Sunday, December 5, 2010

Two Commenters at the National Post or "Someone is WRONG on the internet"

Argh. The scum-bag, money-losing, propaganda rag, the National Post has an article about Rob Ford mouthing-off about another subject he knows nothing about. It's one of the least objectionable of his utterances, except for the implications in his simple-minded recommendations. Ford states that if it's freezing outside, then homeless people should be forced into shelters. The reporter talks to two activists who point out the civil rights issue and the practical issue of overcrowding.

But I don't really want to talk much about that. Bear with me, but I decided to check out the National Post's comments section for a lark. Obviously, I read some stuff that I found objectionable. For some reason though, I found these remarks intolerably objectionable, and I'd like to share my thoughts on them.

Here are the ill-starred thoughts of these two human beings. "WELLDONESON" says:
It indeed serves the political purposes of various lefty noisemakers to keep the numbers of homeless up... that way they can blame it on the incumbent gov't or if that gov't pays them, keep quiet and line their pockets. Services for homeless/urban poor are provided by public sector employees, by those doing volunteer work, or by those working for various charities which are often gov't funded.

To which "B IN TO" replies:
I have always been against letting mentally unfit persons "live" on the street. This homeless problem was MUCH smaller back in the day when these unfortunates were in institutions where they had best live. My post would be deleted if I were totell of some of the sights and sounds I witnessed while riding the Hastings bus past Main Street. We need a central facility to house these people, and where possible rehabilitate and train them to do actual jobs for which they could be paid.
Read more: http://news.nationalpost.com/2010/12/02/fords-idea-of-forcing-homeless-into-shelters-draws-skepticism/#ixzz17C5a8mYS

Big deal right? Two right-wing ignoramuses spouting out garbage on the internet. But something made "WELLDONESON's" ravings (and "B IN TO's") stand out amongst the other stupid comments. And further reflection made me think that these two guys confidently expressed nonsense have given us a window into the intellectually bankrupt world of the right-wing. Take "WELLDONESON's" opening statement:

"It indeed serves the political purposes of various lefty noisemakers to keep the numbers of homeless up..."

I wonder if the babbling fool could explain how "lefty noisemakers" are able to do that? Yes, this person is just an idiot on the internet, but stop for a moment and ask yourself how somebody who can write in complete sentences could be so deluded as to imagine that people like John Clarke of OCAP and the members of "Homes Not Bombs" could have any effect on the numbers of people living on the streets.

...

Yeah. I got nothing.

Seriously WELLDONESON, just how do you imagine that happens? Do left-wing activists have some sort of psychic ability to compel people to give up their jobs, leave their homes and their families and live on the street? Or are their powers not as far-reaching as that and they can only convince already homeless people who were planning on going to a shelter to stay outside as part of the campaign to make neo-liberal politicians look bad? Because John Clarke, "Homes Not Bombs," etc., really don't have any impact on the economy or the supply of affordable housing, or the numbers and quality and safety of homeless shelters.

Having dispensed with "WELLDONESON's" insane belief that anti-poverty activists conspire to keep the homeless numbers up, let's look at his explanation for this non-existent behaviour:

"that way they can blame it on the incumbent gov't or if that gov't pays them, keep quiet and line their pockets. Services for homeless/urban poor are provided by public sector employees, by those doing volunteer work, or by those working for various charities which are often gov't funded."

My! That would certainly be hypocritical and evil of them were it true! John Clarke CREATED the homeless situation and then blames, say, Mike Harris for it, or quietly accepts it in return for filthy lucre showering from the Dalton McGuinty government. It's the "poverty industry" that the Fraser Institute warned us about, isn't it?

You see folks, while right-wing scum become political consultants for conservative parties and advocate tax-cuts for the wealthy and the slashing of social programs, housing departments, health care and education, and the promotion of economic problems that create unemployment, (that is, when they're not simply making money in business ripping off insurance customers, stiffing workers, killing anti-mining activists in Mexico, price-fixing, and so-on and such-forth) ... hey, wait a second! ... left-wing scum go into the "poverty industry" where they can make big bucks complaining about the dire situation of the homeless, refugees, the mentally ill, street prostitutes, etc., . Yesirree! Have YOU thought of a brilliant CAREER as a POVERTY PIMP??? Travel! (To the poor sections of town and various government buildings.) Excitement! (Rallies in the cold and getting arrested.) Make CA$H!!!! (Not really.)

Okay, maybe John Clarke isn't exactly getting rich off the backs of the homeless, but what about all those public sector jobs and charities? I suppose it might be sweet to make, say, $40,000 or more a year working with the poorest of the poor. (As opposed to say, $18,000 a year as the part-time night-staff at a variety store, or $20,000 a year as a general labourer.) I suppose the best answer to "WELLDONESON's" accusation is to straight away return to the fucking reality that neither public sector workers, charity workers, or anti-poverty activists have any impact at all over whether people are homeless or not. (So, like, maybe they're people who just want to help the poor???)

I think we're forced to come to the conclusion that "WELLDONESON" is so stupid that he (or she!) is insane. I don't think there's any connected set of bizarre thoughts that has produced "WELLDONESON's" insane belief that anti-poverty activists conspire to increase the homeless rate either to make "conservative" politicians look bad or so that they can justify their jobs and get showered with money from Liberal politicians (who don't pay them in any case). What I think is that "WELLDONESON" is such a slow, lazy thinker, that there are huge gaps in logic as well as justifying evidence that he (or she!) is unconcerned about while cobbling together his (or her) worldview. This allows "WELLDONESON" to blurt out nonsensical garbage with all the confidence of a sane person advocating sensible ideas.

We now turn to "B IN TO" who agreed with "WELLDONESON" that people who work with the homeless are actually monsters who create homelessness so that they can 1.) complain about them if the Conservatives are in power, OR 2.) Get rich looking after them in case the Liberals are in power. "B IN TO" demonstrates his (or her) commanding grasp of history by pointing to the expulsion of mental patients from provincial mental institutions and onto the streets in the 1980s (which is far from being the soul cause of the homelessness explosion) and reflects thusly:

"This homeless problem was MUCH smaller back in the day when these unfortunates were in institutions"

Yeah. Too bad those greedy anti-poverty activists and public sector workers told those 1980s governments to push the mentally ill out on to the streets so that they could .... Say! If those provincial psychiatric hospitals were, like provincially-run, wouldn't they be full of public sector workers? Why would greedy n' lazy public sector parasites want to shut-down hospitals just so they could staff homeless shelters??? UNLESS I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE FUCK I'M TALKING ABOUT AND I'M A COMPLETE IDIOT?????

"B IN TO" makes some comments about how the homeless look and smell bad before concluding:

"We need a central facility to house these people, and where possible rehabilitate and train them to do actual jobs for which they could be paid."

Remember folks, "B IN TO" was specifically AGREEING with "WELLDONESON" (replying to his or her post) that people who work with the homeless are hypocrites who just use them to justify their cushy jobs. (But FIRST they had to drive them from psychiatric hospitals so that they could GET those cushy jobs in homeless shelters instead of those cushy jobs in provincial psychiatric hospitals and ... and ... whew! I'm dizzy!) And, in agreement with "WELLDONESON" about the poverty industry, "B IN TO" instead recommends that the government (I'm not sure who else "B IN TO" imagines would do it) build institutions where the homeless can live forever if they're too mentally-ill to be retrained for gainful employment.

Which, if you're paying attention (and "B IN TO" obviously wasn't) is advocating for more public sector jobs to help the homeless. Safe, permanent housing for the unemployable is actually what advocates are asking for. Along with genuine training for real jobs.

Again. I realize that these two morons are a couple of anonymous right-wing trolls who I'll never meet, tossing off comments on the intertubes. But again, ask yourself, how stupid and lazy do yo have to be to have developed a world view as insane (and contradictory) as theirs? And just remember, it's dunces like these who tend to vote for the political party that is right now making laws that govern our existence. Nothing they say makes any sense. It has no basis in reality. And yet they proudly dismiss as "leftards" people who have been trying for decades to get through to them.

Aw well. Twas just a little snippet of the sad reality of Canada's debased political culture. That's all.