How do bums/hobos become what they are?

I'd like to ask this every once in a while, there's always people I come across in the street asking me for money and giving me a really short story of why they have no money. But there was this one guy, a few weeks ago, who asked me if I speak English, and then asked I could give him some change because he's starving! I refused to give him any, but I also found it kind of scary since he put so much emphasis on 'starving!'. He kind of yelled it at me. I was thinking about it later on and even felt bad for the guy and was wondering how do these bums/hobos actually become bums/hobos? Did they lose their job and end up living in the street? Their parents threw them out of the house at a younger age? Honestly, what happened to these people? Does their life ever get better?

Could be a drinking problem or other drugs, which will both getsomeone fired ifthey have a job but they will continue to buy drugs and alcohol. Could be they were irresponsible in other ways, like gambling or prostitutes. And then there's just not making quite enough money.

Edit: This is an includes but is not limited to thing.

Also, having a child when they can't afford it.

Drugs...alcohol...mental illness....

There are many reasons people become hobos.

Well the popular reason used to make people feel better is "They're lazy!" as this implies it was their fault and not the fault of a cruel society. It helps people sleep at night.

Mental illness seems a very big cause, atleast around here. I'd probably tie that in with healthinsurance not being universal.

Wikipedia says that studies say:

• Unavailability of employment opportunities.
• Poverty, caused by many factors including unemployment and underemployment.
• Lack of affordable healthcare.
• War or armed conflict.
• Mental disorder, where mental health services are unavailable or difficult to access.
• Disability, especially where disability services are nonexistent or poor performing.
• Substance abuse
• Lack of affordable housing.
• Domestic violence.
• Relationship breakdown, particularly in relation to young people and their parents.
• Prison release and re-entry into society.
• Natural disaster, including but not limited to earthquakes and hurricanes.
• Forced eviction - In many countries, people lose their homes by government order to make way for newer upscale high rise buildings, roadways, and other governmental needs. The compensation may be minimal, in which case the former occupants cannot find appropriate new housing and become homeless.
• Mortgage foreclosures where mortgage holders see the best solution to a loan default is to take and sell the house to pay off the debt. The popular press made an issue of this in 2008; the real magnitude of the problem is undocumented.

with these

Laziness must be at least one of the reasons. There's many crap jobs that could be filled if someone was desperate enough.F1_2004

This never made sense to me. No one is going to voluntarily go homeless and hungry because they don't feel like working. Much like how someone will not starve to death because they don't like the food they have available.

Laziness must be at least one of the reasons. There's many crap jobs that could be filled if someone was desperate enough.F1_2004

with these

pis3rch

Oh my gods. Night train! hahahaahaa! one of the cheapest and nastiest ways to get drunk.

Laziness must be at least one of the reasons. There's many crap jobs that could be filled if someone was desperate enough.F1_2004

they didn't tug on their bootstraps quite hard enough

I highly doubt the veteran I gave a blanket to the other day was lazy.

I'll just go into a very messed up problem we had here in Michigan that caused a boom in our homeless population.

At one point in time we had a decent amount of public mental health institutions. There was a good amount of people in these institutions for long-term care.

Unfortunately, these institutions were funded through taxes.

So politicians come around promising tax cuts to get elected and they admittingly DO grant us these cuts. Thing is they go about this through cutting our public mental-health funding to almost zilch, resulting in the closing down of pretty much EVERY SINGLE MENTAL HEALTH INSTITUTION IN THE STATE!

Now how do they go about these closures? After all, there was a good number of people in those institutions. If the institutions are closing, those people have to go SOMEWHERE.

Well, you had better be lucky enough to 1)Not be a low-functioning, long-term care patient and/or 2)Have family/friends to take you in or a place of your own.

See what these places did was literally open the doors and tell the people to leave. If you were one of the unlucky long-term, low-functioning patients then you were pretty much screwed. You can't get a job with that condition and if you didn't have anyone to take you in then you were forced to live on the streets.

It is one of the great examples of how terrible society is at accepting, understanding, and dealing with mental illness.

[QUOTE="F1_2004"]Laziness must be at least one of the reasons. There's many crap jobs that could be filled if someone was desperate enough.wstfld

[QUOTE="F1_2004"]Laziness must be at least one of the reasons. There's many crap jobs that could be filled if someone was desperate enough.wstfld

Yeah really.

I just love how people act as if it is so easy for others to get a job, but low and behold when they don't have one it is "OMG this economy is teh suxors! It is IMPOSSIBLE to get a job!".

I have basically always had a job since I was 17 (I am 22 now) besides a single week after I had lost one job (which I found a new job THAT WEEK) yet I am very aware of how awful it is to find a job. This economy sucks and if you happen to have an issue, SUCH AS MENTAL ILLNESS, it can be almost IMPOSSIBLE to find a job.

[QUOTE="wstfld"][QUOTE="F1_2004"]Laziness must be at least one of the reasons. There's many crap jobs that could be filled if someone was desperate enough.LovePotionNo9

As well as government controlled houses so they can recieve their check...

Drugs...alcohol...mental illness....

There are many reasons people become hobos.

Joshywaa

^Pretty much this^

Everyone has wrote plenty of the right reasons. Now...

What makes me wonder the most is the fact that the homeless people are not all orphans. Why won't their families help them?? If my family member was living on the streets, I would take them in without question and would help them just as my family would help me.

Bums who live in the streets in a warm country have it easier, I can't imagine living in the streets here when there is -30 °C outside in winter, it's crazy!! I havn't seen the begging kind of bums for years though, they mostly collect bottles from trashcans and earn money from that.