Read more about it here
Some people, for some reason, consider their day wasted if they don't make at least one person they perceive as lower on the totem pole than them suffer. And they consider themselves good guys, helpful guys and pillars of their communities. Which is too fucking sad and infuriating to put into words..
I am a doorman for a highrise full of wealthy people. Pretty regularly someone reports a "suspicious" person near the bus stop. Every single time it is just a black person waiting for a bus. No matter how polite and proper they may seem, the wealthy are all scum.
We should see politeness as offensive like the French did
I've leaned away from being polite using the magic words and rituals of interaction they teach us in elementary school. And think about how upset it makes older generations when the young say things like "no problem." We do things for others because we want to, and when they show appreciation we let then know we did it out of a shared sense of humanity. And the older folks hate that. They prefer "you're welcome" because
So yeah. Don't be polite for the sake of being polite. Don't be rude for the sake of being rude. Be kind for the sake of a shared human experience. And tell people who don't participate in a revolution of empathy they can fuck right off
Because it is. Ever have someone say "thank you" when what they really mean is "I'm done with you, get away from me."
I watched a documentation about police (EU) some months ago. They were called because supposedly there were "foreigners" causing trouble. They arrived and tried to figure out what the deal was but they were very confused. So the "troublemakers" were friendly and cooperative and the old man who called the police wanted the others gone. Police quickly realized who the actual problem was but the guy was having none of it. He even escalated and was even taken into custody if I recall correctly.
Not sure where the hell I was going with this story but your story reminded me of it. Something about suspicion I guess?
So it is illegal to sleep on a bench?
Yes. Vagrancy and loitering laws criminalize the homeless people in our community
I am not a native English and I remember having a really hard time understanding what "loitering" actually means. I thought "it cannot mean just standing around. it is a crime after all. how can 'just to exist' be crime?"
Now that I am older I see that it is just an excuse to discriminate.
It's essentially illegal to be homeless in the US
So they give people homes to stop them being homeless?
Studies show that's the cheapest solution. The problem is that the people holding the reins of power want to torture us, the proletariat. Governance hasn't been about what works since Reagan.
Oh gosh no. They destroy all of their property and put them in jail for 30 days. Then the next time when they try to protect their property they get sent to prison for at least a year for resisting arrest.
And that's if they don't get shot by someone who's not homeless, as at least one state has a law that self defence is a legal defence to shooting a homeless person. As in their homelessness is a legal reason to be shot.
Everyone's got their eyes on minorities but it'll be the homeless that America herds into concentration camps first.
I mean, they're already being forced into ~~slavery~~ prison labor.
Cheaper to arrest them and make them grow slave labor potatos in Idaho
Funnily, it is demonstrably not cheaper. Study after study shows its not cheaper. But its not about what costs the state the least, its about making sure wealth protects you from suffering. If wealth protects you from suffering, it justifies being wealthy so that you can avoid suffering. The result is that the wealthy torture the poor for the sake of torturing the poor. Its supremely fucked up and saying they do it to be cheap lessens exactly how fucked up it is.
Like. I want to be clear. I'm not replying with all this to be contrarian to your stance. I'm saying it because more people need to see it and be aware of it. Most of the world lives in a society that's been built through torture. We've learned that torture isn't required for economies to work and for workers to produce what everyone needs to thrive, but the absolute wealthiest people need to maintain the torture otherwise they can't justify their existence stemming from this torture. It would almost be better if they justified it through sport. But its not even that. They have to keep torturing because if the torture they perform now isn't justified, it means the torture of the past wasn't justified
Funnily, it is demonstrably not cheaper. Study after study shows its not cheaper. But its not about what costs the state the least, its about making sure wealth protects you from suffering.
Same with healthcare. We pay, what, 4x more for our healthcare system than the next highest country that has universal healthcare? It doesn't matter. Our system continues to funnel the money upward and punish the poor as well as further entrench them in poverty. America is lovely.
We should mutiny
But its not about what costs the state the least, its about making sure wealth protects you from suffering.
Yep. It's specifically to ensure the fear of homelessness keeps profitable wage workers as profitable as possible.
But its not about what costs the state the least, its about making sure wealth protects you from suffering
Well, it's also about disciplining the labor force. Poverty must be unbearable so that people are kept desperate for work.
It really shouldn't be, but in some places, yeah.
20ish years ago I got roused and told to move along by a cop for sleeping on a bench at a rest area off I95 in the middle of the day. I'd been up all night and stopped because I didn't feel safe driving anymore. That didn't matter to him/the law so I got back on the road.
I had something similar happen in Louisville. I pulled off the road because I was legitimately dangerous to myself and others. Cop told me I had to move on
For an example of how it should go: I was a young buck in the earlier 2000's driving after work going across several states. Got way to tired and pulled over. Few hours later I was woken up by a state trooper questioning me (probably the most disoriented I've ever felt waking up without a sedative in my system). Explained my situation and he gave me a business location a mile up the road where it would be safer for me to park and sleep because the police monitored the building at night and he would let them know I was there. For reference, I was not a minority and had a decent car at the time.
I was waiting for a bus and was practicing juggling to pass the time. I was told I couldn't do that by a security guard who thought I was busking. So I put up a sign that said "I'm not busking" and he was quite huffy and stood around giving me stink eye.
Not necessarily, but thanks to SCOTUS, cities can make it illegal all they want now.
But also, there’s this:
§ 559.45 Behavior in Parks
Sleeping or protracted lounging on the seats or benches, or loud, boisterous, threatening or abusive, insulting or indecent language, or disorderly conduct or behavior, or any act tending to a breach of the public peace is strictly prohibited. Source
If the police want to give you trouble, yes.
Here's what to do if you see someone sleeping on a bench or in a park: mind your fucken business, unless some is dying or being actively hurt mind your fucken business
If you think you saw someone sleeping somewhere illegally, no you didn't.
I've always applied the "should I be allowed to do it?" Reasoning to these circumstances. And yeah, I should be allowed to nap in the park on a nice day if I want.
Should I bring 6 shopping carts of stuff and block access to public benches for days/weeks at a time? No. But anyone just napping in the park is using the space as intended.
"Damnit Jesus go back to heaven already you know it's illegal to sleep here" Police probably
Before or after beating him?
depends on whether or not it was the white jesus, I suppose
He'll just turn the other cheek, but he can also respawn, so I think eventually he'll wear you down.
For context, Bay Village is one of the wealthiest and whitest Cleveland suburbs.
And probably "Christian". As in those that say their Christian but don't exhibit Christianity's ideals.
The key tradition colonizers spread to the new world was calling yourself a Christian before doing some heinous, very-unchristian shit.
Would you like some free, slightly used blankets?
Who the fuck calls the police about someone sleeping on a bench? That person must be really rotten inside.
How much you want to bet they tithe regularly to their local church?
It does kind of look like they might be dead. Maybe they were concerned about their welfare? I'm just too much of an optimist about people I guess.
Usually it's the 'no poverty in front of my kids' type of person that use their kids to justify being inhumane
Pick up that can, Messiah.
Hello, I am researching American crimes against humanity. . This space so far has been most strongly for memes, and that's fine.
There's other groups and you are welcome to add to them. USAuthoritarianism Linktree
See Also, my website. USAuthoritarianism.com be advised at time of writing it is basically just a donate link
Cool People: !thepoliceproblem@lemmy.world