Street-Living USA: Is Problem Severe as UTUBE Portrays? Have YOU Seen It?

[GammaGlobulin]

Google UTUBE often dishes up homeless videos, but is the problem as pervasive and serious at is portrayed in these videos?

 

I have not returned to the US since 1990.

The UTUBE videos must be an exaggeration I think to myself?

 

What is your experience traveling in the USA?

Are things as dire as we, those who live in Asia, are led to believe?

 

Does the sight of homelessness bother you? 

Or, are you fairly impervious to the plight of these vagabonds?

 

This woman says that she is both human and homeless.  But, true?  (And, she says that she has a bun in the oven, and so maybe she is not just one, but two.)

 

Here is a videographer who enjoys shooting the homeless.

Is he telling the truth?

 

Why does the US Gov ALLOW such things to happen?

Don't the US citizens ever get tired of this trash?

 

How can they look beyond it, and how are they able to enjoy their lives, if they must step over this all the time?

 

 

Just sign me...

Perplexed in Thailand,

Gamma

 

 

Edited December 30, 2023 by GammaGlobulin

[khunjake]

No exaggeration. Its very very bad and getting worse. Skyrocketing home/rent affordability forces people onto the streets especially on the west coast. I’m from LA myself and homeless encampments are found just about everywhere and that was two years ago the last time I went. I couldn’t believe how bad it was. I’m sure its much worse now. On the freeway overpasses, you see camps everywhere. The state of the union is horrific. Thank the dear lord I am here and while Thai has its problems, its nowhere near compared to the tragedy unfolding in the USA.

[GammaGlobulin]

6 minutes ago, khunjake said:

No exaggeration. Its very very bad and getting worse. Skyrocketing home/rent affordability forces people onto the streets especially on the west coast. I’m from LA myself and homeless encampments are found just about everywhere and that was two years ago the last time I went. I couldn’t believe how bad it was. I’m sure its much worse now. On the freeway overpasses, you see camps everywhere. The state of the union is horrific. Thank the dear lord I am here and while Thai has its problems, its nowhere near compared to the tragedy unfolding in the USA.

 

This is about the most shocking thing I have seen in my lifetime.

How long can it last without a major backlash, I wonder?

 

This seems even worse than the Great Depression years.

 

If this is true, then I will never return to the US, obviously.

Even if one has a nice home, how can one enjoy life when this tragedy is all about one?

 

Really, this entire situation seems so unbelievable, even though, apparently, true.

 

 

[Lacessit]

It is no better in Australia, with rents at an all-time high.

The young have good reason to resent the Baby Boomer generation, who are sitting on most of Australia's capital. The tax rorts available are making the situation worse.

I could afford a mobile home in Australia. In Thailand, I have two places to reside.

[Yellowtail]

People vote for it. 

[GammaGlobulin]

1 minute ago, Yellowtail said:

People vote for it. 

 

People vote, yes.

However, are there choices to vote for?

Or, are all choices offered basically just the same single choice?

 

 

[Yellowtail]

1 minute ago, GammaGlobulin said:

 

People vote, yes.

However, are there choices to vote for?

Or, are all choices offered basically just the same single choice?

 

 

Yes, there are choices, both for voters and for the people living on the street 

 

Did the tatted-up pregnant junkie in the first video look like she had a tough life? The easier and more comfortable you make living on the street, the more people you will have living on the street. 

[GammaGlobulin]

44 minutes ago, Yellowtail said:

Yes, there are choices, both for voters and for the people living on the street 

 

Did the tatted-up pregnant junkie in the first video look like she had a tough life? The easier and more comfortable you make living on the street, the more people you will have living on the street. 

 

Maybe, also, this is the result of defunding the State Mental Institutions in the USA?

 

[stoner]

approx 40k homeless in los angeles alone ? 

[WhatMeWorry]

1 hour ago, Yellowtail said:

People vote for it. 

This is so very true. The Americans vote for the liberal left wing Democrats that allow this behavior to destroy the society of a once great nation.

[Yellowtail]

8 minutes ago, WhatMeWorry said:

This is so very true. The Americans vote for the liberal left wing Democrats that allow this behavior to destroy the society of a once great nation.

I'm a liberal, it's leftists that are ruining the country. And the leftists don't allow it, they promote it. 

[timendres]

2 hours ago, khunjake said:

No exaggeration. Its very very bad and getting worse. Skyrocketing home/rent affordability forces people onto the streets especially on the west coast. I’m from LA myself and homeless encampments are found just about everywhere and that was two years ago the last time I went. I couldn’t believe how bad it was. I’m sure its much worse now. On the freeway overpasses, you see camps everywhere. The state of the union is horrific. Thank the dear lord I am here and while Thai has its problems, its nowhere near compared to the tragedy unfolding in the USA.

 

It is not an exaggeration in LA or SF or Chicago. Major cities are struggling with these problems. That said, the US is a very large country, and these areas represent a very small portion of the country in a "square miles" sense. Unfortunately, they are very densely populated, so the problem is quite extreme.

 

There are many places in the US, like my home in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, where it is quite like Mayberry R.F.D. (very much like the "stereotypical" US in the 60's or 70's). There are so many small and medium sized towns in the US where they simply struggle with the same issues they have faced for decades - poverty and unemployment. But they are quite reasonable to live in if you can find decent employment.

 

So, no, the entire US does not look like these videos. But go to any of these major cities that defunded the police, did not properly plan for the homeless and mentally ill, or are inundated with the tsunami of immigrants pouring in, and it will look a lot like these videos.

Edited December 30, 2023 by timendres

[StayinThailand2much]

Don't know about the U.S., but I have seen a lot of homeless in recent times; Bangkok (and I don't mean the bused-in Cambodians, but middle-aged men down on their luck), Australia (Darwin, although many are Aborigines; one asked me: "Can you give me 10 dollars?", Melbourne, Sydney...), New Zealand, esp. Auckland: many middle-aged homeless men in the highstreet (hundreds of NZ families also live in garages or shipping containers, or sleep in their cars)...

 

And yes, returning to my home country in a few years, I'd be homeless too, if it weren't for the fact that I'm planning to stay in hotels for, I dunno, at least two years... With massive mass-immigration to my home country, but very little housing construction, things will only get worse. I even, recently, tried to get a job back home; first question was: "Do you live locally? No? Then we cannot hire you, as you won't find a place to stay in this city."

Edited December 30, 2023 by StayinThailand2much

[Yellowtail]

1 hour ago, GammaGlobulin said:

 

Maybe, also, this is the result of defunding the State Mental Institutions in the USA?

 

No. The court changed the laws such that it was illegal to hold mental patients against their will if the court could not prove they posed an immediate danger to themselves or the public, so the patients had to be released. With no patients, less funding was required, so funding was cut, but not eliminated. 

 

So, the left got them all released, and when people did not like it, they blamed Reagan for cutting funding.

 

In any event, that was back in the '80s and has little to do with the problem now. The problem now is that taxpayer are forces to subsidize services to facilitate/promote homeless camps full of drug addicts that live off the state and commit crimes to support their habits. 

 

Is there the occasional family they Times can find to do a story on? Sure. Just like they can find a single mother putting herself through medical school by working as a stripper. 

 

You never answered my question: "Did the tatted-up pregnant junkie in the first video look like she had a tough life?" And remember how she talked about how she could not get away to do anything, because she could not leave her stuff for fear of it being stolen/removed? How does that make sense unless they're virtually all criminals. Would you not think two guys down on their luck could take turns watching each other's stuff while they go look for work? 

 

Now tatted-up pregnant junkie girl will have her kid in the US at a county hospital, and they will both likely be on government assistance for life. 

 

 

 

[GammaGlobulin]

21 minutes ago, Yellowtail said:

You never answered my question: "Did the tatted-up pregnant junkie in the first video look like she had a tough life?"

 

She certainly looks like she has been through the wringer.

And, the washing machine, plus the dryer, as well.

Yet, she does not look clean enough for that, I guess.

 

Personally, I think she might do better in China.

Maybe the taxpayers in the US should pay for a one-way ticket.

There must be work for her there, given her many talents, as well as her sartorial sense.

 

 

Edited December 30, 2023 by GammaGlobulin

[GypsyT]

They come to warm states like CA/AZ/NV/FL/TX and so on.

 

I saw very few in cold states.

 

The system is broke and stays so or gets worse. One more reason to stay out of USA.

[GammaGlobulin]

1 minute ago, GypsyT said:

They come to warm states like CA/AZ/NV/FL/TX and so on.

 

I saw very few in cold states.

 

The system is broke and stays so or gets worse. One more reason to stay out of USA.

 

What about New Hampshire, then?

Is New Hampshire still livable?

 

[Yellowtail]

8 minutes ago, GammaGlobulin said:

 

What about New Hampshire, then?

Is New Hampshire still livable?

 

What are you talking about livable? Compared to what? It's livable everywhere in the US, So far, the homeless only have a significant negative impact on the poor, the working poor and the urban middle class. If you're not in one of those categories, no worries.

 

 

[GammaGlobulin]

1 minute ago, Yellowtail said:

What are you talking about livable? Compared to what? It's livable everywhere in the US, So far, the homeless only have a significant negative impact on the poor, the working poor and the urban middle class. If you're not in one of those categories, no worries.

 

 

 

For me, livable means no riff-raff in sight in most places.

Pristine environment.

No police in sight making drug busts.

Shared values with me.

Etc....

 

Thailand, at least for me, is all of these.

 

New Hampshire, in the distant past, was this, as well.

 

 

[Yellowtail]

Just now, GammaGlobulin said:

 

For me, livable means no riff-raff in sight in most places.

Pristine environment.

No police in sight making drug busts.

Shared values with me.

Etc....

 

Thailand, at least for me, is all of these.

 

New Hampshire, in the distant past, was this, as well.

 

 

This is true in over 95% of the US

[GammaGlobulin]

8 minutes ago, Yellowtail said:

This is true in over 95% of the US

 

You may be correct.

But, after watching UTUBE, this now seems difficult to believe...sorry to say.

 

[GypsyT]

7 minutes ago, GammaGlobulin said:

For me, livable means no riff-raff in sight in most places.

Pristine environment.

No police in sight making drug busts.

Shared values with me.

Etc....

 

Thailand, at least for me, is all of these.

This is a joke?

Or are you blind?

Take a walk with me 4am. Homeless everywhere sleeping at front of 7/11 and other store fronts. 

Riff-raff staggering to home or hotel or?

Left over whores offering 400THB specials at Football statue on Jomtien.

etc etc

Go share your values with them -:)

 

One is sure; NO Police in sight....

 

 

[GammaGlobulin]

18 minutes ago, GypsyT said:

This is a joke?

Or are you blind?

Take a walk with me 4am. Homeless everywhere sleeping at front of 7/11 and other store fronts. 

Riff-raff staggering to home or hotel or?

Left over whores offering 400THB specials at Football statue on Jomtien.

etc etc

Go share your values with them -:)

 

One is sure; NO Police in sight....

 

 

 

I do not doubt you, but this is not the same environment in which I live.

I am just lucky, I guess.

 

Sorry that you must deal with what you describe, however....

 

 

[Yellowtail]

23 minutes ago, GammaGlobulin said:

 

You may be correct.

I am correct, easy enough to check. 

23 minutes ago, GammaGlobulin said:

But, after watching UTUBE, this now seems difficult to believe...sorry to say.

You watch an hour of video showing the same tens blocks and few thousand people and you're convinced.

 

[Dan747]

It's very sad to see all this in the USA. My favorite city was San Fran (SFO) not anymore, too much crime!! Their is a major exodus evolving out of these Dem run cities that needs a leadership change. What I believe we a watching is a sizeable "Left Wing Assault" and legal decline in the USA. Just Saying.  

[pgrahmm]

Pervasive in CA....We flew into SFO....

After getting our RV/car road ready we stayed at a nice RV park for a week..... Directly outside the high RV park stone walls was a homeless camp....An old RV, parked cars, lean-to roofs against the wall....While running errands for that week, every frontage road or dead end street offered the same..... Destitute people at busy intersections with their signs & hands out..... Driving through the state,  as I looked around there were people under underpasses, tent encampments, lines of occupied old RV's noticed near the urban areas....

This is the first time we didn't visit San Francisco based on reports....During our last visit there we visited the Palace of Fine Arts & about 30% of the parking lot was broken glass from the smash & grab thefts.....

Traveling across the US to Texas I thought about boondocking, however, the small clusters of people I saw seemed dirty, unkempt, hardened by life, and weary.....Not a safe place to take a Thai wife imo....They weren't "homeless", more like a nomadic tribe traveling banded together....

From casual observation it's everywhere, but at it's worst on the west coast of the US....

We've moved our home base away from the only state I've ever called home..... I'll miss the topography and natural wonders of the west...

 

 

[still kicking]

6 hours ago, Lacessit said:

It is no better in Australia, with rents at an all-time high.

The young have good reason to resent the Baby Boomer generation, who are sitting on most of Australia's capital. The tax rorts available are making the situation worse.

I could afford a mobile home in Australia. In Thailand, I have two places to reside.

Ha, I live in 2-bedroom unit 7 years now and pay just $ 240 per week never had an increase at all. Still have 2 houses (on negative gearing in my wife's name) not to lose my pension. Disregard the 2 houses but you can afford it just don't live in the east.

[kwonitoy]

4 hours ago, GypsyT said:

They come to warm states like CA/AZ/NV/FL/TX and so on.

 

I saw very few in cold states.

 

The system is broke and stays so or gets worse. One more reason to stay out of USA.

They are in the cold places too

I live in Edmonton Alberta where it can on occasion get to -40c, and there is a big problem with tent cities catching fire, homeless and mostly druggies using the LRT(subway) as shelter.

There are enough community shelters to house them but those shelters have rules, no drinking alcohol, no drug usage, so they gravitate to the streets.

[GammaGlobulin]

20 minutes ago, kwonitoy said:

They are in the cold places too

I live in Edmonton Alberta where it can on occasion get to -40c, and there is a big problem with tent cities catching fire, homeless and mostly druggies using the LRT(subway) as shelter.

There are enough community shelters to house them but those shelters have rules, no drinking alcohol, no drug usage, so they gravitate to the streets.

 

Addiction affects somewhere around (approximately) ten percent of humans.

There is no cure.

 

The only solution is to....

 

Send them to rehab?

 

But, then....some will tell you...

 

 

[GammaGlobulin]

I can dig it.

I can dig this....

 

Small town living in New Hampshire....

 

 

 

I also like the demographics of New Hampshire.

 

I prefer to live in a racially homogenous place, although I do not care about skin color, as long as most people have the SAME skin color.

 

So....if all the people where I am living are YELLOW, then fine.  Or, if all are white, then OK. Etc....Etc.....

 

New Hampshire is quite a beautiful place to live.

 

In the winters, you have a fire in the fireplace.

 

And, the colder it gets, the fewer riff-raff sleeping on the streets.

 

Maine might be OK, too.

 

But, only the most NORTHERN parts of Maine, in my view.

 

Not sure how much it costs to live up there, anymore.

I have not been in the USA since 1990, the year Bill Clinton was elected....

 

Note:  I haven't returned to New Hampshire since 1960.  Has the place changed much since then?  Or not....  IDK....

 

Note: Vermont is not so nice as New Hampshire....but.....Fitzgerald can't be beat....

 

 

Edited December 30, 2023 by GammaGlobulin