http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/10/48-year-old-blogger-gone-9-years-without-money.php?dtc=TH_sbr_popular
If I read the article correctly, he's advocating being homeless. Homelessness is not a choice; no one chooses to lose what little they have, sleep in city parks, trade 'favors' for a place to sleep for the night, or eat from trash bins. Also, his 'lifestyle' is only possible because he lives in Utah, where he can shelter himself in a cave and not have to worry much about inclement weather; he wouldn't last two seconds doing what he does in, say, Cleveland or Detroit (Detroit would have him for breakfast along with toast, eggs, and black coffee) or Chicago. What I found more fascinating were the comments arguing for and against his lifestyle. You decide if he's proving an ecological point or if he's 180 degrees out of phase.
Daily Kitten Chat Forum » The Newsroom
48-year-old goes 9 years without spending money
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Vicki--I'm a little confused with your statement that homelessness isn't a choice. Here, he definitely chose to be homeless. Does anyone else recall a story a few years back where a homeless man was given money and every opportunity available to NOT be homeless and he chose homelessness? Sure, the majority of homeless people don't choose it, but a few sure do.
Posted 2 years ago by FondaHonda #
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So...is he using a 9-yr. old lap top for blogging? And where does he get the clothes he wears? I mean...a certain amt. of money is needed for the essentials like...hygiene materials & all. I don't care what they say about his state of mind. He's got to have a certain amount of mental issues to live like a bat is a cave for 9 yrs.
BTW...I had the awful experience of being homeless one time for 4 months. I had a full time job (wasn't good pay at that time) & thank goodness I had a vehicle to sleep in (altho 1 of the windows leaked). It was the worst 4 months of my life! -
FH, a mentally healthy person does not choose to be homeless; I'll bet you my last dollar there's some toys in his attic. Feral, I was homeless, too: I was thrown out of my home which my toxic mother owned because I couldn't pay her the rent for one month because I was between jobs. She did not give me an eviction notice (which is required in the city of Cleveland), and she didn't even tell me herself that she was evicting me; she had an upstairs tenant tell me. I refuse to sue my mother for illegal eviction because she doesn't deserve the pleasure of seeing my face again. Since then, I had slept on park benches, at the Greyhound bus station, at the airport (before and after September 11, 2001), over steam grates, at an emergency shelter that had black mold on the walls, and at a weekly motel that reeked of (what I found out later was) crack cocaine. I am now living with my pseudohusband only because I have nowhere else to go; I haven't been desensitized against my anxiety sufficiently to live independently, and I wish I could find a job that I could do from home that's not a scam. If my negativity shows through, I apologize; I get upset when people say that any mentally healthy person (or even a mentally or emotionally unhealthy person) would choose to give up stable shelter to prove a point. Oh, yeah, Feral, he used the local library to post his blog.
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'He made the conscious decision to return home, quit his job, and carve out a life without money.'
Vicki--I agree with you. All I can do is go by what this article states (who knows if it's true or not?). It also states that he doesn't have any mental problems. Who knows?
Posted 2 years ago by FondaHonda #
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I can't speak for everyone, but Ron's youngest brother claims to be homeless by choice as well. He is one of the brilliant computer programs I've ever known, good looking and sweet personality...so why??? Because since the day his twin brother died in a tragic accident part of him is missing. For the first several years we all tried getting him in counseling, everyone in the family took him in at one point or another only to realize he didn't want our help, refused professional help. We have tried to no avail to have him declared incompetant so we could force him to get the help he needs. But since he is so intellegent and can still present himself as such, no judge will agree. I believe Vicki is right, at least in the case that I am close to..He claims to be homeless by choice and this would never have been his choice when her wasn't mentally ill.
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