Cardboard Duvet Set
Proceeds for the sale of these duvet sets go to benefit a dutch homeless shelter. If you are interested in helping the cause you can purchase one via this link. I have read mixed reactions about using a cardboard theme to raise money for the homeless.
“Doesn’t it strike anyone as a mockery of the homeless misery ?
I mean, really, how comfortable would you be to sleep in “duvetted” cardboard while real people sleep under real cardboard ? Isn’t it the epitome for hypocritical charity : “I’ll give if it makes me look cool”? Quite typical of the out of touch limousine liberalism.”
I would be interested in a survey of homeless people to find out what they think about it. Their opinion is the only one that really matters. What do you think?
Stumble It!
September 29th, 2008 at 8:16 am
“Their opinion is the only one that really matters. What do you think?” Ha!
September 29th, 2008 at 8:40 am
I’ve been homeless, although I’m not now. As far as I’m concerned anything that raises awareness and funds is a good thing.
September 29th, 2008 at 9:58 am
I think who really cares.. raising money for the homeless and poor is a good thing.. it’s just sad what has to be done to get people to give.
September 29th, 2008 at 10:56 am
Here is a great discussion I came across on reddit regarding this article:
anonymusHippopotamus:
I think most people think that homeless people are homeless because they are down on their luck, or had something horrible happen to them, or that the economy just doesn’t allow for them to succeed.
But I think, homelessness is a little bit more of a choice than most people think. Don’t get me wrong. Some people get in accidents, lose mental faculties, or are just mentally ill. And that’s sad that we can’t get them into hospitals. But lots of homeless people, like the one’s you see with clever signs on the road, just made a choice and said, ‘fuck it’ at some point.
They don’t care that someone is judging them. They aren’t worried about people ‘looking down on them’. They just want a little cash to get some booze and cigarettes. We had a report on our local news about several ‘homeless people’ who beg near our strip of liquor stores. Many of them made a little more than minimum wage by panhandling (difference being of course, that their ‘earnings’ aren’t being taxed).
So yea, I think most homeless people wouldn’t give a shit and would just thank you for the food (or bitch that it’s not what they want), and the others would probably try to use the food as deodorant, or pick it apart looking for tiny secret cameras put there by the guv’ment.
fingers:
read Daniel Quinn’s works. I forget which one deals with homelessness (scavengers)…but it is quite interesting.
elburto:
Have you been homeless before? I have, and I certainly had no choice in the matter.
You don’t just lose the roof over your head, you lose your dignity, a lot of your rights, your security, your possessions, your choices, and a lot of your faith in humanity.
The booze-sodden beggars you describe weren’t always like that. It’s not surprising to me that so many people with nowhere to live end up mentally ill, or addicted to various substances. They’re just the visible tip of a massive iceberg though, a minority of people who don’t know how to live any other way anymore. There are thousands of others who, like me, were the ‘hidden homeless’. I did care about being judged, people often assume wrongly that homeless=alcoholic or addict, or that you’ll steal from them, when all I ever wanted was the knowledge that I had somewhere to go that night.
I had to lie, cheat, and claw my way out of my situation, and it still affects me. I’m lucky, very lucky, to be living in a house, to have a place to sleep and wash, and to be secure.
Don’t believe everything the local news tells you, and don’t think that it could never happen to you. I’d hate for you to find out about homelessness the hard way.
anonymusHippopotamus:
You’re having a knee-jerk reaction to my post, because you had a hard time at one point (condolences btw). The fact that you were able to change your situation, proves my point that there is a choice in the matter. You could have chosen to stay homeless and say ‘fuck it’, or you could have done what you did, and made it back into a home (kudos). It’s probably those hard feelings about ‘being judged’ that compelled you to change your situation. Other people might have the attitude of ‘I don’t care what people think’, and have no desire to get back into the rat race. These people stay homeless. They made a choice.
I’m not saying it’s easy. I’m not saying things don’t go wrong. What I am saying though, is that there are two ways to face challenges in life. One is to give up and move on to the next challenge, and the other is to pour your heart and soul into it, and rise above circumstance. It’s up to everyone to make themselves. Everyone has to decide the type of person they are going to be. Neither is ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ necessarily, but you have to decide what you want your outcome to be, and then make strategic decisions to achieve the desired result.
September 29th, 2008 at 3:48 pm
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