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Comment by quacked | Hacker News Reader

> Almost made me feel like I was the bad guy in the situation.

Many people who choose to live outside square-lawed society rely on people remaining docile and sticking to principle in order to prey on them, or at least to live a lifestyle where they don't have to collaborate with larger society to reap its rewards. It took me years to un-program "assume good intent and empathy" with people I didn't know that were trying to take advantage of me.

I simply can't stand thieves. I wish that we had really great public services and transportation--not only would this reduce a huge amount of current theft, it would make actual theft obviously inexcusable.

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Yeah, every homeless person I have ever talked to has had some bullshit story. Its almost as if the impulse to spew bullshit is the primary cause of homelessness. Or some inevitable consequence of most mental health problems. Its so reliable that it makes me question the idea that housing costs are the primary cause of homelessness, but perhaps that just pushes more people on the mental margins over the edge.

Humans are narrative creatures. We literally think in stories, so it's not surprising to me that homeless people have a sad story that explains their homelessness.

We all tell ourselves stories (whether true or not) to process our actions and their consequences. For people who have been victimized, they sometimes become a slave to the story they tell themselves which can lead to learned helplessness.

My hunch is that talking about your problem can be easier than dealing with it. And people, even capable working homeowners develop a serious expertise in analysing what they should but don't do. I often notice myself doing it.

This is a pretty mean-spirited comment, I don't even know where to start. Homeless people are just people like you and me. If you'd been born in their shoes, with their inherited genetic make-up, raised by their parents, surrounded by their friends, living their life experiences etc you'd very possibly be homeless too and 'spewing bullshit' as you put it

Sure, and if I'd been born with Ted Bundy's genetic makeup and lived his life, I'd be Ted Bundy. This isn't the slam dunk you seem to think it is.

I don't know that I agree that "the primary cause of homelessness is the tendency to spew bullshit", I but I definitely don't agree with the implication of the assertion "homeless people are just people like you and me". It's true that they're homo sapiens, but this cuts both ways--Donald Trump is just a person like you or me, so is Vladimir Putin, and yet I don't necessarily feel sympathy for either. At some point it behooves us to order ourselves around a set of behaviors or beliefs, and actually begin to make value judgements on what people do, or how they choose to behave.

(This includes mental illness and addiction--even if we mentally those people as being in the grip of something beyond themselves, if a peaceful, non-grifting society is desired someone needs to make choices about how to restrict their freedom.)

My guess is that it is safer to just return stolen bikes if caught by the owner and avoid police interest.

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