Tent cities, anyone ?

[flappy]

A shout-out to all the "Mellow Stoners". Where can one live the cheapest? Don't include buying a home in inner-city Detroit for $1000.
What are the alternatives to the homeless shelters when the economy gets fully blown out and you've got to survive on $150/week? Many will have to network along those lines someday.

[Flamingnun]

How do you figure the world's going to have to live on 150 per week after some economic apocalypse happens?

[stonerkid]

Flappy, you should sell drugs

[badgoalie85]

Good thing the economy (US and global) is starting to turn around and that the recession will be over in 2010

[Xil]

How do you figure the world's going to have to live on 150 per week after some economic apocalypse happens?

• what goes up must come down.
• the universe tends towards entropy, or balance. either works.
• life sucks and all things bad must happen.
• its fun to imagine post apocalyptic worlds. Face it, thunderdome-esque reality is interesting.

choose any one. logic is moot.

[flappy]

Everyone seems to want to avoid a reasonable hypothesis, except for the guy that said "sell drugs". Now look, I realise that some of you are tenured educrats, either active or retired, and believe you will be taken care of forever. That's a great child-like attitude and no one wants to make fun of that.
I'm trying to wade thru all the non-answers and realise no one thinks it's possible to live on $150/week,even tho the majority of the planet lives on much less than that.
I bet there is a place in the rust belt, with 20% unemployment rates, where one could actually survive on $150. I'll answer my own questions from now on.
" The intellect is a lower state of awareness." ( Choose any authority on figure as the author, so you will be forced to believe it.)

[AlteredStateGrl]

^^ nice bullet usage.

[flappy]

^^ nice bullet usage.

Bullets are evil.

[Mescalito]

In a cave?

M

[Mikey]

jericho beach

[SageTree]

Until the RCMP kicks your ass for trying to live in the Olympic city. Vancouver is a war zone on homeless people right now and has been since the 2010 winter games have been coming. It's a point on the agenda even !

[Mikey]

^ #3200!

And yeah the RCMP can't get fucking harsh but in my personal experience they treat you the way you treat time, sure there's been a couple times they acted like hardasses for no reason but its less often then not

[SageTree]

I was glad to have gotten outa Van when I did. I like it there, but it's hard to live in the divivde between the money and the gutter.

Seeing that stuff breaks my heart and I felt so powerless even as I worked to help.

But in all fairness to the po po I have had both instances with them. But they really are going to work on this poverty issue pretty uncompassionately.

[flappy]

Here's a mainstream article from the Honolulu Advertiser:
Hawaii's homeless, rousted from parks, now living in remote areas | HonoluluAdvertiser.c om | The Honolulu Advertiser

The points being made here is that " the times they are a changin'. No matter how good you have had it up to this time, you may want to have an alternative plan, especially if you have to work for a living and unemployment rates gets to Third World levels.

[Sonnie]

lol in denver when the DNC came they gave homeless people a suit and tickets too the zoo..

so obama wouldnt have too see the less fourtanate people..

we normally play basketball at a park just west of downtown denver and there was literally convoys of trucks with men in machine guns all over..

[Mercury]

Hey flappy, I read a really insightful article about this in GQ.

Take a look: Tent City, U.S.A.: GQ Features on men.style.com

Two things I took away from this "investigation":

1. Tent cities are more civilized than you think, in terms of user friendliness. Simply show up, pitch your tent and try your best to establish yourself as a NON-target. It's inevitable that you would encounter "seedy" people at every turn. BUT you are safe from meddling police officers, social workers and the general population. This is because...

2. You have strength in numbers if you colonize with other homeless. Although there is no concensus of unity among the homeless, there is the appearance of unity that is respected by the civilized world because it means you are containing yourself to one general area, rather than sprawling out. It really is like establishing a small, quasi-politically soverign community.

$150 per week seems quite sufficient to keep you happy, IMO. You could even treat yourself to cheap hotel rooms every now and then (for the breaks between sleeping in tents and in parks). Also, that's plenty of food and beer money. The only other important thing I can think of is to mind your health and cleanliness.

I wonder about the prosepcts of being homeless all the time. It's one of my greatest fears. Even though my family has a lot of money and would never let that happen, I believe in mentally preparing for it.

[verklingen]

Everyone seems to want to avoid a reasonable hypothesis, except for the guy that said "sell drugs". Now look, I realise that some of you are tenured educrats, either active or retired, and believe you will be taken care of forever. That's a great child-like attitude and no one wants to make fun of that.
I'm trying to wade thru all the non-answers and realise no one thinks it's possible to live on $150/week,even tho the majority of the planet lives on much less than that.
I bet there is a place in the rust belt, with 20% unemployment rates, where one could actually survive on $150. I'll answer my own questions from now on.
" The intellect is a lower state of awareness." ( Choose any authority on figure as the author, so you will be forced to believe it.)

surely you know that when you were our age, many were telling people the comfort and safety we appeared to then live in was a mere illusion, with the threat of communist warheads looming every day. were the people who got passed that *possibility* and enjoyed what they had rather than fearing how it could all be stripped away truly child-like?

i don't think anyone believes they're going to be "taken care of" -- not how you mean it, anyway -- forever, but that doesn't preclude a sense of one always being able to take care of oneself. anyway, what i'm getting at is this: how does what you're saying differ from the "imminent threats" of the past that never materialized? sure, maybe it was ignorant of them to be so child-like, but there's a difference between being child-like and being immature. in my view the people who claim the sky is falling were and still are the immature ones. you can tell because immature people always have a miserable outlook

[Mercury]

surely you know that when you were our age, many were telling people the comfort and safety we appeared to then live in was a mere illusion, with the threat of communist warheads looming every day. were the people who got passed that *possibility* and enjoyed what they had rather than fearing how it could all be stripped away truly child-like?

i don't think anyone believes they're going to be "taken care of" -- not how you mean it, anyway -- forever, but that doesn't preclude a sense of one always being able to take care of oneself. anyway, what i'm getting at is this: how does what you're saying differ from the "imminent threats" of the past that never materialized? sure, maybe it was ignorant of them to be so child-like, but there's a difference between being child-like and being immature. in my view the people who claim the sky is falling were and still are the immature ones. you can tell because immature people always have a miserable outlook

You are speaking a great truth here, verk. You're talking about conquring fear and heartache. Nobody, even the richest men on earth, goes through life without the feeling that he is on the spot to make life or death decisions, or to answer questions he doesn't understand. A positive outlook does change all that, but it's always an uphill battle.

[flappy]

Hey flappy, I read a really insightful article about this in GQ.

Take a look: Tent City, U.S.A.: GQ Features on men.style.com

Two things I took away from this "investigation":

1. Tent cities are more civilized than you think, in terms of user friendliness. Simply show up, pitch your tent and try your best to establish yourself as a NON-target. It's inevitable that you would encounter "seedy" people at every turn. BUT you are safe from meddling police officers, social workers and the general population. This is because...

2. You have strength in numbers if you colonize with other homeless. Although there is no concensus of unity among the homeless, there is the appearance of unity that is respected by the civilized world because it means you are containing yourself to one general area, rather than sprawling out. It really is like establishing a small, quasi-politically soverign community.

$150 per week seems quite sufficient to keep you happy, IMO. You could even treat yourself to cheap hotel rooms every now and then (for the breaks between sleeping in tents and in parks). Also, that's plenty of food and beer money. The only other important thing I can think of is to mind your health and cleanliness.

I wonder about the prosepcts of being homeless all the time. It's one of my greatest fears. Even though my family has a lot of money and would never let that happen, I believe in mentally preparing for it.

Good point, Merc. Tent cities could be the first primitive wave of the "new community" of the future. I remember one of your more recent quotes, in another forum, about the government owning EVERYTHING. The only thing sovereign thing left will be the spirit of the people. For now, they do own everything else as long as we choose to use their currency. Not much alternative unless the heating oil man and the gas station man and the tax man will barter in something else.

[CloudCity]

Been on the homeless road before and didn't find it all that bad. Just mind your own business and like the man said, don't paint a target on your back. That goes double for cops. If things get too hor, pack up and move in ro some place more mellow. I'd suggest starting with some places that you're somewhat familiar with. Not that you have to know people there - just familiar territory. Try to stay out of political discussions. Walk softly and carry a big back. I lean toward baseball bats, and I try to keep it well stashed and bring it out only if absolutely necessary. Be extremely careful about actual weapons, and plan on splitting immediately of you're ever required to brandish it. I found the road to be a fairly friendly place, but make sure your cash is always stashed. Act and live poor even if you're not, and try not to spend it in the presence of other homeless people. I prefer to travel by motorcycle; that way it doesn't look like you have a lot of valuable possessions. Stear clear of alcohol. It only brings out the worst in people. You can smoke weed, but keep the majority of it well hidden.. Get up early in case you need to beat it out of there before every else is up and possibly up to no good. Try to leave town giving the impression you're headed one way, and then find a different way to leave town in a different direction that doesn't attract attention to yourself. One of the best places ro shower are truck stops. They're pretty safe and reasonably priced. And always, always watch your back. Do all that and you should be pretty safe. If you can, stop and see some relatives where you'll be safe and have a chance to decompress for a few days. That's about it; just be careful and ALWAYS watch your back. Take a camera and document everything. See as much as you can and make it interesting. Maybe you can find someone magazine to publish your stories and pictures. Write about the things you see and the peopke you meet. Pass yourself off as a freelance photojournalist.Peop le love to talk about themselved. See you on the road!