Tired of the performative beggars and alcoholics this time of year

[Onand]

Is anyone else sick and tired of the huge number of ‘homeless’ beggars, alcoholics and addicts that descended on the streets since the Christmas rush started this year?

Manchester is rife with them- this year there is a particularly ropey bunch of alcoholics/ addicts that are obnoxiously ‘sleeping’ or sitting with their bags pointing directly out into the street instead of being against a wall, they’re building ‘dens’ in shop doorways which stink of human faeces and piss, dealers go from spot to spot, dogs forced to sit in uncomfortable situations (often not even their dog as the same one gets passed from beggar to beggar).

It’s a self perpetuating problem because soup kitchens serving buffets set up and cater meals for them whilst they’re generally being a nuisance and making the streets look an absolute shitty mess. Why are they tolerated? People need to stop giving them money as it just encourages them to keep doing it when there are services in place to help them.

Bah humbug I know, but It’s beyond grim.

You can express compassion for someone whose shoes you would never want you or your loved ones to walk in while also being aware of societal dangers. Anyone who is shooting up on the street in full view of passersby has a fucking awful life. Addiction is NOT a choice.

Christ, the lack of humanity on this thread. Merry fucking Christmas.

Yes because homeless people are living their best life sleeping on the streets rolling in cash etc etc
When in reality they live every day fearful hungry cold and hopeless and just trying to get by hour by hour
Maybe stop being such a snob and do privileged and try to see the reality of living on thestreets

I assume they are cousins of “the deserving poor”

@housethatbuiltme Gives a pretty strong picture of her experiences which are about far more than her personal circumstances. It’s probably one of the most insightful posts on this thread, and you are being massively disingenuous @WhimsicalGubbins76 if you think it’s worth less because she hasn’t asked every homeless person in the UK for their experience.

There are many reasons why people become homeless, men, women, children, veterans and people do open their homes or hand out hot food and shelter. Have I specified an unknown man with a drug addiction?

Sheesh 😒 this is a very good example of how we can’t forget these people are still (mainly) men. People are talking about checking your privilege and power dynamics, but a man begging on the street whether he is homeless or not is still a man and that carries privilege in itself.

That’s not to say you don’t have any advantages over him, but it’s to say that he isn’t rendered totally powerless or harmless to you just because he is on the street begging.

I had a man literally run up to me late at night and ask for money. My heart was absolutely pounding but I said no and asked him did he think it was a good idea to run up to a strange woman on a quiet street effectively asking her take out her purse in the dark. I knew I probably should’ve just walked away quietly but I’m glad I spoke up before I went on my way.

I’ll never forget as a teen when a friend of mine took out her purse to give £1 in argyle street to a street beggar and he saw the crisp tenner and demanded that. She of course didn’t feel strong enough to challenge him and handed over the £10. Not sure if he would’ve done that to a man his own age!

The virtue signallers are out in force I see.

I’ll buy someone a coffee or a sandwich, or give to a charity, but there’s no way I am paying money for someone to go out and get their next hit.

And for the people who say “who am I to judge, if I was in that position I too might be addicted,” by giving that money to a drug addiction, you are fuelling the drug trade, the associated trafficking and other crimes, and you are giving a hit to that drug addict who might possibly sexually assault your daughter or another woman or be violent to the next person who refuses them money.

If someone came on here saying their partner was a drug addict they would be advised to LTB and he was bad news. But post about drug addicts on the street and suddenly you’re wrong for not buying them drugs (cause yes, if you give them money, that’s exactly what you’re doing) and opening up your home to them? Get real.

Where be these legendary Buffets and Meals you speak of? And what are these Services so freely available?

That's a bit naive. It's far more likely to bcome homeless because you're an addict, than to become an addict because you're homeless. There are exceptions of course, but not many. People who become street homeless without addiction issues are far easier to help and are more able to access help, so don't tend to get stuck there.

What a mean-spirited thread full of anecdotal tales devoid of facts or evidence.

Traffic is traffic eh, MNHQ?

I work with those who are homeless and also those with drug and alcohol issues. If you had even the slightest knowledge of the backstory of some of those who you are denegrating, I would hope you would change your mind. It is not a "choice", it is overwhelmingly a consequence of a series of horrible events in life, usually from a young age. Have some compassion, it is generally an absolutely awful way of life and the stigma from society (such as displayed here) is one reason why it is so hard to get out of. I'm really sickened by the attitude displayed here.

Homeless people are not easy people to deal with. They are usually traumatised in some way,addicted and have made poor choices that can be difficult for the rest of us to sympathise with. They can often be high,aggressive and leave streets in a mess. The best way to help these people is to donate to proper homeless charities or, if you want to go to the coal face, volunteer. I have personal experience of this, my uncle is homeless and an addict but has a family that loves him and has tried for 30 years to help him. Unfortunately he has chosen this life instead of taking that help. It's a complex problem and homeless people are neither saints nor sinners.

Every publication has an agenda. The Guardian, for instance, is a left wing rag.

That doesn't mean that everything printed in The Critic or The Guardian is untrue.

What specific points given in the linked article about Roma sellers of The Big Issue are untrue?

🙄

and to add to my previous comment :

https://amp.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/oct/04/aaron-barley-homeless-man-who-murdered-woman-who-helped-him

Most homeless men are not killers btw and I’m not suggesting they are, but they’re still a. men and b. strangers and many have substance abuse issues which can cause or exacerbate poor mental health so they carry a certain level of risk! Let’s be sensible here.

I was a bit silly albeit well intentioned as a teen and once invited a homeless guy outside the library to my church barbecue. He then proceeded to leer over me and invite me to his treehouse for sex which led to me running away as fast as I could.

There are so many great charities you can pitch in with or donate to or pressure your MP into proposing some real sustainable solutions to the wider problem. Taking in homeless men off the street isn’t the one.

Wow addiction is an illness not a choice. You are so judgemental.

No fucking way would I ever allow a homeless person into my home. I am not stupid. This thread is bonkers.

Not ''boasting'' here - I donated to UNICEF Children in Gaza as they are probably innocent (for Xmas this year).

I dont believe that most of the beggars are homeless. I think we have a huge homelessness problem, but the ones visibly begging on the streets are mainly long term addicts. Im not sure of the answer to it , and im sure theyve been failed along the way, but im not getting involved with them, or paying for their drugs and alcohol.

I used to be an addict in the past and have been homeless. I genuinely hope that a lot of these people sort themselves out, but i won't hold my breath.
Ive always had a few friends still on the periphery of some of these communities and I think I lost a lot of my naievete about a lot of the beggars quite a few years ago.
Some people cant be helped, and my resources are so limited.

Yes, I never even heard of the Critic before I googled this. But the points made in the article, about the Big Issue being significantly affected by gangs of Roma, seem pretty consistent with the experience of other posters, including mine.

I really wouldn't want to support a situation where women are being exploited by gangs.

At the very least, the Big Issue has got some explaining to do, hasn't it?

Exactly. Absolutely nuts.

This is the poor husbands comment after his wife and 13 year old son’s murder :

Of Barley he said: “There’s no motive, there is no explanation. He decided that because his life was going bad ways, he was going to take it out on the people that had cared and looked after him. I wish we had never met him – I wish my wife had never set eyes on him

Most towns and cities will have charities which do outreach work, run kitchens that give out food (not necessarily 3 meals a day, in our nearby town its Wednesday, Friday and Sunday nights only from one place and there are a couple of churches that do lunches) and run shelters. The bigger problem is the toxic combination of mental health need and addiction suffered by many street homeless people. Providing a meal and overnight shelter is actually reasonably straightforward, it's providing services beyond that that is difficult and expensive and that's where the support ends.

My brother is a polydrug user with huge mh issues who has suffered periods of street homelessness so this is a subject quite close my heart. He's now in a supported living hostel so has a roof over his head whilst he drinks himself to death. He's hostile to the medical establishment but there's no mh support available to him anyway and even if services were available he can't engage with him whilst he's actively drinking/using and there are no services to help him stop even if he wanted to which he doesn't (too many demons). So yeah, it's a mess. Had he had access to mh support and substance abuse services 20 years ago things might have been very different.

This. You lost me when you started complaining about soup kitchens. Fuck me. You think you recognise arseholes then suddenly there is a whole new level of arsehole. Shame on you op.

Thats why we have online shopping Op ! Thats why I will not drag my children or myself into the city center too, to have us all harassed and for me to have to explain about the people who badger us.

Well where do you propose they go instead? If taxpayers were funding putting addicts up in hotels or giving them flats/ houses no doubt you’d complain about that instead.