Thread: This looks like the great depression from this view

YouTube - Southern California Shanty Town / Tent City


This is heart breaking.

Yeah, its sad.

We were homeless once. We had to move into a motel while my dad got a new job. We scratched by, not much to eat since my dad wouldn't allow us to go on 'stamps'. I was too young to help out, and my sister was in her drama queen teen years- she left us and went to live with my grandparents.

Anyways, my dad saved up enough to get us an apartment. Things got pretty good from that point on, though my dad worked 80+ hours a week...and still does. They do pretty good for themselves now, got a nice house down on the lake.

Maybe I'm becoming my dad, but I have little sympathy for those who are homeless and don't help themselves. As bad as it may be in SOCAL, you can't tell me they can't find work somewhere. Even a sheep knows when a waterhole dries up, you go find a new one.

It is sad though, I pray they take it upon themselves to get back up.

How did we get to this point?

We aren't at that point, SOCAL is at that point. Regional recessions are common, how many of you have been to Detroit? Here in Ga, we are fine. Not just fine, there are hiring signs and new subdivisions everywhere. Some of those dudes with RVs and gas should motor on over here.

I think you have no idea what you are talking about.

Well...in that case...where are the tent cities here? ::looks around::

Don't see 'em.

Lets see- Georgia Department of Labor 4.6% for Ga

and- Notice: Data not available 6% for Cali

Big difference. Just because one local area is suffering doesn't mean the rest of the country is. If things are bad in SOCAL, move somewhere else. Like I pointed out, nearly half the population of Detroit bugged out.

The sub prime problem is no isolated to the state of california now is it?

The politics of indifference is self-correcting. Unfortunately, those scenes are not new. We have had people in marginal housing everywhere for years, we just look away and ignore it, or stay where the views are more picturesque. Now, we're seeing a bumper crop of poverty, but it's the same harvest.

Originally Posted by truthmatters

The sub prime problem is no isolated to the state of california now is it?

Well, that much is true. I'm sure there are some people who are now homeless in my area as well due to the sup-prime lending mess.

I still lay most of the blame for that type of homelessness on the owner. When you get a loan, it is YOUR responsibility to know the terms of that loan and the commitment you are making. If you default on your homeloan, how can you blame anyone but yourself? And why is it anyones job to help you but your own? They aren't victims, they are debtors.

That being said, its a sad world when a lender will 'suggest' an adjustable rate mortgage to someone who is barely elligible for a loan in the first place. I don't think we can hold them accountable for taking advantage of the uneducated, but some regulation to prevent it happening in the future may be in order.

Originally Posted by Akkaid

Yeah, its sad.

We were homeless once. We had to move into a motel while my dad got a new job. We scratched by, not much to eat since my dad wouldn't allow us to go on 'stamps'. I was too young to help out, and my sister was in her drama queen teen years- she left us and went to live with my grandparents.

Anyways, my dad saved up enough to get us an apartment. Things got pretty good from that point on, though my dad worked 80+ hours a week...and still does. They do pretty good for themselves now, got a nice house down on the lake.

Maybe I'm becoming my dad, but I have little sympathy for those who are homeless and don't help themselves. As bad as it may be in SOCAL, you can't tell me they can't find work somewhere. Even a sheep knows when a waterhole dries up, you go find a new one.

It is sad though, I pray they take it upon themselves to get back up.

There are people (able bodied) that believe that the gov't has to take care of them, & guess what, the gov't has led many to believe that. That's where "keep them on the plantation" came from. Some remind me of "Cousin Eddie" in the Vacation movies, "waitin for a management position".
Good for your dad, I like to believe that there are more of his kind that "the others", but all we hear about are the "shanty towns", we don't hear stories like yours.