My Wise Community

The members of my community are the homeless youth of San Francisco. We get along very well because we all come from a similar background. As youth we have and show more respect to each other and the world around us because we are humbled. Some might call us old souls because we don't act like most young people. What makes us who we are and united is what we have been through and our common goal to simply improve our way of living. We don't choose our members, society does. We are all the wasted potential rejected by materialistic, selfish, and even stubborn communities. We, for years, have heard every excuse from many employers why they wont hire us. We learned that bending the rules of our surrounding communities is the only way not to die. We exist without skin color or religious bias. Politics is useless to us. We are survivalists and our level of perseverance is our advantage. Our disadvantages is being subject to an opportunity divide. A great success within this community is being able to help our fellow man. We encounter every day new homeless people. People ranging between the ages 18-25 who have never spent a night on the street. If they are lucky they meet me and my community. We show them the ropes and how to get out of this difficult position and they show the next man. As easy as that sounds we have many problems with this system and the new people. The new people need time to adjust and dealing with this transition can cause problems and sometimes we get new people who just use us and leave never to be seen again. I hate being homeless but I love the amount of truth I am exposed to everyday. If it is a lifestyle you can handle and get out of you will see that it is in fact a blessing in disguise.

Module 1 Revision

My school breaks down its school year into seven week sections called modules. The first module I have recently completed consisted of a CNIT 100 (introduction to computers) class along with Professional Skills and Business communications classes. In the time I have taken to complete this module I have learned some things about myself.

I as a student need more sleep in order to function. Without the proper amount of sleep, not only will I have a hard time keeping up with the pace of the day but I will worst of all lose my ability to retain all of the information I am cramming into seven weeks. I need to stay away from junk food. Junk food is slowing my body and mind down and this “it is” I cannot afford in this intensive academic training session. My health has improved due to my abstinence from alcohol. I just haven’t had the time to socialize much these days. My mind has changed completely, I find myself no longer considering what I sacrificed to be here as important. My habits have changed and getting work done gets easier by the day. I am impressed that overall I am in the right mindset to be a student.

A few things that surprised me were how my health is improving. Internally I feel like a new man. I have also sharpened my discipline and taken on a role of leadership.

I take pride in the style I was able to maintain but most of all just being able to complete the module. I didn’t think I could make it’

What disappoints me is getting infractions which made me lose money and lowered my grades somehow.

Other than that, I don’t think there is much to say.

There is no neighbor in "hood"

I grew up in the ghettos and slums of the S.F. Bay Area. Through my upbringing in these areas I have drawn this conclusion, I HATE THE GHETTO. I have seen soo much ignorance in these communities and the hardships I have endured in these areas was the drive I needed to get out. I didn't care if I had to eat out of the trash and sleep in an ally. I had to get out of the ghetto. I spent a few years as a vagabond and experienced the cultural spectrum of many communities. It is my observation that without any economic stimulation a community is doomed to become a war-zone because there is nothing to lose in that area anyway. Living in ghettos I hated having to travel far and wide for my basic needs such as going to school, work, or food. As a result from having to commute to exist in the only place I can afford, I thought I could never afford to move out. Finally I swallowed my pride and became a vagabond because when it comes down to it, there is no opportunity in these areas, no one could afford to even help themselves, and if I had any hope of getting out of this social environmental death trap it's going to hurt. By taking this path I learned that while I was considered the scum of the Earth I was a better investment than a ghetto. Most people are worth saving however we should take no pity in slum communities. They made their surroundings what it is and they have the power to change it, Harlem is a great example. They were a well-established community, became a slum, and now are undergoing gentrification. My point is, why invest in a community that doesn’t want to be invested in? Living in the ghetto made me hate these communities, what they are, what they stand for. I believe that unless they decide to change from within they should be eliminated for social justice and world peace. Demolition of these areas is a service.

Reflecting on The Poverty Business

I believe that companies profiting from low-wage earners are definitely contributing to the opportunity divide. One major trait I have noticed from many companies that offers credit or loans is that they have a tendency to charge a higher interest rate to the low-income client. This to me is morally wrong and an obvious act to maintain a poverty level. I don’t understand why businesses like dealerships, credit, or banks feel that making a community struggle instead of thrive can benefit anyone in the long run. The corporate juggernaut’s tenure over preyed upon credit of the poor community contribute greatly to the opportunity divide. There are many obstacles a person may face to obtain a job or career. If a person doesn’t have good credit then a job requiring things like a car, stable housing, tools, or whatever is alone financially challenging to obtain is out of reach. It is disgusting that the same people creating the social problems rooted from poverty are creating the poverty, and this needs to stop. We can point the finger back and forth about who is at fault but if we want to find the person who takes responsibility for this we need only to look in a mirror. We need to take responsibility for saving money, organizing a budget, and most of all passing laws. The change and solution for this is within our-selves and within a community to exercise their right to vote and create propositions and measures. Complaining and ranting over an issue has changed nothing in this country yet we as a people have a tendency to mope and broadcast our opinions for days, weeks, months, and years. There is a reason why most of the world views the United States as a lazy people and it is because when it comes to something important and or urgent we fail to take action until it’s too late.