k2o4   United States. Mar 12 2009 17:30. Posts 4803
I think it's easy for most of us poker players to forget how bad things are getting. I'm personally having my biggest winning month ever so I definitely don't feel poor or scared about the economy. The poker tables aren't as juicy as they were 8 months ago, but it's still easy to make money. Poker players are not really getting hit by the wave of suffering that is touching most people in the USA and is starting to spread to the rest of the world.
I was shocked today when I was at my part time job, which is with a non-profit organization, to find out about tent city's building up in California filled with lots of middle class professionals that were hit when the economy went crashed. We're officially in the worst recession since the great depression with the highest job loss, and the global economy has shrunk for the first time since world war 2.
Tent cities are springing up in California as thousands of people hit hard by foreclosures and big job losses say they have nowhere else to go.
Many of those seeking shelter had good jobs and stable family lives until the economy spun out of control.
Some 300 people call a tent city in Sacramento home, including Tracy Vaughan, who moved to the city with her husband six months ago.
"We both worked for the same company, we both got laid off on the same day," she said.
"So yeah, it just kind of happened."
Another resident, Erich Platz, says there is no work to be had, making getting by tough.
"Nothing going on in concrete, nothing going on in carpentry, the housing - there's no boom any more so it's busted," he said.
Tent cities are cropping up at an alarming rate. Many shelters have run out of beds to accommodate the growing number of homeless.
Garren Bratchin from the Loaves and Fishes charity says the organization has seen a 20 per cent jump in the number of homeless people using its services.
"It's been entire families, not just the guy that decides to leave his wife and get drunk - whole families; three or four, five people at a time," he said.
New figures show in February another 650,000 Americans lost their jobs, fuelling fears tented communities like this one will become more common.
I encourage all of you to do what you can to help. For the ballers who only have to play a week or two a month to bring in big cash, you can give some of your time. Personally I enjoy my life a lot more when I spend a few days a week working at this job and helping out than when I only poker 24/7. And if you're not the type to give time, give money. It's win/win cause you can deduct it from your taxes and instead of the gov getting your monies an organization which is on the ground helping people can get it.
If you're not a baller you might be getting affected by this recession yourself and be on hard times. But if you're doing ok you should look into things like food and clothing drives in your local area. There's a lot of that going on and if you have extra things laying around there are a LOT of people who need em now.
Non profits and community organizations which have been around for years trying to help the needy and improve local communities are closing their doors because they can't get funding. Granting foundations have tightened up because all their money was tied up in the stock market or Bernie Maddof, so the money they used to get interest on and grant to nonprofits has shrunk in half or worse. Without regular people donating what they can lots of great community organizations and nonprofits will disappear. Everything that isn't government or church run is facing the high probability of shutting down.
I work for a non-profit called PeaceJam that brings Nobel Peace Prize winners together with youth to work on service projects, teaching them the skills they need to get active in their own communities and make a difference, and giving them the inspiration via the Nobels. PeaceJam is mainly funded by grants but now grants are hard to come by, so I am seeing first hand the hard times that nonprofits are facing. But even though nonprofits are facing the possibility of shutting down they're working hard to help all the people getting screwed. There's constant clothing/food drives being run outta our office these days and lots of other service projects taking place. Many people are trying to help but things are just really bad right now.
I have no idea what the solution is to all of this but I do know that a lot of good Americans are getting screwed over right now so anything we can do to help, or are willing to do, is going to be much appreciated. I hope you guys look up local nonprofits / community organizations in your area and either donate time or money, cause either would be very appreciated right now. I'm positive about that.
Here are some sites you can check out to find nonprofits in your area:
http://www.missionfish.org/ - you can donate part of your ebay auction proceeds to a non-profit thanks to these guys
http://www.mtdn.com/Default.aspx - This is Make The Difference Network which is a social networking page for non-profits and donors to connect.
0 votes
InnovativeYogis.com
Last edit: 12/03/2009 17:31
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milkman   United States. Mar 12 2009 18:26. Posts 5719
im about to run so i couldnt read it all, but i know there are citys like this in portland oregon, but its not cuz of any housing problems, its just mega profitable to begg in portland oregon, so the homeless peeps have their own tent citys. just a fyi, they could be filming these things that have always been there tryingt o blow the story outa proportion.
Its hard to make a easy buck legally, its impossible to make a easy buck morally.
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Sicks Macks   United States. Mar 12 2009 18:51. Posts 3929
On March 12 2009 16:30 k2o4 wrote:
but I do know that a lot of good Americans are getting screwed over right now
I'm sorry, this was a really compassionate post but this tilted the shit out of me. The economy not producing at full capacity due to coincident cyclical downturns in both credit and industrial production is really really really not equal to people getting screwed over.
Mr. Will Throwit
Last edit: 12/03/2009 18:52
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Sicks Macks   United States. Mar 12 2009 18:51. Posts 3929
On March 12 2009 16:30 k2o4 wrote:
but I do know that a lot of good Americans are getting screwed over right now
I'm sorry, this was a really compassionate post but this tilted the shit out of me. The economy not producing at full capacity due to coincident cyclical downturns in both credit and industrial production is really really really not equal to people getting screwed over.
lots of people who had jobs and were making payments on their mortgage got raped. That's the type of thing I'm talking about.
And milk I hear ya but I don't think this is the same thing. There's plenty of old footage like that on youtube and I didn't post any of it cause I know it's different. These were news reports and interviews with people, not just some drive by footage. And while this is bad I've seen much worse in India and South Africa, and I've been to places like that exclusively where beggars live. But this seems very very different. Read the entire post / watch the vids and if you still think I'm being fooled then please tell me more =)
On March 12 2009 17:54 Zettai Ryoiki wrote:
why should i give any of my hard earned money to these people?
Did I say to give your money to these people specifically? I said to donate extra food / clothes to places that help people like this. I said to donate your time. And if you don't wanna do any of those, donate some money.
Why donate and help people who are hitting really hard times right now? Why support non-profits, charities and community organizations that are trying to help but getting hurt by the financial crisis too? I can give you some selfish reasons cause I suspect that you're a selfish guy... for taxes. The gov is gonna take your money anyway. Might as well donate whatever amount they woulda taken to a charity that you believe will do a better job with it than the Gov will. As for your time, cause you'll almost certainly feel happier and better if you spend some of your time giving to people rather than always taking and "earning". It's just human nature.
And if you're on hard financial times yourself I'm not suggesting you give your paycheck to a homeless guy. I'm only talking about giving money if you're a baller and more along the lines of the tax reason.
InnovativeYogis.com
Last edit: 12/03/2009 19:51
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TheThirdEye   United States. Mar 13 2009 00:57. Posts 13
Good post ! It's crazy how some people still refuses to believe that we live in the same world as these people in the tents. Well if home isn't close enough for these people- I think the third world country and other developing nations are considered as other planets!
I wonder what would happen if for whatever reason all governments decide to put a ban on online poker and make it illegal and considering that the economy is as bad as it is right now- I think we would see many poker players in those tents too ! But hell why should we give our hard earned money to those people? eh?
I think whatever you are doing is admirable. Keep up the good work and even if you can't convince hundreds of people here,you might be able to convince one and that is worth all your work and sentiments.