There is a man living under a bridge, in that pile of stuff. What you see, is his home.

[RC]

[enlightenment]

1. Thank you for posting, RC.

We need to get angry over the real problems and hold our elected officials truly accountable instead of finding excuses for them.

[CrispyQ]

2. Where is the War on Poverty?

That's one war we'll never fight, because it's one war where the resources are not siphoned off to the top.

[Downwinder]

4. Thats another war we lost.

[burnsei sensei]

10. We have not lost the war of poverty

because it's never been fought.
It's never been fought by all of us, in a committed, persevering way.
If you have made peace with any of this suffering, and a lot of people have who don't post here, all I have to say is the lake of fire is waiting . . . all you have to do is die.
This nation remains poor because there has been no national commitment to end poverty yet.
A commitment is ongoing, it doesn't go out of fashion or become muted because of political concerns.
And that's what's necessary here.

[WinkyDink]

13. Both very incorrect. LBJ's WoP immensely reduced poverty among African-Americans & the elderly, e.g.

http://smirkingchimp.com/thread/yellow/42046/the-war-on-poverty-was-more-successful-than-we-realize

http://thinkprogress.org/yglesias/2009/06/02/193160/the-war-on-poverty-was-an-enormous-success/

http://books.google.com/books/about/Impossible_Democracy.html?id=yt5EfBvCZCsC

Websites and/or authors who cry "Fail!" are often the Usual Suspects of anti-poor, anti-Social-Contract Conservatives.

[burnsei sensei]

16. I never said that the War of Poverty policy of LBJ was a failure.

The subject of my post was the consistency of the social commitment to a national compact over time.
I argued that the social commitment and expression of conscience on a social level over time did not remain consistent.
That is not the same as saying that the War on Poverty failed.
If anything, the conservatives, the Suburban Warriors, were frightened when it succeeded, and they remain frightened that it and allied policies that used to be called internal improvements will succeed further under a president whose social conscience has been developed. Such a president I see in Barack Obama.
The War of Poverty was undermined in the 1980s and has yet to recover its former momentum and originality.

[valerief]

5. I think it mutated to The War Against Boostraps and Christmas. nt

[Warpy]

7. It morphed into a War Against the Poor

by Republicans who continue to try to criminalize need and want.

[WinkyDink]

12. "That's one war we'll never fight...." 1964, anyone?

[Voice for Peace]

3. looks like several homes there

k&r

[RC]

6. There were.

But that is just one. The home owner was home at the time I took the picture.

Here is a view of the top of hill that overlooks the homeless man domain.

[llmart]

8. Any of you watch "Poor Kids" on PBS?

If you can sit and watch that all the way through without shedding a tear or being so angry about the selfishness of some of the wealthiest among us (hear that Mittens? - that means you and Queen Anne), then you have no empathy.

[Johnny Noshoes]

9. You know ...

You know it isn't just this country....NOBODY on the PLANET should be without clean water, enough healthy food, adequate shelter, basic health care and at least a basic education and that is the minimum.

[Ikonoklast]

11. As long as there is one homeless person, one hungry child, one sick citizen in need of health care,

one elderly person with no one to care for them, this nation will not have lived up to its true and real potential; that We The People actually means more than just words on a piece of paper.

[TheKentuckian]

17. Where the hell is rec a post?

[spanone]

14. k&r...

[AzDar]

15. K & R

[rustydog]

18. According to christian conservative pundits, this is a lifestyle choice

[rustydog]

19. A gentleman came into our ER last week...

upset, homeless over two years, has been in two days of biblical downpours. for some reason police and medics involved, brought to ER.Apparently police were called on the street because he snapped and said he'd be better off dead. He is sick and tired of homelessness, sick and tired of being cold. he only wanted a shower and some sleep like a normal person, in a bed with a blanket and no rain falling on him.

The nurse acted like he was carrying plague and was unreasonably rude.

What do we do? These are human beingsat the end of their rope, and some medical personnel treat them like shit simply because they are dirty, angry (I don't know why on earth why they'd be angry) cursing, yelling, mad at the world, hurting in more ways than I coud know.

[littlemissmartypants]

20. LMSP kicking...

[Historic NY]

21. We have a few near where I live, people leave them meals.

They have a shelter for both men & women that is available and a selection of soup kitchens. I think a couple of them have some mental health issues, and unfortunately we no longer have places for them to stay long term. St. Ronnie took care of that. When I was working it was easier to convince them to go to the MH facility, where there was some coping structure and access to their regularly prescribed medications.

The plight of homelessness & those with mental health needs greatly increased when Reagan did away with the Mental Health Systems Act of 1980...the sole responsibility went to the states which were ill equipted and unfunded, treatment was replaced with incarceration.

[FailureToCommunicate]

22. Thank you for doing something for him (them) with this powerful post, RC.

[think_critically]

23. We have to blame ourselves too

Looking at images like that really strikes a chord with a lot of us on the left. Something is not right about that. I think sometimes we point the finger at others though, particularly the wealthy, and don't look at ourselves. How many times have we shopped at walmart looking for cheap chinese stuff just to save a buck. How many times have we walked past the homeless guy and dismissed him as a bum? How many times have we talked about helping the poor while actually asking ourselves to sacrifice something as opposed to just the wealthy? I got news for some folks out here. If you make 70k, you are part of the 1% as far as the homeless guy is concerned. Sometimes change has to start at home.