Fear of Plague

Image: Jeff Lewis/AP Images for AIDS Healthcare Foundation


Fear of Plague

... it comes in many forms.

Townhall: Bubonic Plague In Los Angeles? Is California On The Verge Of Becoming A Third-World State?

The article refers to Typhus, though the headline screams Bubonic.

If you really want to learn about Bubonic Plague, read "The Plague" by Albert Camus, probably his best work.

And don't blame the rats; it's the fleas on the rats that carry the diseases.  In Camus' book, the rats died as well as the humans. I doubt there are many people nowadays, even on the streets, who would tolerate having body lice!

Politifact: No, illegal immigrants and refugees are not causing six eradicated diseases to come back

Forbes: Official Lies, Bubonic Plague, And California's Homeless Challenge

EpochTimes: Bubonic Plague May Join Homelessness, Rats Among Crises in Los Angeles

Homelessness itself is the plague plaguing America. Too many tax dollars are being spent on attempting to dominate the entire globe rather than tending to problems at home.

YouTube Video: How Poor People Survive in the USA

Interesting, the people in that video are not drunks or druggies or runaway teens! They actually have jobs, but can't afford a place to live, so they sleep in their vehicles!

The only comment I can make is that America needs to get over itself as the greatest and best place on earth and spend less on war tools and more on affordable housing -- not to mention decent and meaningful education that includes personal survival methods.

So what's Canada's excuse, eh?

 YouTube Video: Homelessness in Toronto:

I can't go shopping in the afternoon without encountering various people who ask me for handouts, but I find if I go in the morning there aren't any in sight, and I suspect it's because they're sleeping off their last night's drug/alcohol binge.

What bothers me most is that I'm often asked for money from people smoking cigarettes. Good lord, I couldn't afford to smoke, so why should I subsidize those who do?  Or heavily tatooed people: how much does that cost?  And fancy hair dye jobs!

The very first person in that video was a woman who acknowledges she's schizophrenic and can get treatment and rehabilitative shelter, but prefers not to.  She apparently finds decent shelters at night and enjoys roaming the streets by day. Her hair, skin and clothes look well cared-for, and she's made a choice that she seems quite comfortable with. Should hard-working people on a budget need to feel guilty if they choose not to support her decision financially?

There are some teenagers who don't get along with their parents (what independence-minded teenager actually does get along with his/her parents?), but aren't prepared to do what some others do; that is, tough it out in favour of long-range plans that include education and jobs. They want FREEDOM without realizing there is no such thing at all, and that we receive only what we are prepared to work and sacrifice for.

I've personally been seriously lied to by extremely creative, well-dressed, professional panhandlers, so I'm cautious now.  I've been known to drop a loonie or two into a guitar case if the music sounds good -- at least it was a two-way exchange -- but I don't feel like supporting anybody's drug, drink, cigarette or insubordination habit.

Even AA will tell you that the only possible way to help a drunk is to completely abandon him/her; otherwise you're considered an "enabler".

It's comforting that The Ontario Safe Streets Act forbids moochers from approaching anyone who is waiting in a line-up of any kind, anywhere -- in other words pretty much a captive. But in Toronto I was twice approached, once while waiting outside the bus terminal to be picked up by a friend, and again while waiting in line to board the bus back home.

My white hair makes me a target for the same reason that the elderly are so often the victims of phone scams. It's assumed that we aren't quick thinkers, and can be easily tricked, but I didn't fall for the story I was given of being short "just five dollars to make bus fare".  I've fallen for much more creative stories in the past, so I pretty much knows one when I sees one.

People gotta realize we raisins weren't born yesterday.

One thing I know from personal experience is that self-pity never got anybody anywhere. Nor does it help to view and accept one's situation as inevitable or unsolvable. Tossing loose change at someone's self-pitying delusion will only make it worse in the long run.

I personally was a very lucky kid.  My parents didn't give me an allowance (they did pay for my clothes, food, bus money and school books), so from the age of 13 I did odd jobs after school and on weekends that I absolutely hated but which gave me a sense of independence and personal pride. I even kept a ledger of how much I earned and what I spent it on.  When I was 16 I took full time work in a bank -- the most educational experience of my life -- at which time payment for room and board was demanded of me by my parents -- and obtained further high-school and post-secondary education on a part-time basis.

I married a guy who did the same.  He worked in a lab that allowed him to take off in the summer to work towards his mathematics degree while I worked to keep us afloat. When he was back at work, then I resumed my courses. There was no government or family assistance for either of us -- though our parents were quite well off.

When our marriage ended after 17 years, I was fully equipped to make it as a single mom. As long as my daughter was in high school, I didn't expect her to work for her pocket money, though I must admit I was grateful for the student loan benefit that allowed her to attend university.

I don't know what causes anyone to believe they are entitled to pester strangers for handouts, but they're totally doing themselves in by thinking that.

I'll finish by including below some useful (as is) advice from a YouTube commenter who's clearly been there, done that and found a way out of it ...

-Take any possible job.From street cleaning,dishwashing,delivering.Anything that help you pay your bills.
-Leave any addictions.Smoking,alcohol,junk food.They are luxuries, you have no money for that.
-Seek for help from governmental organizations:jobseeking,free trainings.
-If you can move to a friend/family member(for the time being,and helping out with the rent of course).
-Cook for yourself, have ingredients at home.No prepared food.
-If you have any stuff you don't need or you can replace it sell it. For example sell your bed, but keep the matrace, so you have place to sleep, but got some money.
-Keep the recipes from the shopping, so at the end of the day you can calculate how much you spent.
​