At the end of the night I was the Big Loser. I never got my point across and yelled at a (lovely) friend in the process. I apologized. Even still, the message was lost (for now). I still have time, though. She is intelligent; this point is what makes it so damned maddening though. It is the intelligent people who need to stop being ignorant; ignorant only meaning "without knowledge." I'm not using that word as a pejorative or insult. But again, if those on "our side" are not getting it, I guess it is my job to do a better job conveying those points and bring them over with intelligence myself. Anger used in the correct way is a tool. Anger used in the incorrect way is a hindrance.
When I said "we" and "us" to her about this subject she shook her head to the negative and kept saying, "But you're not one of them!" She kept disagreeing with my point that I am part of them. I am them. I am "homeless" and so are they. Sure, some of them have hit their intellectual capacity, some of them are more mentally disabled than I am, even more reason to help ! If I start believing I am different than they are then I am lost. I fight because I am being attacked as well. Don't get me wrong. "It's personal!" I told her. And it is. But even if I were not part of this entire thing I would still fight for them all. It's the right thing to do.
In order to manage this problem we need people to stop blaming. We need people to stop the scapegoating and stop all the (hypocritical) moralistic nonsense. Again, I have pointed out "problematic 'house' behavior," but because this behavior comes from those in a higher socioeconomic class it is not frowned upon when compared to others with less means. Underage drinking is underage drinking. Binge drinking is binge drinking. No matter your socioeconomic status. So if you're going to ignore one group over another, based on the socioeconomic status of people like me, I am going to scoff at you and cut you off at the pass. Call you out. Scream at you, like I do on a nightly and daily basis. So stop it.
Better communication and non-propagandized information is the key. Scapegoating and fear-based lunacy has to end. I see the city of Berkeley are still asking for proposals and that is a good thing. Just so long as whatever proposal they choose gets the correct funding and a arbitrary book keeper as well. Am I part of it? No. I don't want to deal with bureaucratic nonsense. I don't want to listen to people bullshit me further. I am going to write my fiction and the money I make from that book will go toward something tangible; something that works. If I fail, nothing is lost, except those I see on a daily basis. The city will still try cleaning up the mess our politicians have created (not the 'homeless') and we will see if their plan goes down another long, deep, dark pit.
I hope not. I would like to see something "change." Right now that word is just a slogan. Something to get elected with. Because all I see is more of the same old sh*t. Scapegoating. Blaming. Moralizing. All these Christian Qualities and Tenets have to be modified. All this shooting at the wrong target stuff is getting old. All this affectation is tired. We need solutions not platitudes. We need habitats not guff. We need Leaders not Swine.
-James Richard Armstrong II
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