Causes of poverty are not generally researched. There is no need for research or scientific study as social opinion and bullshit are sufficiently strong to provide all the easy answers anyone needs. Why is it that people have to be homeless in a sea of affluence? What do we really know about the homeless? Honest answers to these questions push a lot of buttons.
I'm not happy the deep state threw a bomb into our database and took my post away, I wanted to look at what I had found a week ago today. The bibliography I posted is the only thing that remains. Good I have a place to start from. But.
Times are changing. the boot comes down.
And we be fucked.
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A cause of contemporary homelessness is a drift towards destitution by people who do not ask for help. People keep their problems to themselves until they are on the street. When that happens people are trapped. The root causes of homelessness are not so different than they were a hundred years ago, and that the common reasons people think it happens are as deluded as they were a hundred years ago.
On my way to work yesterday I had enough time to get a 20 Oz cup of 'High Voltage' coffee at an AM-PM gas station. A minute from work. I have been getting my high voltage for a while. Black, no sugar, but I had not been in for a a few weeks.
The clerk recognized me and picked up an energy drink he had behind the counter. "This is my coffee. A buddy of mine dropped by and gave it to me."
"Is it working for you?
"I have three jobs and I'll have over 170 hours in two weeks. I want to buy a new car this summer.
I paused to do some quick mental math, saying before it could be noticed.
"Three jobs, they can't all be full time.
"No, this is my regular job, the others are in other gas stations.
"How do you sleep?
"One of the jobs is very late, I can get a little there.
At this the clerk showed me how he did it. He put on some dark sunglasses and leaned back on a stool. I had not been aware he was on a stool. His pose showed he could sleep behind the store counter. Without it being apparent. His head slightly tilted back. Then in a fluid motion the manner changed and his head tilted forward.
"Can I help you sir?
He had it down. I can't imagine a boss could possibly be pissed. He can wake up at the bell on the door and do the work. And get a few Z's at 4 AM. Good for him. I was impressed, but the bags under his eyes showed he has not had good sleep in weeks. A customer came in to give him twenty for gas. We seamlessly continued our conversation. I left saying I don't know how you do it.
170 hours at 22 an hour is $3,740. That works out to $97,240 a year. After taxes and thousands in rent and livings expenses it is not a small fortune. What used to buy a house now buys a room. I am guessing about the 22.
If my friend keeps it up for a year, he will kill himself. He was tired.
The lesson I left with is that it is a lot harder to get by in life than it used to be. All that so you can get a new car in the summertime? Is it worth it is not the question. The point is things are getting harder and more people who do what they think and have been told they should be doing are not getting by so well.
Lack of good paying jobs is one of the reasons people become homeless. As time goes by jobs become less good paying. It seems to be a fact of life.