What do you think of the European Union? Does it make you think of abject poverty and desperate living?
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We often consider the European Union as prosperous and stable. However, there is another side to the E.U., the eastern side.
For eastern E.U. member countries, and those seeking membership, there is a strangle hold of poverty, politics, and lack of opportunity. Recently, I came across this video about the homeless situation in Bucharest, Romania. Just last year I was in Eastern Europe. Though I didn’t have a chance to visit Romania, I did see desperation and struggle throughout the eastern frontier of the E.U. After viewing this video about Bucharest, I was stunned and my mind was reeling.
I chose to ask some friends to help me sort out the information that the video assailed me with. When we face the BIG challenges, solutions can be elusive due to the complexity of factors that are interwoven together. That is why I turned to Facebook, and a group of old trusted friends for some direction in sorting out the impact of this video on Bucharest’s homeless.
Trigger warning. Heavy drug use.
The responses started brief but heavy:
(I have left off the names of commenters in order to create a feel for the conversation.)
“sigh …”
“… just watched it. I am in pain.”
“I watched it twice now, still digesting.”
“Once is enough for me. No need to digest. This is reality. I have always known.”
“I’ve known too, but I am trying to figure out the global context.”
“Global? the world is GOING TO SHIT.”
Then the social analysis:
“Though I was never an addict, I do appreciate how this community has come together. Too bad it’s whole existence is some form of drugs. The one major thing I learned about the streets is the rich live the same way except they wear a suit to hide their activities. And those on the streets are subject to laws the uber rich are invisible too. They are a mirror image of each other. Both rely on ‘dog eat dog’. Same rules apply.”
“This definitely is not just an ‘addicts’ issue.”
“There will always be outcasts, not really much to say about this, a story as old as humanity. It really does sound like the same old story. When theres a switch in government, money, etc., the casualties are the minority, the poor, and ultimately the children. People do what they need to survive, which in turn causes them more need to escape their reality. Enter drugs. I have found also, that misery really does love company, and people will actually get others addicted to drugs in order to not be alone.”
“There are so many layers here. But, sadly its nothing new. I also can’t ignore that in the other side of the E.U., France just set a landmark legal working hours limit. Meanwhile, in Romania, also part of the E.U…..”
From the social work side:
“It is truly heartbreaking to see. Neglect and abandonment by ones caregivers makes it very difficult to build healthy attachments and trust. It changes ones brain function. It’s very complex in serving the chronic homeless population. It takes tons of commitment, using trauma informed care approaches while providing them with much needed services. One should be holistically sustainable through their family/community before they work with such a population. This will help the caregiver do well and last longer while working with them. It’s very complex and takes a ton of strategic work (research, access to trauma informed professionals, and survivors who are do their own healing.)”
From the social activist side:
“It doesn’t hit me with the same impact of surprise or revulsion. I can’t speak for other countries, but many times homelessness is a choice. Not at first, but later in life. You get to a point where you get sick of it and consume more of the lifestyle or try and get out. These people were born into it and that’s very different than what happens here in most cases. The truth is, other than the drug use, I’d rather see people live this way than like a politician or bank owner. They create no harm. They live below civilisation’s radar. Money doesn’t go to war unless you look at the food issue.
The food they eat is pure bio weapons. This so called food is what allowed them to be homeless in the first place. The makers of the food they eat are the cause of war and genocide. So other than that, they contribute very very little to those who play god. This is hitting at the complexities of the issue. The Bucharest situation is a microscopic example of the overall parasitic and unsustainable mess that has been created in the world. The food/poverty issue is most definitely central.”
The rebuttal:
“I have trouble with the statement, “Homelessness is a choice. Not at first, but later in life.” Many factors can contribute to homelessness (generational poverty, war, mental illness, lack of education, disconnection from healthy interactions, illness, etc). When I say homeless, I am meaning that someone does not have a physically safe, emotionally connecting, validating, empowering environment, filled with love, that fosters them until they provide such an environment for others.
Current research on the affects of trauma to the brain, reveals the physiological and psychological impacts to influencing a persons ability to make healthy choices/decisions etc. On top of this add an environment/society that is not conducive to supporting a traumatized person to become holistically sustainable. It may not be intentional as a society failing to help our most vulnerable.As it is, many simply are unaware of the current research on brain development/neurobiology.
Don’t like ads? Become a supporter and enjoy The Good Men Project ad freeIt takes a ton of time, resources, and holistically sustainable people to bring just one person ravaged by the world to a place of healing. Deep passionate love given to others wisely and strategically. I will say some may never recover from what the world has done to them and what they have done to themselves.
This breaks my heart to see anyone so isolated, disconnected, alone, living in an environment that is filled with sorrow. Instead they should be loved lavishly surrounded by connecting ‘family’ members. It’s very complex and difficult to explain. I used to be homeless and had been in and out of mental hospitals till I found such hope. Now I am slowing becoming alive. Awakening from a deep sleep.”
The counter point:
“Science aside, I speak from personal experience. We all had a choice after awhile. A science paper will never understand all that goes into the reasons of homelessness or it continuation. There always comes a point when you have a choice. And I don’t care what science disputes this. How would they know? They study. They don’t involve themselves. Science can prove anything but the real truth to any fact.”
The clarification:
“The research is done with a sample from the traumatized population. Results of how to help this population is exhaustively tracked and measured by those who work tirelessly with the survivors. This data is then collected and added to others whom have done similar research. The data is written and Peer Reviewed to ensure it’s as accurate as possible and limiting room for error. Not perfect as there is always a rule to some exemptions. There are passionate people who truly want to know how to serve survivors well using science wisely.”
Possible global solutions are entertained:
“Super sad situation in many metropolises. We need to raise the minimum standards of human living by setting up sustainable living situations: housing, clean water sources, land & seed. Educate and empower folks with better survival skills. This new era of planetary human consciousness must deliver compassion and inspire folks to make all the best choices.”
The reality:
“I wasn’t surprised at this video. Not even a little, actually. And these family-type situations have always seemed to be more of a positive thing than anything (as the social worker in the video herself admitted). I guess I just wonder what this is going to become as it progresses, as the diseases progress, and as these social groups that cannot function with the outside world (even the dogs want to attack the cars) continue to just hibernate. I feel like it’s this strange diseased but functional version of a Clive Barker story, but the political and medical and economical landscapes have created such a narrative.”