I don't get this homeless person

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Originally Posted By: qwerty1234
Downtown Chicago has panhandlers everywhere. They are professionals who sit outside office building where there is a lot of foot traffic. I've spoken to a few and they rarely make more than 40-50 dollars a day. It isn't easy standing outdoors all day with a sign dealing with the public. If I'm in a good mood, I will buy the regular guy sitting on the milk crate a 24ounce can of Ice beer. He really appreciates it and I'm just glad that I can help.


I'm glad you talk to them. They can be amazing people with great stories to tell. I've met smart and articulate people. They simply had a bad event happen to them, lost everything and then were never able to get back in the mainstream.

At a previous job, we had a program where we provided the homeless with proper grooming and dress for job interviews. It was a successful program because they lacked the resources to look like someone an employer would hire. They used the mailing address of one of our group homes as well.
 
Originally Posted By: Alfred_B
Lottery is a tax on poor people.

Why is the OP surprised?


Taxes are not voluntary. They have the option to play or not.
 
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You should see how the taxes work for the rich. They are voluntary for them -- they either choose tax avoidance strategies, or pay taxes. Most choose to avoid.
 
Originally Posted By: bama7x57
Originally Posted By: Alfred_B
Lottery is a tax on poor people.

Why is the OP surprised?

Taxes are not voluntary. They have the option to play or not.

Should we call it a voluntary poor tax? Many people can't stop anyhow, so [censored] away their money is not optional for them until they get some kind of mental health treatment.

I see it even on this forum, folks who ask for advice, ignore it, and continue to waste money, preventing themselves from ever being successful. It's definitely psychological.

Especially considering the way states push lotteries and feed off of peoples' compulsions, it's hard to see it as entirely optional. I know that I don't buy lottery tickets, because it's a ridiculous waste of money and I'm investing in my future instead. Not everyone sees it that way, and the comments about having to play to win are very telling.

I'll share this again. It shows how effective the states are at pushing gambling to increase revenues.
 
At 60 years old.... I 'win' my lottery by having 2 pensions, an IRA and 401K.

It doesn't hurt to spend a buck and buy a lotto ticket when your wife sends you to the grocery store with her shopping list.
 
Originally Posted By: InfmousCornholio
Weirdly, I had two winners last night on lotto... $20 on a scratch-off and another dude won $420 on regular lotto!

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However.. Most "homeless" people.. aren't.

These grifters play on people's heart strings. Hard not to want to smack the dude that kneels in front or next to people's cars at lights... [censored], dude. [censored]. Really? But. It works...

They have shades and clean shirts on out here on 440. They also likely make more money than I do. And the majority are NOT HOMELESS.


A LOT of them are actually gypsies. It's a carny act for them and they are good at it, unlike in Europe here in the USA if those folks were robbing and pick pocketing they would be handled by police and they know it.
 
Yep, or the guy who is always needing money for a ride to Saskatoon, standing on a boulevard in northern Regina. He seems to need that same ride almost every day. You'd think at least one person would have offered him a ride. I'm sure he didn't want to be a bother and just wanted a bit of cash, instead, to find his own way there. He never seems to get there, though.
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Originally Posted By: Mr Nice
At 60 years old.... I 'win' my lottery by having 2 pensions, an IRA and 401K.

It doesn't hurt to spend a buck and buy a lotto ticket when your wife sends you to the grocery store with her shopping list.

That truly is a win for you.

A weekly dollar ticket isn't a big deal when you're well-off. We all enjoy some luxuries (a bit of scotch on the weekend for me). I didn't buy any booze, tobacco, lottery, etc. when I was homeless, and didn't enjoy more than a weekly beer until I became confident that my career and savings were where they should be.

It's the poor folks who spend their money on those things that is most troubling. I had a good mentor to teach me fiscal responsibility when I was younger. It's a shame that personal finance isn't taught in high school, as many people could use that.
 
Originally Posted By: satinsilver
At least he wasn't buying booze with the money. Which is where I thought the post was going.


+1 for the above comment.

And please stop referring to bums, winos, deadbeats, and derilicts as homeless.
 
Originally Posted By: zzyzzx
Originally Posted By: satinsilver
At least he wasn't buying booze with the money. Which is where I thought the post was going.


+1 for the above comment.

And please stop referring to bums, winos, deadbeats, and derilicts as homeless.


We are all homeless on a journey in this temporary life seeking our true nature and purpose and until we find the truth or it finds us.
 
I am still ahead on my lottery winnings? I purchased my first mega-bucks ticket back in 1992 in college. I did not win the million dollar prize but won a larger prize of $1000 which was a lot of money then(tuition was $5k).

The NH lottery funds our schools and I believe on of the early pioneers. Our states lives off tourism taxes(meals/lodge), sole liqor/wine provider and slightly cheaper cigs to fund out "tax free" state in terms of state income and sales.
 
Originally Posted By: madRiver
The NH lottery funds our schools and I believe on of the early pioneers.

If you look at state budgets, you'll find that the onset of lotteries didn't add to school funding, it just substituted it. Money that used to be sent schools was just sent elsewhere, and gambling earnings substituted it. The funding of schools is one means that the states use to convince people to buy tickets.
 
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