No boobs this time, but it was actually on Facebook. I took a screenshot but am not sure how to color over names & profile pics, so I'll just describe it.
Photo of a house. Caption says, "There are 18,600,000 vacant homes in the United States. That's enough for every homeless person to have 6." It's from a site called "The Anti-Media," and they've added, "Consumption-based economy...side effects."
Person who shared it adds, "I don't like this."
Friend adds, "I don't either, not one thing about it that I like. The scary part...most of us are from 1 to 4 paychecks away from finding ourselves in that situation! AND, most of us work long hard hours to keep the wolves at bay."
I replied. I then edited my reply. All I said in the end was, "...and how many of these houses are fit to live in - up to code, etc.? How do these homeless people pay rent, utilities, etc., and keep from becoming homeless again?" Originally I had also said, "The 'consumption-based economy might be a factor in having so many unused houses, but it's also the root cause of so many people being a paycheck away from homelessness. Teaching basic financial principles would go a lot further towards reducing the homeless population than... what is the solution being proposed here? I don't see one. Giving away houses? Regardless, teach a man to fish..."
I deleted the second part because this is family and I don't want to start shit. However, I have been homeless before, though only for a short time (a couple of months), so I do think I'm qualified to weigh in. And I fully admit that, though there were some difficult circumstances involved, being in that situation was 100% my fault and preventable, had I been less stupid. Doesn't mean anyone owes me a house.