Saturday, May 5, 2018
so,
1) i don't believe in charity. that is, i don't believe that the right approach to addressing poverty is to hand out funds on the street, nor to throw change at people or to force them to go into a religious establishment. this is degrading, all around; it reinforces a class structure. what i do in canada when i run into pushy poor people on the street is that i initiate a conversation about the ontario disability support program. i apologize if it harms your conception of human nature, but this generally produces the honest response that they don't give to most people: paying rent means less money for drugs. they'll get higher on the street. if what they were saying was actually true, they'd do what i've done: get a diagnosis from a doctor and a check from the government every month. i understand that even getting access to a doctor is difficult in michigan, but it doesn't change my moral beliefs around the subject, which are that everybody is entitled to an amount of resources that ensures they don't have to beg on the street.
2) even if i did believe in charity, i have to reinforce the fact that i'm a recipient of it, not a producer of it. it doesn't make sense to ask people on welfare or disability to give their money to homeless people. and, i apologize if you're confused about my financial situation, but that's not my fault, either.
3) i don't enjoy pamphleteering, and i'm not really good with people face-to-face. but, if i can be of any service in arguing for an expansion of social services in detroit or in michigan through the process of essay writing or message board rhetoric, i'm willing to take requests. if i haven't just done that.
1) i don't believe in charity. that is, i don't believe that the right approach to addressing poverty is to hand out funds on the street, nor to throw change at people or to force them to go into a religious establishment. this is degrading, all around; it reinforces a class structure. what i do in canada when i run into pushy poor people on the street is that i initiate a conversation about the ontario disability support program. i apologize if it harms your conception of human nature, but this generally produces the honest response that they don't give to most people: paying rent means less money for drugs. they'll get higher on the street. if what they were saying was actually true, they'd do what i've done: get a diagnosis from a doctor and a check from the government every month. i understand that even getting access to a doctor is difficult in michigan, but it doesn't change my moral beliefs around the subject, which are that everybody is entitled to an amount of resources that ensures they don't have to beg on the street.
2) even if i did believe in charity, i have to reinforce the fact that i'm a recipient of it, not a producer of it. it doesn't make sense to ask people on welfare or disability to give their money to homeless people. and, i apologize if you're confused about my financial situation, but that's not my fault, either.
3) i don't enjoy pamphleteering, and i'm not really good with people face-to-face. but, if i can be of any service in arguing for an expansion of social services in detroit or in michigan through the process of essay writing or message board rhetoric, i'm willing to take requests. if i haven't just done that.
at
14:43
so, a woman in detroit approaches me and asks me for money. an old story.
i'm not going to quantify the likeliness of any specific human misery occurring under the decline of capitalism in detroit, as i'm sure any horrible story you can imagine has a reality to it somewhere, any horror you can imagine has no doubt been experienced, but this particularly story struck me as embellished, to say the least.
i had enough money to get into an after hours somewhere (although the one i found didn't appear to be letting people in - there seemed to be people coming out, but not in, meaning it probably wasn't an after hours) and get something to eat. and, i can't risk getting stranded in a foreign country without any change. i can't access a bank machine in detroit. i don't have a credit card. if my bicycle were to break, for example, i might need to call a cab.
the bicycle. which i paid $30 usd for to leave locked up in detroit, and is now rusted over relatively badly; the fact that i owned this bike seemed to be some kind of argument that i should give her a proportion of the $30 i had in my pocket until i could get home.
i'm not insensitive to the situation. i understand that detroit has high poverty rates, and i don't think people should live in poverty. but, america cannot be looking to canadians on disability to reverse it's poverty rates, regardless of false perceptions around the cost of the bicycle they're driving.
i've run into this before, and i don't fully understand it. i don't project myself as an affluent person. so, why am i so often misinterpreted as one?
i understand that these con artists work people like this, but i was actually kind of taken aback by it, because while i don't have a sob story, i am not much better off than her in gross financial terms.
detroit has a problem with it's taxation system, and it's creating a lot of unnecessary hardship. but, if i am of any use in reversing this, it's in helping organize a resistance and counter movement, not in sending it money that i don't have.
and, on a moral level i don't think this responsibility falls to individual citizens, either, i think it is something that should be socialized and ultimately dealt with through the redirection of resources. the process of begging should never happen, because the society should be designed to ensure people have access to resources. i reject the idea of charity; i'm an anarchist, this is quite normal. and, any disdain about the situation needs to be directed to the economic system that allows such a situation to happen.
i am lucky to be born here. but, i'm not lucky enough to be able to start handing out cash to strangers.
sorry.
i'm not going to quantify the likeliness of any specific human misery occurring under the decline of capitalism in detroit, as i'm sure any horrible story you can imagine has a reality to it somewhere, any horror you can imagine has no doubt been experienced, but this particularly story struck me as embellished, to say the least.
i had enough money to get into an after hours somewhere (although the one i found didn't appear to be letting people in - there seemed to be people coming out, but not in, meaning it probably wasn't an after hours) and get something to eat. and, i can't risk getting stranded in a foreign country without any change. i can't access a bank machine in detroit. i don't have a credit card. if my bicycle were to break, for example, i might need to call a cab.
the bicycle. which i paid $30 usd for to leave locked up in detroit, and is now rusted over relatively badly; the fact that i owned this bike seemed to be some kind of argument that i should give her a proportion of the $30 i had in my pocket until i could get home.
i'm not insensitive to the situation. i understand that detroit has high poverty rates, and i don't think people should live in poverty. but, america cannot be looking to canadians on disability to reverse it's poverty rates, regardless of false perceptions around the cost of the bicycle they're driving.
i've run into this before, and i don't fully understand it. i don't project myself as an affluent person. so, why am i so often misinterpreted as one?
i understand that these con artists work people like this, but i was actually kind of taken aback by it, because while i don't have a sob story, i am not much better off than her in gross financial terms.
detroit has a problem with it's taxation system, and it's creating a lot of unnecessary hardship. but, if i am of any use in reversing this, it's in helping organize a resistance and counter movement, not in sending it money that i don't have.
and, on a moral level i don't think this responsibility falls to individual citizens, either, i think it is something that should be socialized and ultimately dealt with through the redirection of resources. the process of begging should never happen, because the society should be designed to ensure people have access to resources. i reject the idea of charity; i'm an anarchist, this is quite normal. and, any disdain about the situation needs to be directed to the economic system that allows such a situation to happen.
i am lucky to be born here. but, i'm not lucky enough to be able to start handing out cash to strangers.
sorry.
at
14:08
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