tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27946614.post8612225534471231696..comments2024-03-07T14:43:21.888-08:00Comments on Whatever I want to write about: La majestueuse égalité des lois, qui interdit au riche comme au pauvre de coucher sous les pontsSriram Khéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907731254833435446noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27946614.post-79414568731461684972016-04-07T07:10:22.909-07:002016-04-07T07:10:22.909-07:00One of the wonderful aspects of the web is this: i...One of the wonderful aspects of the web is this: it is such an awesome tool when I want to get the original French version of the Anatole France quote on the majesty of the law that says sleeping under a bridge is a crime, whether it is the rich or the poor who do it. I get the answer as soon as I type a few words. Awesome!<br />I used the first half of the quote as the title of the post ... glad that you went after the rest, Ramesh. Touché ;)Sriram Khéhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06724218458246880137noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27946614.post-28211204070414957042016-04-07T07:06:24.326-07:002016-04-07T07:06:24.326-07:00My follow-up post, to which Ramesh has already res...My follow-up post, to which Ramesh has already responded, will make you think more about these issues and highlight the lack of empathy. If people can't seem to be empathetic towards fellow humans right in front of their eyes, then it is not really a surprise that these same people would adamantly oppose helping out people in some other part of the world. And then to think about bringing the refugees in ... <br /><br />With every passing day, I feel like I see even less evidence of "humanity" among fellow-humans :(Sriram Khéhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06724218458246880137noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27946614.post-32058687372780587462016-04-07T06:15:37.145-07:002016-04-07T06:15:37.145-07:00If you must quote Anatole France,perhaps you shoul...If you must quote Anatole France,perhaps you should quote him fully - " La majestueuse ...... sous les ponts, de mendier dans les rues et de voler du pain.<br /><br />And I say "Quand une chose a été dite et bien dite, n'ayez aucun scrupule, prenez-la, copiez"<br /><br />I shall accept your reply of Touche ! :):)Rameshhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11782192840421019943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27946614.post-11505196141363581532016-04-07T06:08:54.148-07:002016-04-07T06:08:54.148-07:00Its a complex problem and one without easy solutio...Its a complex problem and one without easy solutions. Even with all the sympathy for people unfortunate to be homeless, the options are not obvious.<br /><br />Turning our backs to them is not a solution. Equally, providing all of them with shelter is not a feasible solution either. As Mike observed, a majority of those homeless who deserve every sympathy and assistance that we can give. There are a few who have made , and continue to make, wrong choices where the case is a more difficult one. I would fall on the side of temporarily offering shelter to everybody , offer training programs to make them employable and then pushing them to become independent. It is children, people who are sick, etc where we should provide for them long term. <br /><br />If you then juxtapose people from other parts of the world, then it becomes even more complex.How do you decide who is more deserving ? A homeless American, or a homeless Syrian ? <br /><br />I completely agree that there must be a political debate on such issues. However, the soundbite culture does not encourage reasoned choices and debate. It merely encourages remarks on the size of appendages ! Rameshhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11782192840421019943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27946614.post-30862228675393398722016-04-06T21:48:54.401-07:002016-04-06T21:48:54.401-07:00The trouble with the homeless is that ideas surrou...The trouble with the homeless is that ideas surrounding them do not lend empathy. We're taught from a young age that homeless people are drug addicts, that the reason people are homeless is their inability to make good choices. We're told not to give the homeless money because they'll spend it on drugs or liquor. Now that I can't move out of my father's house, married at the age of 26, because rent is outrageous and jobs are scarce, it is harder to hold a similar plight against those without a place to go.<br /><br />Of course, I ran a homeless shelter for 2 years out of a church in town, and the idea that many homeless have been put on the streets because of poor lifestyles isn't entirely wrong. It just hides the humanity of those people when you can say "oh, it's their own choice to be homeless". Mike Hothnoreply@blogger.com