Letter: Why should tax dollars support homeless?

Graphic by Lori Deaton

The homeless are a menace in Asheville as they are everywhere in the USA. They have a sense of entitlement and arrogance, and the civic authorities everywhere pander to them. They refuse to work and build a life for themselves like most people.

I have seen some of them with iPhones, iPads and other devices plugged into the nearby power socket, while smoking away and generally creating a nuisance all around. They are unhygienic and stink.

I do not see why my tax dollars should be used to continue to support this toxic way of living.

— Pradeep Darooka
Arden

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19 thoughts on “Letter: Why should tax dollars support homeless?

  1. NFB

    Interesting letter from someone whose public LinkedIn profile has the following quote:

    “Less is More
    We are all connected
    Simplicity is Serenity”

  2. Harley Taylor

    so your saying we don’t have the right to live do let me ask you this have you ever lived in the shoes of the homeless? have you ever been so poor you couldn’t afford a house? have you ever been so scared you didn’t know if you were going to live or die? that people constantly tell you you stink go away or calling you names and putting you down like you literally just done. huh cause promise you most of the people in Asheville that are homeless served your country and gave you freedom and you basically are bashing them because oh they are homeless because the government after them serving and sacrificing their lives for y’all won’t do anything to help them get housing or anything and since that they are now on the streets and in and out of jail because people like you make it hard for a homeless person to live without becoming criminals oh and on that note since y’all want to say we don’t get jobs y’all the ones who make it to where we can’t get jobs by throwing us in and out of jail on bogus criminal charges like trespassing and other stuff to where if you go and try to get a job they won’t give it to you because you have criminal charges and oh yeah let’s not forget the waffle house on tunnel road and chills and everywhere in Asheville if your homeless they don’t want you eating there or coming on the property so how are you supposed to get a job or even live with people like you not giving us a chance to even work or make money or anything don’t freaking judge anyone because it’s people like you who make us this way try maybe thinking before speaking truly ignorance at it’s finest don’t judge what you do and turn people into

  3. octobia

    I’m appalled at the vindictive, selfish and meanspirited letter from Pradeep Darooka of Arden. There’s little to say to someone writing in this vein. Hope they suffer sufficient reverses to experience homelessness? Nah, I don’t want to sink to their level. Hope they have a giant spiritual wake-up call and, Scrooge-like, waken to their renewed embrace of their fellow beings? That would be nice, but I’m not holding my breath. The letter writer doesn’t even seem to have a sense of shame at having such bigoted and ugly views about the less fortunate. I know, I’ll just say what my grandma said when we’d been bad: “shame on you.”

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    • Enlightened Enigma

      unfortunately he is CORRECT !!! this is what decades of democrackkk NON leadership has brought to this once magical city …it’s depraved now…sickening…run by EVIL .

  4. Bright

    Well, pradeep, why don’t you go live somewhere else? No, you don’t deserve to have a capital letter at the beginning of your name. Ditto the above comments…shame on you.

  5. R.G.

    “Pradeep Darooka discovers that when he fell in love with himself, it was a new beginning, a new life, full of joy, happiness, brightness, and clarity.”
    from his own website, apparently

  6. Johnny Alexander

    Pradeep Darooka’s feelings are common among many in Asheville.

    Asheville city (and Buncombe County) leadership have let this city (and county) descend into choas. Tax payers being required to foot the bill for the homeless, many by choice due to their decisions, is yet another example.

    The city of Asheville is beyond saving.

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  7. blueridgeguvnor

    If we are going to be a true Christian society, we are obligated to help the poor and less fortunate.

    However I do believe Ashevilles moronic and pandering city government have made homeless situation worse with their policies by encouraging the lifestyle.

    We need more treatment and vocational training and less accommodation and Molly coddling.

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    • Jason Williams

      Just to be better informed on the subject, what are the policies that Asheville has enacted that encourages homelessness?

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    • Enlightened Enigma

      who wants a Christian society these days ??? certainly NOT democrackkks !!!

  8. KKHEDBERG

    I think the letter writer lacks compassion. You seem to believe that homeless people have their lives together enough to just take a shower and get a job. And you have judged their welfare on your assumptions that they are arrogant, own cell phones, and smoke cigarettes. The writer clearly misses the point of why people become homeless in the first place. The human condition is far more complex than you suppose. Your own human condition is more complex. I could see you at the grocery store, dressed well, paying for food, driving a car, and I could assume your life is completely together. However, I may not know you could be suffering from depression, an addiction problem, be taking care of a dying family member, and may have recently lost your job. Add to this the myriad other mental, emotional, physiological, and economic factors that take people to the brink, including the loss of a place to live. I would also caution you to judge a cell phone as a luxury. For an unhoused person, it is more like a lifeline, perhaps to a friend, a family member, a counselor, or a case worker. It may be one avenue toward hope and recovery. It may be the one possession that preserves a fragile connection to community. It is true that Asheville has a homeless problem. But the entire world does; we are not unique. This is a systemic societal problem which has to be solved with innovation, care, people, and work. And compassion. It also has to be solved with money – yes, your tax money – for the benefit of our community as a whole. You have to be part of the solution.

  9. Christopher H

    It used to be American to promise a chicken in every pot. Now, in Asheville it’s a beggar at every intersection. I have never seen such as this in ANY other city in this country, even in frigging India! A few years ago I gave a guy with a sign saying he was starving one of my two fresh delicious muffins from Earthfare that cost about 3 bucks. He looked at me with scorn and said mean words to me for giving him food and not money. If you want drugs and alcohol, fine, be honest. I’m not some elite. I’m closer to poverty level of income than most and have serious health issues. BUT, I worked and saved since I was 14 years old and now own my own home. City Council takes my $2500 in property taxes that I pay every year and wants to subsidize this beggars at every street corner lifestyle. It’s not working! And now there is very little police enforcement of laws because City Council cares more about the homeless and the vocal minority than they do about these young men and woman who make up our police department. I actually heard a city council member ask at a meeting with the police chief Zack, why she had gotten a citation instead of a warning for a seat belt violation. I’m not kidding. It’s on YouTube, a recent public safety committee meeting. While homicides and drug overdoses have multiplied in East Asheville. A few years ago, someone breaking into a car was big news. Somehow we now have a city government that is way out of their league. Please vote everyone!

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    • kw

      If City Councilwomen don’t know by now that there’s a seat belt law, we’re in worse trouble than I thought…

      • Christopher H

        To be fair Ms Council Woman was concerned that she had been given a citation instead of a warning because of her skin color. She claimed that she had told the officer that she was just about to put her seat belt on. (Thus disputing him). I can say from experience that when you don’t disagree with an officer and treat them with kindness and respect, that any that I have been in contact with have been more than fair. The responding APD committee member said as much, that each LEO has authority to issue a citation or a warning which can be affected by the drivers attitude.

    • MG Massey

      Only fools don’t see the consequences of their lack of empathy
      What happens to one, will happen to all.
      Selfish people are the problem.

  10. Susie-Danzen

    Wow – a lot’s changed since I lived in Asheville. Back in the day, the only regular homeless person was crazy Fred. Fred had a prosthetic leg, wore a long coat, and was “undercover CIA”. He never panhandled or asked for money. He had a source of basic disability income, but he was still homeless. He could often be found at Gatsby’s nursing a beer and chain smoking cigarettes. Or perhaps Smokey Tavern.
    Then there was White Eagle. He was a pretty cool dude too.

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