Letter to the Editor
Deplorable story
Published Tuesday, June 24, 2008
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Stumble It!June 21, 2008
To the editor:
I was dismayed to see your headline “Herding the homeless” and incredulous to read about the plan to “clean up” the home of some of our homeless residents.
To imply as animals our homeless residents is unconscionable and to refer to these residents in the negative tone of your article is deplorable.
The yards of many Fairbanksans, privileged to live in houses, are far more disgusting than the remains of the camp of the uprooted folk.
Is it as big a problem as portrayed to have a few down and out people living in our woods? I hope we can extend acceptance and compassion to every member of our community. There, but for the grace of God, go I.
Community Discussion
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"Privileged to live in houses?"
Most people I know, myself included, work to provide homes for their families. It is not by accident that people have houses, but rather through hard work and some luck. As to some of these yards, by yards you mean private property that someone put forth capital to purchase, they can be kept however the homeowner chooses. The right for people to have private property is really a cornerstone to freedom.
The land that these people were "herded" off of was not their property. These squatters knew that what they were doing was illegal. They are not victims.
The community should, and does have acceptance and compassion. Maybe you could lead by example and take some houseless people into your home.
Most people here are not homeless because they are war vets, or can't find work. (Most, not all. Those with mental illness should not be living in the woods anyways, and we SHOULD help them.) It's primarily because of wreckless decisions/bad work ethic. Taco Bell starts at $9.00, that's enough for a 1 room at College Inn (all utilities), food and a new car. Places here are in desperate need of workers. They even tolerate a lot of bad practices like tardiness, to keep workers. So, sympathy is not going to be as high from me. They aren't homeless simply needing a place to sleep. They refuse to help themselves. They spend their money on alcohol and can't hold a job. They are a mess, financial drain and disturbance. Alaska has the best public assistance in the USA. There are shelters, assistance and jobs here.
I was a homeless mother 10 years ago. Not because of lack of work, but because I had a bad work ethic and a spoiled "I am entitled" attitude. All I had to do was get a life. After getting my stuff together, I am now a tax paying contributing member of society. Only because everyone turned their back on me and forced me to get it together. I am better for it. Some people deserve the compassion, but we need to be more selective and give it where it should go (children/mentally ill/elderly-those that can't help themselves).
If this was Michigan, New Orleans or Ohio I would feel really bad, and offer a hand. However, Alaska is hands down the easiest place to make a living. Jobs and handouts are plentiful.
(Side question-what's with the $2.00 words, some of the sentences are strange).
Jobs, housing, way of life all determined to be "NORMAL" by the community of the majority. Natives did not have roots in any one place, homes were put up when and where practical and usually near a river to fish or follow the herd. Nomadic way of life should not be condemned or ridiculed. A job is not necessary to live if you live off the land, it is only necessary if the subsistence way of life is forgotten or lost because only "NORMAL" is required, tolerated or accepted. Gas, fuel oil, food cost increases, affordable housing availability may be creating a new form of subsistence living and could become the "NORMAL" way of life. So few left that lived in the Great Depression, so few know the history, it was not a choice it was a case of survival.
Did you know that squatting in Alaska, only the owner of the land can file a complaint and have the squatter removed. So in unincorporated areas where people bought land, moved out of State and did not register their land is open game for squatters. Even the neighbors if they have any can't do a darn thing about it. For those who don't know, unincorporated areas don't have property taxes, so no rolls to show who owns it.
We regale the history of the golden heart with tales of making do with nothing but the shirts on our back and the sweat on our brow. Now we think that someone who is trying to get by on next to nothing is some kind of bum. Well maybe some are, but so what? Each and every one of you should go and try to get by like these bums you are so concerned about. Its not so easy. Whatever circumstance put them there, a little compassion and kindness is your duty, not their birthright.
At the end of the trail we all revert to the same clay. I think Fairbanksans lost a little something of themselves in this initiative.
Remember the notable Fairbanks homeless, Irene, and Waska.
JP-Don't try to cannonize Waska Waska. He was a mean spirited, violent, drunk. By today's definition he was also a racist. I know 'cause I hauled him to jail and FMH on more than one occassion.
Irene had a home and Waska had many friends who cared for him. People who took time to know them were enriched by the experience.
as for the yards that are more disgusting than the homeless camps... have you ever seen one? there is used toilet paper and poop everywhere, drunk people have..ummm... "relations" right out in the open, do you know how many sexual assaults are reported from those areas? these are disgusting, trashy areas, far worse than any yard i ever seen, at least most people don't utilize there lawns as a restroom. rotting bags of trash and moldy blankets with all kinds of diffrent excrements on them is what you can find at one of these camps. not to mention fire hazards from the homeless and drunk starting bonfires, but i'm getting angry from people thinking we need to help them so i'll just be quiet.
Reader1 - You stated "by yards you mean private property that someone put forth capital to purchase, they can be kept however the homeowner chooses. The right for people to have private property is really a cornerstone to freedom." The problem here is the property you call a yard is really a junk yard. The homeowners around you are the ones who suffer when their well kept property goes down in value due to the junk laying in your yard.
>>nothing but the shirts on our back and the sweat on our brow.<<
The 'sweat on our brow'-or lack of-defines a homeless bum.
Irene had a home and Waska had many friends who cared for him. People who took time to know them were enriched by the experience.
JP-Don't try to cannonize Waska Waska.
These were two of Fairbanks most noteworthy citizens!! I am proud to have known (albeit not well) both of them. Just because Waska had tourrets (sp?) syndrom he was looked down on?? Just because they both liked a drink once in a while?? What is this place coming to? Thanks Woodman and JP, you both hit this one just right!!
A good friend of mine once said, 'When you point your finger at someone you really just point three right back at yourself'.
Take a good, long, hard, look around here folks. The 'Homeless' are not the only ones spewing garbage everywhere. This town is absolutely crammed packed full to the brim of brain dead, responsibility dodging, immature, no-good, low-down, scum sucking, garbage tossing, pick-up driving, fast-food buying, diaper tossing, cig-sucking, beer chugging, PIGS.
what was so notable about Waska? did i miss the memo that shoplifters and yes drunks, not people who like a "drink every once in awhile", oh and people who are violent are now going down in our towns history? crappy
Private Property is supposed to be, and should be, Sacred (I agree)....about the only concession I think should be made to the whimpering little snots who think THEY should decide for others how their yards should look should be something along the lines of......If you don't like it, and have the support of your and their niebors that something is unsightly (in their eyes, anyway)...then the little snots should be the ones to bear the cost of a high fence to build around it (say 10 or 12 feet high). Then the unsightly yard would be "out of sight", and everyones satisfied (except perhaps the owner of the fenced in yard...but at least he'd be somewhat compensated by having a fence..??)
You can only help someone who wants to help themselves. If NFNP is happy where he/she is, good. If there are homeless here in town that need assistance the help is there if and when they decide to ask for it. As for someone taking up residence in the low spot behind some trees on a vacant lot in town, not if it is my yard, sorry. I will be more than happy to point them in the right direction for affordable housing or emergency shelter but I will not allow them to put up a tent in my back yard while they blame society for their own short comings. The only difference between them and myself is that I would never let myself settle for that type of existance, so I got a job and worked until I had the money to buy. I can see helping anyone with the same desires for themselves but I wont give it to them and i wont make it acceptable for them to settle for less and me to pay for it, even if it a tent in the woods behind my house that I have to tell my children to stay away from because I have no idea what type of person is squatting there.
I am happy, thank you very much.
I guess my point is that these places being 'occupied' by 'homeless' are, in my opinion, only slightly more messy than apparently everywhere else.
The sinking ship analogy is appropriate here. To point at the 'homeless' and exclaim, 'Hah, their end of the garbage scow is going down while our end is steadily rising into the sky' is to say the least, fundamentally flawed. We're all drowning in a stew a trash and perhaps scape-goating the 'homeless' is not the solution. Getting out there and pick-up your own filth would be a better start. You know, 'Those who live in glass houses'?
hey not from np have you ever seen a homeless camp? slightly more messy in an understatement. and i do pick up after myself... and my husband-lol
Good Lord! You people are so mean. May the Lord on mercy on you too, even you filthy trash talking humans.
Yup, I've seen them. I've seen them starting from somewhere near the middle of town to down the Richardson Highway to at least the Chena Flood Control Project, then out the Steese to way past the Pedro Monument, all along the Elliot to Olnes, and the Parks to way beyond Ester. They're are apparently so many that they've blended together into one giant heap of trash.
Perhaps the 'homeless' are, in an attempt to be 'normal', just chucking their trash around because that's what they see everyone else doing?
You folks should be required to use your real names. I bet there would be much less of this bs.
Pat
I was homeless once, it was by choice and it was not that much fun.
i agree wih pat. everyone is hiding behind their computer
My name is JoAnna Harper- My yard is a junk yard (we went from having a garage to no garage and my husband collects so much crap. I am making him build one though-sorry neighbors.). Still don't feel sorry for people who are homeless in this state. We have jobs and assistance gallore. (Unless it's due to mental illness)
So, people don't like seeing homeless folks? Well, you better get used to it. Take a course in history. Did your parents, grandparents never tell you of the Great Depression? They had a tent city in Anchorage, where hobos caught rabbits, cooked them right over their campfires, ate them to stay alive.
Yeah, don't help the homeless, until it's YOU who is homeless.
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