Reading that made me so unhappy
About 75% of homeless people are mentally ill. Not so sure about by design.
actually that number probably has come down now since the 2008 collapse
I would also say that a certain percentage of them(though I do not have a specific number) are homeless by choice. It takes a very free and enlightened individual to not feel the almost natural urge to be weighed down by social obligations, bills, and possessions. I knew people in my youth who hopped trains, panhandled, or followed The Grateful Dead. They had nothing but what could fit into a backpack and they were some of the nicest and happiest people I have ever met.
There's another angle.....I had a friend in the old days who smuggled drugs into Europe. She did it a few times then got busted and went to prison. She LOVED it and when it came time for her release she BEGGED them to keep her.
In the free world she was a poor old woman who had to figure out how to live, how to get her next meal, how to clothe herself, etc. In prison all that was taken care of, plus the prison itself was nicer than any place she could ever afford IRL.
What Would Lawrence McGuire Do?
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