Do *Not* Feed the Homeless!

[Joe]

Los Angeles to join New York and 50 other U.S. cities with ban on feeding homeless people

As the number of homeless people in Los Angeles County [URL='http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-hud-homeless-20131121,0,1923578.story#ixzz2lmMZePiN']continues to rise

, the City Council is weighing a ban on feeding homeless people in public areas.

City Council members Tom LaBonge and Mitch O'Farrell, both Democrats, introduced the resolution after complaints from Los Angeles residents. Arguing that meal lines should be moved indoors, the legislators said the proposal would benefit both the homeless and residential neighborhoods.

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...

But advocates for the homeless say public officials are attempting to legislate the poor into invisibility instead of helping those in need.

"It's a common but misguided tactic to drive homeless people out of downtown areas," Jerry Jones, the executive director of the National Coalition of the Homeless, said to [URL='http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/26/us/as-homeless-line-up-for-food-los-angeles-weighs-restrictions.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&partner=rss&emc=rss&pagewanted=1&adxnnlx=1385488949-EHfl90CKNcGEuq3XF2Ou2Q&pagewanted=print']The New York Times

.

"This is an attempt to make difficult problems disappear," said Jones. "It's both callous and ineffective."

[/URL]
http://www.msnbc.com/the-last-word/please-dont-feed-the-homeless
...
http://www.msnbc.com/the-last-word/please-dont-feed-the-homeless

Los Angeles would join "dozens of cities in recent years" including Philadelphia, Raleigh, N.C., and Orlando, Fla. that have either enacted or at least debated legislation aimed at regulating the public feeding of the homeless. Over 50 cities have previously adopted some kind of anti-camping or anti-food-sharing laws, according to the [URL='http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2012-06-10/cities-crack-down-on-homeless/55479912/1']National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty.

[/URL]
http://www.msnbc.com/the-last-word/please-dont-feed-the-homeless
http://www.sott.net/article/269292-Los-Angeles-to-join-New-York-and-50-other-US-cities-with-ban-on-feeding-homeless-people

 

[Joe]

Bloomberg strikes again: New York City bans food donations to the homeless

http://www.sott.net/article/264140-Bloomberg-strikes-again-New-York-City-bans-food-donations-to-the-homeless

 

[ledboots]

 

[Clueless Git]

Jeebus!

They'll be picking on the pidgeons next.

More seriously ...

Any attempt to keep the scale of the homelessness problem hidden from view makes me feel sick to the pit, quite literally.

It was ASBO's (Anti Social Behaviour Orders) they used over here, a typical piece of 'manipulate the eejyutts, sh*t on the poor' piece of Thatcherism, if I have my time scale right.

Heralded to the hoi-poloi as the saviour of anyone suffering the miseries of anti-social neighbours; To serve on the homeless with a 'stay out of town or get jailed' condition was what it's actual purpose was for.

 

[Freesia]

How sick.

 

[das_nut]

Hide the homeless out of sight, that'll fix the problem.

 

[Amy SF]

If I want to feed the homeless, I will, and they can't stop me. I'll go to jail if necessary so I can feed the homeless.

 

[thefadedone]

**** Bloomberg and his food police.

 

[Mischief]

It's extremely distressing that enough of the population has this type of attitude toward the homeless that such laws are still being put into place. It's actually a step down from workhouses.

 

[ledboots]

http://wingnutrva.org/2011/05/16/florida-food-not-bombs-facing-state-oppression-fight-back/ From 2011.

 

[SummerRain]

I am often appalled when I hear peoples attitudes to the homeless. Even otherwise kind people, seem to think homeless people make a choice to be homeless, either directly or indirectly through irresponsibility, and could get themselves out of that situation easily if they bothered too. At school, one of my teachers told this to our class.

I guess it's kind of a safety mechanism, if homelessness is a choice, it can't happen to you. Unfortunately, that opinion just makes some of societies most vulnerable people suffer and fail to get the help they need.

 

[Joe]

I assume you all understand that I personally think we should feed (and otherwise care for) the homeless. I posted this thread as an act of sarcasm and to lampoon those who are passing laws to discourage feeding the homeless.

Speaking of me, one of the charities I gave to today to help feed the homeless and the poor is the Society of Saint Andrew. They have a fantastic efficiency record, because practically all the food they get is donated to them and practically all the labor in administering the program and distributing the food is also donated free by volunteers. http://www.endhunger.org/

If you donate today, Tuesday, December 3, up to and until 11:59 PM Eastern Time your donation will be matched 100 percent. So you can do twice as much good.

 

[mary1]

What? lame-O.