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TRIGGER WARNING: We have people self immolating because of genocides happening and because people are losing housing.
(lemmy.world)
@Jaybefaunt
TRIGGER WARNING: We have people self immolating because of genocides happening and because people are losing housing. This nation is going down and it's the greed of the capitalists that's the cause.
I'm basically in that elderly gentleman's shoes as far as housing goes. I'm sorry to his family and to him for being pushed into this situation.
@weareronin47
Elderly man self-immolates while being evicted.
Housing is a human right.
Direct link to video: https://video.twimg.com/ext_tw_video/1775547959775502338/pu/vid/avc1/640x360/8Bhf9UQdY6pfh4gx.mp4
Source: https://twitter.com/Jaybefaunt/status/1775639781868720573
Um, here’s a bit more context than this tweet. The dudes wife with Parkinson’s was in the house as well in the other room. He also killed his dog with him. Clearly some mental health issues also at play here.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13268935/horrifying-moment-oklahoma-man-anthony-goulding-covers-gasoline-sets-fire.html
I mean, obviously, mental health issues were at play, but being forcefully evicted most definitely exacerbated, or just straight up caused said mental issues. The guy probably felt as if himself, wife, and dog were better off dead than being homeless. I'm not saying that's right at all, but we can't expect people forced into desperate situations to always make rational decisions.
The US is the richest nation on Earth. We should have no reason to ever kick elderly people(or anyone for that matter) out of their homes, and put them into desperate situations, even if they can't afford rent anymore. Cuba, for instance, has a near zero homeless population, and they have nowhere near the amount of resources the US has. This country lacks empathy.
Housing is a human right and should be treated as such.
Fun fact, this is the thought process of most family annihilators. They, for example, lose their job and feel like it's better their family be dead than suffer the embarrassment of losing standing in the community, or get caught cheating and feel it's better for them to be dead than suffer the embarrassment of divorce.
There's nothing really useful you can do with that knowledge, but it's been floating around in my brain since I learned it and now I gift it to you.
Hey I agree with you. I mostly just don’t like the way this tweet is framed without the context of him also killing his dog and putting his wife at risk. I think that’s a very important distinction that should’ve been included.
Fair, the tweet does lack that context. That does add a bit of nuance and questions related to mental health to the discussion. I apologize for reading too far into your comment, and just assuming that you were attempting to downplay the actions of the police and state in this situation.
Well I appreciate your reply instead of just downvoting and moving on. Hey look at us being civil on the internet!
Would that be a homeless shelter? How do we even rationalize evicting an 82-year-old? If this is normal, how do you avoid it? I imagine at 82, you don't have a ton of options for getting income.
Nice strawman. All I was saying that the eviction of an 82-year-old should make for at least a mention to what actually led to this, which all articles forget to mention. It's as if any of this, this whole situation, is even remotely normal.
I am not arguing for ending free markets, I'm arguing that one of the reasons people pay taxes is that people have a way to retire in dignity. Self-immolating as a result of likely untreated mental issues while in financial ruin as evidenced by the eviction is not how I think people imagine spending their twilight years.
The article stated it was an assisted care home. The wife had Parkinsons and the 82 year old man may have had medical conditions that needed care. A lot of those facilities charge medicare and take a portion of Social Security so it may not have cost them anything out of pocket. I don't know the full story but it doesn't sound like they were going to a shelter.