Rick Reuben wrote:But he was. He disconnected himself from his family, and he gave himself $25 to start with. Then he checked into a homeless shelter and applied for benefits. So, whether he voluntarily created his condition or not, the condition he subjected himself to was 'homelessness'. He had no home, and he did not reach out to his family to get one. You disagree?

This lack of perspective and compassion is truly astonishing.

Realize that any man's only truly valuable possession is not the money in the bank or the house he lives in, but his knowledge and attitude.

The key element in homelessness is not the physical belongings that are stripped from you, but that your confidence in yourself is destroyed and that you lack the mental tools to get back on your feet. This kid is just mimicing the physical attributes of homelessness, but retaining the same psyche, mentality and attitude he had in his previous, rich-kid life.

There is simply no comparison between the two.

There is a huge difference pretending that you don't have a home, knowing that one day you can always go back to one, and truly, in your heart, knowing that you really don't have a home. This kid knew that he could always abandon his "experiment" and go back to his comfort zone. The only cost would be that his experiment had failed.

I could not call my mother for a year and pretend that she is dead. I could even tell all my friends that she is dead. Don't you think that would affect me differently than knowing that my mother actually has died?

Kudos to all the people pulling themselves up from nothing. But this kid is not one of them.

Rick Reuben wrote:make excessive greed punishable by death.

How do you propose legislation for this would work? How would excessive greed be defined? How would one be tried? What kind of evidence could be cited? Would only financial greed be applicable? Why death?

Or would everything just be decide in Rick Reuben's Sharia Law Court, presided over by the great judge Sir Rick himself?

Justin from Queens wrote:

steve wrote:Let's see him start with 20 years in a fucking hovel with no familial support, no household stability, no stable peers, the legal system fucking with him constantly, etc. Let's see him start where poor people start, then we'll talk.

In fact, this is experiment has been run ad nauseam. The sample size is much larger and so we must accept the results as more statistically robust.

= Justin

Bravo.

That article is offensive.

asshole kid wrote:I didn't use my college education, credit history, or contacts [while in South Carolina]. But in real life, I had these lessons that I had learned. I don't think that played to my advantage.

This story is simulatenously depressing and enraging: the complete lack of understanding, the kid's narcissism, the fact that this is even news... fuck this shit.

Idiot kid should use his college education for something: to read the work of Sudhir Venkatesh, who lived in the Chicago projects for a number of years.

http://www.iserp.columbia.edu/people/venkatesh.html

Rick Reuben wrote:He. Did. Not. Claim. To.

If he doesn't claim that his predicament was like that of the truly homeless, then his story and his experiment prove absolutely nothing.

He was never homeless, so he and his experiment are completely irrelevant to a discussion of homelessness.

Rick Reuben wrote:make excessive greed punishable by death.

simmo wrote:How do you propose legislation for this would work? How would excessive greed be defined? How would one be tried? What kind of evidence could be cited? Would only financial greed be applicable?

It doesn't really matter, just as long as the hangman's business is privatized.

Rick Reuben wrote:End capitalism, end elite-ordained class structures, end hidden money power, make excessive greed punishable by death.

Punishable by death? Isn't that a little too drastic?

Rick Reuben wrote:

Earwicker wrote:I'd still like to hear what people think should be done about homelessness?

Basically, the modern liberal philosophy concerning wealth distribution is based on these principles:

1-Never question the road taken by those at the peak of the class structure, or of those at the very bottom.

2-Pretend that the tier of mega-billionaires is some accident of macro-economics, and never a product of design by the individuals.

3- Pretend that the tier of mega-impoverished is some accident of macro-economics, and never a product of design by the individuals.

Or maybe chronic homelessness and poverty — like every other position in life — is a function of a wide variety of personal ills, good and bad decisions, and luck, coupled with the realities of a person's general sociopolitical context. Maybe that's life.

Rick Reuben wrote:Shephard believed that he could escape homelessness.

Then he proved it.

He did not prove that *every* homeless person could do it.

He proved that *he* could do it. His case looks similar enough to other potential cases that it is safe to assume that his experience could transfer over to others, though.

The case looking similar to other potential cases is the issue, Rick, because it's not similar to most cases, but people will use this "study" to show that homelessness can be easily overcome. Shepard is a middle class college education white man with, seemingly, all of his faculties (and teeth) in place. I think his claiming to understand the issue and to know what it's like to escape poverty is totally bullshit. Claiming his upbringing and social safety net weren't a factor is bullshit. This study potentially being cited by someone in authority to not help homeless people- total bullshit. I don't pretend to be an expert on the issue, but I'm pretty sure it's more complex than Shepard makes it out to be. If I lost everything I had due to bad luck, not mental illness or drug abuse, I would expect to be able to regain a similar standard of living within a short period. I understand, to some degree, how money and credit work. I know how to talk to potential employers and landlords. Being middle class is not difficult for me, nor, to be honest, is it difficult for Shepard and he can't pretend that he his able to ignore it. He should be commended for at least caring about the issue, but I have to call shenanigans on his "study" and all the bootstrapping talk that has/will follow(ed).

Rick Reuben wrote:
The greedheads are killing people, but because they don't kill one person fully, one after the next, they are not charged with murder. They take pints of blood like vampires. But in the end, they are stealing life force from people. Why not put their life force at risk of termination for their actions?

I like this paragraph. Well done, seriously.

Rick Reuben wrote:He. Did. Not. Claim. To.

Not explicitly in this interview, no.

Rick Reuben wrote:There is no such thing as *one* person sharing the experiences of *all* homeless.

This is a fundamental misreading of this guy's experiment-cum-book deal. It is clear that his intent is to make a broader point about the nature of homelessness. As he says:

Adam Shepard wrote:That's why, from the beginning, I set very realistic goals: $2,500, a job, car. This isn't a "rags-to-riches million-dollar" story. This is very realistic. I truly believe, based on what I saw at the shelter ...that anyone can do that.

This "anyone can do it" attitude indicates a profound misunderstanding of the root causes of chronic homelessness. Taken along with his quote about making smart financial decisions, it betrays his true message: It is the fault of the homeless that they are homeless. Anyone who applies himself like I did can make it out. I proved it! Therefore, those who have not made it out yet must be lazy and uninterested in improving themselves. We should not worry so much about helping them.

There is not an abundance of previously well-off, college-educated, well-scrubbed, single white econ majors who are suddenly, inexplicably penniless and homeless, without any prior history of poverty or financial struggle. His is simply not a representative case. As a result, his phony, cock-like experiment is facile, cruel and ultimately worthless.