever possibly give. Being a contributing member of society is where the true elitism is. |
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When homeless people pester you for change, the standard response should be, "what do have to offer me in exchange?" Of course, you'd have to accept pretty much anything, maybe even a little song & dance routine or something. But that's not the point. Just giving them the money is pointless. But by serving as a constant reminder that wealth is accumulated through voluntary trade, we can make a difference in their lives. |
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Such arrogance from both sides of this idea. One of the greatest things (my opinion only) a person can do is to be in the service of your fellow human. If everyone gave a little tiny bit, we might have enough given that all may prosper. But there's a problem that some folks feel uneasy even thinking about... there are indeed some peoples who are lazy. L-A-Z-Y. Pure and simple. And that, I believe, is at the root of this crass suggestion. I think, if given a chance, most people will try to excel. I don't know how you tell, easily... but to those who take extreme positions here, I think you're both wrong in your extremes. |
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Re: [VeXaR]'s comment - that is why street papers like the Big Issue are so important. They give homeless people a trade, enabling them to help pull themselves out of their rut, as well as restoring their self-esteem. |
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And [gorn_the_great] - yes, some people are lazy. But it seems a bit odd in that case that the homeless don't come from a wider cross-section of society. At the moment, the majority come from three groups - people just out of care, the military and prison. They end up on the streets because society doesn't have adequate support facilities to help them into a new life, and being homeless is often to be caught in a vicious circle where bureaucracy works against you and, try as you might to advance yourself, nobody wants to listen. |
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Amen alx, and don't forget that the corporatocracy is screwing the middle class into poverty and the poverty stricken to death (or at best a living death). |
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Cheerfully yours ... the cat |
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