criminalization of the homeless

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Insanity on paper, perhaps, but all this really means is that homeless people in Columbia will simply cross the bridges to Cayce and West Columbia. If they're rousted by cops on the suspicion of being homeless all they will have to do to get out of it is say that they live in Cayce, West Columbia, or perhaps even Irmo, all of which border Columbia proper, and are in Lexington County, instead of Richland County.

Umm so apparently this was proposed in 2013, and according to this the idea was rejected and isn't going to pass:

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This is stupid, don't people even know what causes people to be homeless in the first place? Also anyone can become homeless unless they have friends or family to go to but that is still like being homeless and the difference is they still have jobs. I also had a co worker who was homeless off and on and she had a job but her husband was disabled and she didn't have any family for support so she and her hubby had to rely on friends but they all lived in apartments so they could only be there during the day and then had to sleep under a bridge at night and then they would have a home again and within a couple months, they would be out in the streets again.

I'd like to pose a question just for the sake of it (I have no agenda)

Would you rather be locked in prison with a warm place to sleep and 3 square meals a day? or Free to be homeless to freeze and starve?

I know a man serving a life sentence in a Texas prison who says he is content and doubts he could live as comfortably on the outside, but life inside most prisons is far too uncomfortable and dangerous to be considered a convenient option. Along the line of your question, however, there are also at least four categories of homeless people:

1) Those in temporary situations who are willing to accept any help that might be available;
2) Those who would prefer to overcome their present circumstances all on their own;
3) Those who either cannot or will not comply with any requirements or rules attached to any help;
4) Those who are quite resourceful and doing well apart from any kind of formal assistance.

Overall, "homeless" is a term that is far too ambiguous to be of any real use when dealing with the matter of people in need.

I have lived on the road for many of years, in truth I enjoyed the unfettered freedom. the more objects you own the more you have to work to keep them, where otherwise your free to travel and explore the world. I wasn't a so called "street" person, who staid in given areas and bummed around. I was always on the move gypsying around from state to state, most generally following the good weather and music, nor did I ever once beg, if I needed anything I stopped and worked for it then moved on. err actually I did hold up a sign begging once, it was for help to get out of a downtown city that would have taken me weeks to hike out of, but once I hit those freeways and highways I was just fine. for me, when I am alone, its much easer to survive on the move then worrying about keeping up with jobs and bills. except when it comes to medical needs, which as I get older I find I am more and more needing, and I have a child to think of now too. but if it wasn't for that, hey, a nice tropical beach sounds really nice about now.

Not all homeless people are starving and dirty and live in the streets. Some still have jobs and still work but they either live in their cars and shower at the shelter or at a truck stop or stay at a friends or live in a hotel room or live in a homeless shelter. but you wouldn't even know they're homeless because they don't look homeless. They look just like normal people. Anyone can become homeless. If our house were to burn down tomorrow, my parents and I and my husband and son would all be homeless. But we have families around to help us so we could stay with them until we get another house and we would have to start over. My parents sold their house in 1988 and the woman who bought it said we could live in it until our house was done being built but instead right after Christmas, she decided she wanted to move in so she kicked us out so we moved out and had our stuff in storage and stayed with a friend for ten weeks. That could be considered homeless but both my parents had jobs and their own car and my brother and I still went to daycare. What would have happened if my parents had no friends, I don;t know. Maybe a hotel room or living in a shelter.


I have heard of people who didn't want to leave prison because of the roof over their heads and being warm and the food they get because they knew they would be homeless when they get out of prison. I have also heard some homeless people will purposely commit a crime to go to prison so they can be warm and get free food and showers and healthcare and shelter.