Wild Human Homelessness and Poverty

My Own Journey Into Homelessness


For many years, I enjoyed the tranquility of a stable home. Rhythms and routines rolled along with comforting predictability, year in and year out. I raised my children in small town serenity, learned about the world in college, had wonderful adventures with Rainbows and Deadheads, and gave thanks for the blessings of each and every day.

Eventually, a catalyst occurred, which set off a chain of events and circumstances beyond my control, that resulted in me being homeless. So many choices by so many people, each and all leading to and thru so many consequences, overlapping and intermingling like ocean waves.

During that stable time of having a home, I decided to take the initiative to create something great, a grassroots nonprofit focused on helping people who are down on their luck or outcast, to experience personal empowerment, to transform society by creating community and tribe-based networks, to write new meta-narratives and heart songs, and to further subvert the dominant paradigms that work to program, dumb down, defeat and control us. We would comfort, inspire, electrify, and amplify one another and our visions.

I worked very hard every day for over a year, doing research, designing materials, focalizing small events, building my grassroots nonprofit, and strengthening the network that we are a part of. When I was quite suddenly evicted from my home, I was very grateful for the friendships and information that I had discovered. My land lady's son had forced her into a nursing home and hijacked her affairs, evicting us on short notice and doubling the rent. We lost our beloved home of 10 years. At the same time, the father of my twins suffered a disabling heart attack from using drugs, that nearly killed him, and then we parted ways. Without a stable home, I had to give one of my other children to his father, which was a decision I feel good about now.

Without any money saved, I was both doomed to the streets and liberated by them in the most intense ways. I had to let go of many preconceived notions and perceptions, relax my grip on my pride and dignity, and bravely open my heart to the possibilities of chaos and adventure. It was scary at times and wonderful at times. We entered the unknown,with only faith and friendships to comfort us. We became the people I had sought to serve and to love, soul survivors, ninja street campers, nomads, scavengers.We sought the beauty, the joy, the weirdness and fun of it.

But now I can see why people say its hard to keep your dignity as a homeless person. You are usually forced to be dirty and smell bad, if you have no access to hot water and soap or a laundromat or car wash. Some people look down on you and try to shame you and make you want to be invisible. You have to adapt to all kinds of circumstances by learning to be crafty, like a scavenger. You change in subtle ways, like the look in your eyes, the tone of your voice, the way you walk, the appearance of your fingernails and the expression on your face. People can tell you are different. Some accept it with compassion and see you as innocent and vulnerable. Others, called "Troll Busters" have only hatred and anger for the homeless and the underclass. They are dangerous in surprising ways, and make life hard for us.

Some people, often but not always with middle class lifestyles, who make sure that even their deviations are within an acceptable range, do not understand anything about the soulful lives of the disadvantaged, the different, the homeless, the disabled, the"other". They have no comprehension of how a person can end up in such a lifeway, and assume its because of character flaws and defects and shortcomings. That's a brutal way to be seen, when the truth is that you are innocent, and you should be commended for surviving and thriving in such circumstances.

Only YOU can generate the love you deserve for that, because the troll busters will never give it to you. They seem to feel only disdain, disgust, resentment and judgement. "There but for the grace of God goes I" is a seldom heard statement these days. They use stereotypes and other mental shortcuts to label people and stay stuck in their own self-righteous perceptions, causing separation, competition, consumption and conviction, where love and brotherhood are needed. Some even claim to believe in such concepts as "Love your mother, feed your brother", "It takes a village to raise a child" and "We are One". But their actions and words reveal the truth of their hearts as troll busters. They cannot breach the boundaries of intolerance and fear, projection and judgmentalism, condemnation and crucifixion. They cannot realize just how uncool and lacking in compassion and love they really are.

I see only one solution to this for myself. It's why I promote harmony, peace, upliftment, empowerment, and cultural transformation, even while being harassed by people who twist the truth for their own purposes, create turbulence and conflict, and wound themselves and each other with self-righteous judgmentalism. The solution is to ALWAYS CHOOSE PEACE AND LOVE. Do not be degraded, bullied, victimized, harassed, or run off by people who act like troll busters. Hold your own, hold your head up, walk tall and proud, and know that you are love and you are loved. If a person cannot act from love, then they are in Hell, and they'd like to take you there with them. Stay in Heaven by choosing peace and love, in all situations and circumstances.

I do not see myself as a victim. I see myself as a product of my choices. I've said many times that I am not afraid to completely mess up, and let my family--YOU--help me clean up, smack my bottom, and give me a little shove in the right direction. I thank the people who truly do love me, for doing that. I do not run or hide from anything. I face it and deal with it the best I can, face to face and head on. I have many things to deal with right now, and I cannot give everything my full attention until I have a home and money. For example, repaying the people who have helped me along the way. I fully intend to do those things, because I am a responsible person. I cannot do it by anyone else's timetable, though, and I will not surrender my dignity to troll busters who want to slam me for my circumstances. I pray for the entire situation to be transformed by God into something good, and so it is.

I have a right to be who and what I am. I have a right to make amends for my mistakes and my shortcomings. I have a right to experience my processes without condemnation and crucifixion. and I respect your rights to experience the same. I appreciate being treated with respect and dignity, and I am sure that you do too. I will keep on keeping on. There is so much, so many realms, that I haven't even begun to explore yet. I stand here at yet another crucial crossroads, with magical winds blowing in lessons and change from all directions. I will choose to remain centered in light and love, deepster beauty and magic, passionate writing and music, empowerment and transformation, evolution and revolution, and loving the whole entire earth and all that is contained within it.

I strive each day to improve myself and my life, despite tremendous odds against me, and circumstances that would make many people crumple up and die. I strive to care well for my children, without a daddy or any money. I cope gracefully with brutal experiences and realities, and try to learn and grow and develop, remaining focused and faithful.

If anyone ever does care to know the truth about who I am and about my role in this revolution, what its really like, then they will have to come and find me in person and see for themselves. I do have many friends, and you can be my friend too. I'd like to be a good friend for you. I feel its extremely unlikely that anyone will seek me out, but if you do, you won't be disappointed.

I know the truth about myself and my life, and no one can change my understanding, awareness, and love of myself, my life and my children. But the world "out there" is vulnerable to lies, rumors, gossip, and various forms of destruction. Many people love me and my endeavors to be part of the solutions rather than part of the problems. Some people don't care about me at all, some resent my efforts and say its total bullshit, some people are jealous, and others are competitive, seeking to destroy me, especially where money is involved.

Well, that's humanity for you. I am at peace with all of this. I just wanted to share it with you, so you can know me better, if you care to. Take care and take it easy. Peace
love and light,
kiyonah thundersong
the wild human initiative

 

 

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The Difference Between Wild Human 

and Common Homelessness

this is just a contemplation about the difference between wild human versus common homeless men and homeless women. with wild humans, i notice MUCH less differences among each other, for we all seem to be on the same plane of wide open consciousness, at home on the earth, houseless but not homeless, making something rich out of any stew life throws at us. we have the same impish smiles, the same slouchy lope, the same kinds of clothes and patches and beads. but for babylonians, it's a different story.

for wild humans, the world is our domain, but in babylon, women are the embodiers of the home. the kitchen is their domain. they take great pleasure in dressing nice and spoiling their kids, gossiping and bragging about the accomplishments of those they love. in a way, life is anchored by and it revolves around them. so when they are hurled into homelessness by some kind of misfortune, it's like someone ripped off their crown and threw it in a wood chipper. all that's left are tiny worthless pieces. they have no kitchen and usually no food to cook in. so that role is gone from them. they have no bathroom to clean with rubber gloves and lysol and bleach, to a sparkling perfection of sanitation and safety. they have no laptop on which to compose editorials and thank you notes and all the other niceties of society. they have no laundry room in which to inhale deeply of the wonderful scent of detergent and dryer sheets, feeling simple satisfaction in a towel well folded. they are queens kicked off their thrown, into a smelly gutter, with no hope of anything but feeling like an utter misfit and outcast.

for men, it's often part of the great mystique of the tramp, the hobo, the vagabond, and so forth. it's not unusual for men, wounded warriors that they are, to walk away from various mental prisons of dehumanization and to strike out on the road, becoming for all the world anonymous and free. free agents of their own life. but i do hear many stories by men with loving hearts who feel agony over losing their women due to homelessness. he wanted to stay on the streets, she could not bear it, so they were lost to one another. these men claim that all women want is money and credentials, and don't care about true love or alternative ways of life. if they are referring to babylonian women, then that might be true. but it's not true about wild human women or Rainbow women.

so how does it feel for a babylonian man or woman to suddenly become homeless? to be sitting pritty in an expensive rental house in an exclusive neighborhood, with a high class job, membership in clubs, regular nights out, no worries about the cost of anything, what's it like for them to suddenly or quickly lose it all and end up on the streets or in their car? with no wild humanism, or wild human enthusiasm, they must quickly assimilate and translate, transition and re-acquisition the what and who that they are.

first, they go into a psychic shock. like physical shock, but it's psychological and emotional. many of them commit suicide. if they fail to die, then they try again. If they don't commit suicide, then they at least lose their faith in God, wondering all the time why their angels did not come down and save them, why God had deserted them and left them hanging in the wind, and worst of all, why oh why did their family and friends who claimed before to love them, why did they not now show any compassion or care for them? why did they turn their backs, slam their doors, block their phone numbers, avert their glances?tThey wonder what happened to long friendships and why those friends weren't helping. this feels like the worst kind of betrayal.

next, they feel a sense of being hopeless setting in. they lose their hope every time someone says no to helping them, or each time they realize what they lost, or each time they can't shut out memories of how it used to be for them. each time they reach for a pillow that isn't there, or need to use a kitchen they no longer have, or want candles and incense, or get assaulted by holiday advertisements, or sit in a park of playing children, or beg for money where they used to shop...each time they feel with full force that they have no place of their own, no space to claim, and no true privacy, especially using public bathrooms which is a revolting thought to upper class people...all of these things that made them and their lives who and what they were before are now gone.

it is VERY tough for a person of average intelligence and character to make it thru a transition if it hits suddenly. they have no foundation of boot camp, or previous homelessness, or anything to help them draw on coping skills and problem solving abilities.

but a lot of them do make it thru to the other side, and life is never the square box it was before. you can see the dignity in their eyes, hear the intelligence in their voice. they are or they become wild humans.

they cause a ruckus wherever they go...such as Walmart, picking out stuff to buy, then announcing to everyone in earshot that they can't go thru with it because Walmart doesn't pay its people a living wage, and nothing there is made in America, and their megastores destroy small towns. or taking huge delight in dumpster diving, finding awesome scores and cooking up big feasts to feed every drunk in town for free. or jumping up on tables at boring events like AA meetings and reciting wild poetry that is hugely timely or ironic. these wild human homebums are actually intact and intensified by the challenge of homelessness or poverty. they just don't give a darn about all those external indicators of prosperity. life is an adventure and it's meant to be lived. there is little time for self indulgent worrying and wasting of energy on listless mediocrity.

if you ever end up homeless, be wild human about it. grab it by the neck and hug the hell out of it, and wear it like a hat. climb the tallest building and send down paper airplanes with anarchist messages on them. buy your cheapo wine or vodka and go get drunk under fire escapes with other homebums and scrawl your poems in chalk on the brick wall there. be a pony express courier for the street people, delivering messages of love and revolution by one another in secret code. make weird time capsules and bury them in coffee shop bookshelves to be found by whoever is lucky enough to get it. etc. man or womban, loss is loss, and gain is gain. place the treasure of your heart right where you are in the moment, whatever it is. drunk or sober, angry or serene, free or locked up, whatever and wherever be true to your wild human heart.

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The Difference Between Poverty and Simplicity

  I've been doing a LOT of research on poverty and homelessness, on stereotypes and class inequalities, on social contracts and the commonwealth, both written and unwritten. Wild humans come in all colors and sizes and economic varieties, like a big wild meme garden. Some wildflowers here, some roses there, some medicinal herbs here, some weeds there. In Babylon, we have the homeless, the working poor, and low income. Then we have lower, middle and upper middle class. Then we have lower, middle and upper upper class. At the very top are the 1 percenters, the Illuminati chess players of the world. Thomas Paine said that when we can say that there are no beggars, and the jails are empty, and everyone is well and hopeful, we can then be proud of our constitution and our government. Just my opinion, but I'd say we haven't progressed much since the pre Industrial days of England, when paupers were thrown in prison, and so we have little to be proud of in that regard. We still need a Revolution to correct inherent class inequalities, systemic barriers to upward mobility, and oppression of all kinds of freedom on all levels.


All of us "down here" on the socioeconomic spectrum have to worry about balancing an inadequate income with overbearing expenses, how to handle emergency situations regarding health and transportation and (TRANSFORMATION!!!) without enough money or help. We have to figure out how to escape and choose new paths while trapped by abuse, illness, handicaps and various other obstacles, how to balance family, work and survival without much support or family, how to overcome low self esteem, poverty consciousness, and the tyranny of the moment. We have to deal with stiff competition for scarce or incorrect resources, and always long waiting lists or lack of funds. We have to deal with the dangers of bad neighborhoods, hateful families, adversarial authorities. WE ARE TRULY THE HEROES OF THE WORLD!!!

We worry about being able to pay bills and not be evicted or cut off. We worry about keeping enough gas in the tank or bus passes or strength to get around. We worry about having a variety of edible food and drink, for food bank boxes are always full of shitty food and candy that does not nourish or satisfy. We worry about being able to get our tobacco and other addictions that help us to cope fulfilled. We worry about having our kids stolen by Social Services, despite our best efforts. WE worry about never being able to escape or step up in society.

Some words that come to mind when I think about poverty: futility, scarcity, struggle, boredom, stress, exhaustion, hopelessness, low-level comfort zone, shabbiness, second best, oppression, persecution, being left out, isolation, rough and tough, as well as acceptance, grace, surrender, humbleness, generousity, gratitude, humor, compassion, creativity, and resourcefulness.

The biggest problems for people living in poverty are low level misery that becomes normalized and socialized, making change even less likely because it seems so likely given all the factors involved. There is a terrible lack of empowering resources or even rescues, and there are stiff requirements to meet to get those resources, and heavy competition for those resources. Acquiring resources to survive actually takes a lot of time and energy---money, food, shelter, transport, medicine, addictions, online connection, entertainment, if possible. These are urgent and demanding.

In my opinion, a person's awareness and consciousness are most important, because they are foundations for all else. Being consumed by the tyranny of poverty prevents liberation and empowerment. Breaking out is the most important thing to do, but most people can only neglect to do in favor of just maintaining the chaos and suffering.

How do problems get solved when we are living in poverty? Usually in a desperate, half assed way, due to inadequate planning and resources. We just do the best we can with what we have at the moment, never getting ahead. We beg, defraud, rob Peter to pay Paul, lett the lower priority things slide for as long as possible, blow things off, freeload, impose on other codependents, manipulating for solutions.

To do this, we need tremendous resourcefulness and imagination. Problem solving insight, fast flexibility, a will to never give up, an almost criminal mentality in looking at a scenario, figuring out how it works, and somehow making it work for us. We need charm or charisma that moves people to trust and want to help. We need a willingness to keep going no matter what, even thru exhaustion, starvation, illness and injury. We need a strong desperation to demand help in deep prayer.

So what is it about poverty that makes it hard to get out of it? I think, constant bad luck, stigmatization and scapegoating by society (tough shit attitude towards us), stupid people who ruin opportunities, such as abusive spouses. Lack of resources like social connections or grant money to get on our feet quickly before everything goes to Hell. Sometimes mental illness, social defects, addictions etc hold people down. Also, long waiting lists. Ruined credit ratings. Lots of stuff.

When someone lives in poverty a long time, they get used to it. They adapt and become somewhat institutionalized to it. They develop an identity as a poor person and their their expectations and perceptions change accordingly, downward, which is very good for the power brokers who want to keep us in our places, for their own profit. Poor people acquire poverty consciousness that defines their own boundaries and perimiters of acceptability. Like wearing dirty clothes, going without a shower, skipping breakfast and on and on, that wealthy people would never ever tolerate. Society regards them as poor, and it becomes a self fulfilling prophecy prison.

Living in poverty is about more than lack of money and resources. Its also a consciousness, a paradigm, a belief frame, a life way, an existential context. Impoverished people can feel happy and content, but poverty is a sense of lack, a loss of dignity, a lack of respect, despair, struggle. The environment of poverty is shabby, on all levels. I know of poor people with beautiful camps and immaculate possessions, however few they may be, who care for themselves and each other and love the world. They do not live in "poverty". People who live in poverty settle for filth, crappy clothes, not feeling well, junky food, ugly homes and cars, mistreatment by the people who should be their fellow human beings. They lack a desire of or awareness of beauty without money, freedom without money, etc. Shabbiness and mediocrity become a way of life. But cultural creatives and counterculturalists have found ways to embrace a lack of income and make it beautiful. So poverty is about more than money and resources, its a consciousness of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness no matter what. Poor people have been dumbed down, desocialized and robbed of that.


I see that it all comes down to passing the buck. And that the world is not fair, as it is set up right now. The working poor and all at their level in the social hierarchies actually carry the burdens so others can be comfortable. They absorb the costs of wealth. When they are working as a waitress, starving hungry, they do it so others can have good service and delicious food. When their own house is a mess so they can clean houses to the point of exhaustion, they do it so nice folks can have spotless houses. When their kids are babysat by someone shitty, that's all they can afford, they do it so they can work at meanial jobs so others can enjoy licensed childcare.

The poor are stigmatized and labelled, shunted off to the invisible realms of society. They are seen with disdain, disgust, and scrutiny. They have to be drug tested all the time, take psychological tests to get a job, go thru back ground checks, and be under surveillance all the time. All of which violates their human and civil rights. They agree to surrender their most basic humanity in order to be niggered down to survive. As John Lennon said, Woman Is the Nigger of the World. And it's true. They are not aware of their employees rights and would not dare ask for higher pay or a union in fear of being fired or the job going to someone else. So they grit their teeth and do it.

There is a long term damage to a person's spirit, like carpal tunnel syndrome, from living in poverty. It stunts you. Rich folks can sit at home on the finest computers with high speed internet, while the poor get one hour a day at the library. Rich folks pay to go to gyms, while the poor go to public parks despite the weather. Rich folks drive in cars worth more than a house, while the poor bike thru the rain or ride stinky public buses. It goes on and on.

And the rich don't want to see it, don't want to acknowledge the guilt and shame of the unfairness of it. They are the owners of the resources and we are the servants and it needs to stay that way. Government services are cut and cut, while budgets for prisons and cops goes up and up. Aid is cut while wars are escalated. So government is not the solution, it's a big part of the problem. So poor people must rely on fellow poor family members and charities, which are severely overburdened and just as broke as they are. Something must be done. This has been a National State of Emergency for at least forty years, and yet not many people even think about it.

Menial labor is dehumanizing. Living in a cheap motel, eating from a microwave on a lumpy bed, is dehumanizing. Wearing second hand clothes is dehumanizing. It's downward mobility, to fill the needs for a poor working class to serve the upper class. But change is in the air, with programs like the one I'm in, called Circles.

So what are some solutions we can immediately employ? Raise the awareness of class inequalities and the actual extreme suffering of the working poor and homeless. Inform the poor, and MOST poor people DO work, way to hard for next to nothing, inform them of their employee rights to fair pay and regular breaks and the right to organize. Get involved with struggles for a living wage. If you have some pull in society, call your representatives and tell them about it.

Down on our level, we have little choice but to organize, if we are to escape this shitty nightmare, this neverending hamster wheel of being a wage slave or the invisible poor. We have to rise up, and if we don't, the divide continues to grow, to the delight of penny pinchers and Scrooges and Mitt Romneys everywhere.

The Wild Human Initiative is getting ready to launch. I plan to organize ourselves to make wages together, for creative and unconventional people. I plan to have meetings together to figure out how to insist on "fair trade" wages, for when you sell your hour for a shallow dime, your time is actually your life that you are selling. Your physical capital, your health, your happiness, your liberty and self determination. We need to organize local barter systems, local communal housing in scattered locations (I hope to rent a big house in West Asheville with some of you, for starters, splitting the rent and going from there). I hope we form some cooperatives to buy and prepare healthy food, homeschool our kids together, whatever it takes to be outside of the system.

The real problem is with the written and unwritten social contracts that we agree to either willingly or unwillingly. The ideas of us versus them, of owners versus, servants, of good people versus scummy people.

I find poor people are not criminals to be drug tested and scrutinized and so on. Its usually the power brokers who get in the way of progress. So we have to go around them somehow, or demand our equal rights. The upperclass fears our eventual uprising, and so does everything possible to dumb us down, and keep us in the tyranny of survival so we don't demand equality. Circles is finding ways to bridge the gaps and build alliances between rich and poor. And I hope it works!

The dehumanization, the stereotyping, the labelling, the scapegoating, the unfairness, needs to stop. But they will probably never give up their ivory towers and country clubs. So we need to take it into our own hands, one person, one community, at a time. I'm here doing my part, feel free to join me and get this rolling.

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Notes From A Renegade Homebum

Worry is based on the consciousness of scarcity, and faith is based on the consciousness of certainty. It's ironic that homeless people are the ones who keep their faith, who stand strong against all odds, and know that survival is just part of life. We know that something just has to happen, we have to raise up gas money, find food, find a safe place to stay, every day and night, like nomadic hunter gatherers. So, to change your experience of homelessness or poverty to a wild human one, you have to change your awareness, your consciousness, your paradigm, your belief frames, your lifeways, so that you are embracing the challenges.


People who are homeless, somewhat willingly, tend to embrace it as a challenge, like being a survivalist, and so we develop many strategies for problem solving and survival. People who are homeless unwillingly see it as a disaster to be coped with stressfully, with drinking, drugs, crime and mental illness. Some descend into madness as an escape, and others break under the strain. Wild humans are proud to embrace homelessness willingly for as long as circumstances dictate.


Poverty and homelessness often result from the choices we make, but what many overlook is that the choices were made as a result of systemic problems in Babylon and systemic barriers. For example, I am homeless right now due to choosing to not part from my daughter and her asshole father until he gets on his feet. We contacted many service agencies and charities to seek money to rent a place to live. Unfortunately, this system only wants to help people to not lose the home they already have, and they don't help people wanting to get a home in the first place. Also, you need a local address, a social security card, an identification card from this state, etc. Those are systemic barriers that cause and aggravate homelessness. Yes, I made a choice, but then outside factors compounded that.


As homeless wild humans, we can employ many survival strategies. I will briefly skim thru a few here, and then I will be concentrating on making a new page on our Blogger site for people in need of help to refer to.
First of all, you can go church hopping. You go to every church that has cars in the parking lot, and you go in and sweetly ask them if they offer gas vouchers for indigent or transient travellers. Nine times out of ten, someone WILL help you with a voucher, cash or follow you to a gas station to fill up your tank. However, you must NOT abuse this. You can only go to each church ONCE, and if a town gets burned out on freeloaders, they will stop helping. So be careful with this. And if a town doesn't help much, you have to find a way to get to the next closest town. Some towns in Georgia will let you go to the police station for a voucher and food vouchers, but they run your name thru the system, so be careful to be totally legal if you do this.


I never recommend panhandling, and now in Tennessee you must have a Panhandler's License which costs $10 a year, or you go to jail for 30 days. So be careful if you panhandle.


If the town you're in has a homeless day center, go there and get a free cup of coffee and whatever else they have. You can usually get a letter that says you can use their address, and use that to get a temporary library card so you can get online each day.


Some churches will give out vouchers to go to a laundrymat, so be sure to ask when you go church hopping.
One great way to keep yourself in coffee is to use your own cup. If a truck stop or something is really busy, you can fill up your cup, go to the bathroom, and quietly skate out with what I call a "freefill". If you want to pay for it, it's usually half the cost if you use your own cup, about 50 cents. Just be respectful and sweet, and most people have a heart to help you. If you are suspicious or sneaky, they are liable to call the cops. So be careful.


If you are car camping, be sure to choose spots that don't have a sign saying "No overnight parking". A lot of Walmarts let you park all night, but some don't, so you should keep an eye out, and maybe ask the manager if its ok to park there, so you can rest easy. Same thing at all night gas stations. Choose a spot on the side that they don't need for customers, and don't back in to hide your license plate because its suspicious and cops will roll up on you with flashlights in hand. Just be cool and friendly and easy going. Act natural and play dumb if you have to, like I didn't know, I'm just passing thru, I'm on my way to look for a job somewhere, etc.


If you have to lie, keep it very simple and remember the details and match everything up. If they ask you where you came from, say the same state as your license. If they ask you where you're going, tell them the next big city along the path. Do a little research, so you have a solid story to tell and they let you go without a hassle.
I don't know much about street camping without a car right now, but I will interview some of the folks at A Hope to find out how it is right now. You used to camp under the overpasses or down by the river, or famously for Wild Humans, climb a fire escape and sleep on a roof, or under a porch with hidden access. Just be careful because some a-holes are uptight about trespassing.


Here are some other homeless survival strategies to explore, both online and in real life:  church hopping, squatting, hitch hiking, dumpster diving, couch surfing, panhandling WITH crafts on hand to offer in exchange which has a fine art of sign flying that goes with it, work trading, freeganism, and living in the woods with primitive survival skills, or in community with other homeless practicing urban survival skills.


Some places you can look up for inspiration are Hippie Hill in Tennessee, Dignity Village, Slab City, and the music festival circuit where you can hop on as a vendor volunteer and the Rainbow Family where you can hook up with a Kitchen and be one of the crew and finesse your way into the lives of some cool circle of people.
I wish you all the best and this series will be a regular feature from now on.

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The War on the Poor and Our Wild Human Response

ok, so a lot of wild humans are "poor". poor in money but rich in spirit. i'm striving hard to dig really deep and understand what's going on with this phenomenon. why must we embrace this poverty, and rebel against it, and surrender to it, accept it, deal with it? it's a big gigantic picture, so this is another attempt at understanding.

wild humans are different. just fundamentally different than the mainstream, cookie-cutter societies in which we are born and embedded. some call us Indigo children. others call us delinquents and failures. still others label us as the underclass. we live on the fringe, where all the crunchy and creamy diversity takes place, the same diversity that is a fertile soup for sociocultural change on all levels. we plant meme gardens that are necessary to the sociocultural health and nutrition of our worlds.

some poverty is caused at least in part by our personal choices and problems. but then society plays an even bigger role, saying that we are undeserving of the same opportunities that they are undeserving of, and enforcing all kinds of barriers to get us down and keep us down, if we agree to go along with it. see, by making criminals out of us, by labelling us as defective, they create high paying jobs for their own selves, as prison guards, psychologists, doctor pill pushers, and on and on. it's like a whole industry, to dumb us down and lock us up, scrutinize and analyze and socialize and surveill us into oblivion.  in order to get out of poverty, which they pretend to want us to do but they don't really back it up with actions, we must "get a job", right? yet who is going to hire someone who has lived in and adapted to poverty for years? and the jobs we do get do not earn a living wage. its better to just be poor and free. so we end up labelling our own selves as wild humans, and embracing those labels, empowering ourselves with them, while downsizing the power of the mainstream's labels of us.

when a wild human is scrutinized as inadequate for mainstream success, we tend to embrace our own authentic humanity and reject society's versions of success. when mainstream people are inadequate for success, they are not usually blamed or labelled. in fact, it's often kept a secret, ignored, or just not spoken of. we are undeserving as an underclass of delinquents, yet the same kinds of people in the upper class usually just slide on by, secretly despised yet bowed down to, idling their lives with shopping, tv, gambling, drinking, taking peoples kids away when they themselves abuse their own kids, just because we are different, locking people up for drugs when they are pill heads and coke heads and god forbid anyone ever finds out. whatever. numbing their minds and selling their souls, shaking hands with the devil in ten thousand different ways.

we are sharply aware of the realities. some of us even understand the hidden rules of economic class, and either obey them while being "wild humans in disguise", or we reject them, dooming ourselves to slammed doors and rejection letters. for example, a lot of jobs demand that you cut your hair to get a job. lower classes value their hair more than their jobs, so we don't part with it and would rather be "poor". upper classes value their jobs more than their hair, and so will agree to cut it in order to secure that job. poor people want to have families, but there is a big lack of suitable partners, and no opportunities for career or home ownership, so we go ahead and have babies anyway, and end up labeled as immoral and lacking all the qualities of success. upper class people can enjoy abundant lives from the start, and so they delay child rearing until its too late, and then seek to adopt our babies (often stolen by adoptions), or go thru fertility treatments that only they can afford, or use poor mothers needing 10 grand to be their surrogates. when upper class people are dependend on trust funds, or corporate subsidies or whatever, it's not even thought about. when a poor mother needs some food stamps, she is suddenly scrutinized to the hilt, labelled as welfare dependent, inadequate and a potential candidate for foster care/case plans, etc. it's ok for the upper classes to get hand outs, but not for poor people. it goes on and on.

my point is, society itself is set up to create an "underclass", with unchallenged stereotypes, social contracts (such as if you want a job, you will be drug tested all the time, which violates your rights to freedom from unreasonable search and seizure of your urine),  and systemic barriers (such as good employers not hiring felons or people with children). the upper classes profit hugely from the downtrodden and down sized and poor of all kinds. they have no vested interests in eliminating poverty unless they are bleeding heart liberals or ivory tower academicians. there are exceptions, of course, but they are few and far between.

wild humans do indeed live in poverty, nine times out of ten. and we skate around it, on pirate emblazoned skateboards, by embracing authentic humanity, freedom within poverty, and willingness to think critically and question authority/reality, and truly be ourselves against all odds. we smile with the wisdom of anarchists, neotribalists, rewilders, survivalists, and others of our ilk. a wild human mona lisa smile of knowingness.

the next phase in our journey is to find ways to shift the dominant paradigms, the rules of class inequality, so that all people are treated equally, regardless of social status or economic status or even past life history. this is a big challenge, and we aim to do our part. first we raise our own awareness and understanding of what's going on personally, culturally, nationally and globally. then we live in ways that make statements about what we believe and value as a result of that awareness and understanding. if we are really ambitious--with wild human INITIATIVE--we can write new metanarratives and myths for our society, plant new paradigm seeds, topple the tables of the moneychangers and powerbrokers and yank down their pants and smash cream pies in their startled faces, to wake them up. For they ARE humans. They are victims of their own socialization, poor things. Together, all together, from all classes and backgrounds, this world could be rich again. But not under the iron grip of globalization, mainstream socialization, monoculture, class inequality and all that other uber sheist.

how to do this? at this time I am focused on building community and forming cooperatives. on creating viable alternatives to what already exists to oppress or persecute us. on working with what already exists, yet being another branch on the tree, this one wild and wooly and heavy with strange fruit. :)

*******

thoughts on homelessness and poverty

I've been living "out there" on the streets of Asheville for a few weeks now. I've seen a lot, but not nearly enough. I gain insight and understanding every day. So here I will share with you some of my notes. Take it for what you will, the insight, the advice, the wisdom for your own survival. And feel free to give your own feedback too.

Most of the people here living in poverty came from homes that were mediocre, abusive or dysfunctional.  They sometimes have low intelligence, brain damage, mental illness, addictions, emotional problems or social defects. Others are "unlikely" poor people from decent backgrounds who were brought down by situational poverty. Millionaires in disguise having a bad life, lol. A small minority chose poverty due to laziness, rebelliousness, or stubborness. Some cannot get a foothold due to lack of resources and support networks. Others cannot overcome their addictions or fantasies (such as being a celebrity or marrying a wealthy person). Finally, a few fall victim to scams or predators and can't find a way out.


All people here in poverty have had less than desirable experiences. Some use the knowledge they gained in the past to guide themselves into the present and thru the future. Others decide to abandon the past, remake themselves, and concentrate on the future. Some try to normalize, but others never recover from the resocialization of poverty or the damage from abuse and woundings. Finally, some embrace poverty and/or homelessness as the situation in life where they truly do belong, so they adjust and they creatively make the best of it.


People here say that trust is always a big issue. Homeless and poor people take care of each other, watch out for each other. If they have drugs or liquor, it belongs to everyone and is shared. They get each other hooked, then go on searches together for the cash to satisfy their needs. It's important for them to feel they are FREE, not stifled, trapped, or shackled, or they run out. They need lots of space, yet also CONNECTION, what I call tribal solidarity, with people who resemble them/us.


They need to feel that the services-providing strangers truly do CARE with empathy and warm friendliness, open and helpful. Not cold or clinical or rude. They need to feel welcome and know they are invited too, even if they reject the offer.


Some of them are souls ASLEEP. Like Walking Dead. Their eyes are dead and empty and they seem to be going thru the motions. They feel no awareness of what it's like to feel bliss, true gratitude, or actual consistent Love and Light. Others of them are totally awake, and they are usually Rainbows or road dawgs. They call themselves "houseless" not "homeless".


Love and light seem to the souls asleep to be false or unreal, a lie, a fairy tale for everyone but them. For example, Santa Clause never cared to come to their homes even if they were good and prayed with all their hearts. Like no one in the world cares about them. Or they are worthless and invisible to all but fellow homeless and various tribes and gangs.


They all say that society is sick, not them.


They realize that the good things in life are not for them, unless it's a trick or a scam. If someone gives you something for free, then they expect sex or something, usually. They get hurt or abandoned or robbed when they open up and feel attachment. This includes animals, who are often stolen or killed.


They need opportunities with NO conditions attached, or the bare minimum, like Rainbow Family or Hippie Hill. Then, they can excel and rise above. Otherwise, they are doomed to drop out or failure. So why bother.


Instead of being kicked out and or treated like a number, they say they need to feel nonjudgemental acceptance and inclusion, given time to work thru their addictions and antisocial behaviors. They need to be begged to not walk out, to not give up, to not blow it off or quit. They need to know the door is always open if they change their mind, and that they can truly trust someone to not snitch on them or reject them.


They want to be given freedom to decide their style of life, with only requirements for the most common human decencies. Like a home, yes, anywhere chosen even on the streets, but do it cleanly and with quality. Anyone with half a brain can find a huge cardboard box, hike it to a safe spot, hijack a tarp to cover it, steal a moving pad to line it, etc. Make it nice. Food and drink matter, yes, but let it be edible and satisfying. Many a vegetarian homebum has been forced into being an omnivore, but they always choose vegetarian when given a chance. Transport yes, any is fine, but help it be legal and safe.


They want to make conscious choices about sex, like using protection, testing, family planning, but there is not usually the resources to do it, so many of them have unexpected babies, or uninvited sexual diseases. There needs to be a lot more access to these for homeless people, especially drug addicts.


Homeless people often don't want to eat. Eating is a nourishing, nurturing act. Starvation can perversely be comforting, if it helps you keep your edge. It keeps you sharp.


Homeless people here would usually rather be free in the streets in brutal conditions, than strapped into a shelter. The Salvation Army shelter here looks EXACTLY like a small jail, same doors, windows, lights, linoleum, etc. as a jail. But a welcoming, open-minded crash pad, home or squat is always seen as an asset to use when last resorts must be called upon.


Homeless people need to relate to people who are intelligent yet seem similar to them. They trust people much more if they've had the same experiences or are familiar with the same brutalities. They appreciate rich people who dress down in sweat pants and stuff. Clinical people are alienating. They are referred to as bitches and assholes. So are authorities who could jeopardize their freedoms.


Homeless people here say its bad luck to unpack your bags or to get comfortable anywhere for long, because all of a sudden your welcome wears out and you have to move on. So never unpack and never start to feel at home or you will sure enough have to leave.


Knowing the homeless is like befriending a feral animal. It might eat the food you put out, dragging it off to a safe distance, or they might sleep under your porch if you leave the latch open, but they won't come inside unless the door is left open.


Desocialization into poverty becomes normalized and feels safe. Normalcy and stability feel threatening. It's very uncomfortable to try to relate to and fit in with Normals, people with normal lives.


Homeless people say "my funk is my armor", referring to their dirty clothes and their bad smells. They somehow keep them safe. They say they love their bugs (lice, fleas) like friends. A lot of times when they do shower or do laundry, they then get injured or have a string of bad luck that gets worse and worse.


Bad luck comes in threes. But there is also beginner's luck, and you must not waste it, thinking more will come.


They act like tough, mean, strong, noble bitches and savages, because they had to in order to survive. This scares away and alienates weaker people who take it seriously, but a lot of them/us fear being abandoned, kicked out or thrown away, so they say fuck it and slink off or stomp off.


There are many varied reasons for homeless and perpetual poverty. A lot of them have had a lifetime of only dysfunctional, abusive people who programmed them to feel worthless, tough, and rebellious. Instead of being socialized, normalized and mainstreamed in any way, they were crippled by a life of abuse, dysfunction and poverty, and they often blame themselves for it. Parents often said "I never hurt anyone, why do YOU make ME do this!!!" and then beat the shit out of them. If they don't fight back, they are degraded as having no heart or guts. So they learn to fight back against the very same people who are supposed to love, support and protect them.


So this makes it so they have nowhere to go really, but the streets, because one wants them, and there is no room in the crisis intervention or transitional programs. They learn to relish the freedom and adventure of street life, until everyone they know gets hooked on drugs and alcohol and self destructs together, like a slow motion train wreck. All the friends go down the same path together.
Misery loves company, they chuckle.


Because they've not been socialized, they are secretly terrified of normal people and have no idea of how to act or to talk to people. They often have no manners and are very dirty and coarse. People assume they are liars, thieves and whores, and they have no choice but to adapt and become that. Hard core homeless sometimes can't help but take a sweet person offering to help and make them the target of some kind of scam or rip off. They say they feel guilty on the one hand,
knowing its wrong, and then say
they will never regret doing whatever it takes to survive.


Street people become each other's family, but there is no stability or permanency. I heard many stories of people who were never seen again and no one knows what happened to them. So they wall off the deepest part of their true hearts and get close to no one, keep to themselves, and keep their heads down. It's often hard to get them to open up or move thru or confront their pain and issues.


They often can't follow rules for very long, and they get targeted, caught and penalized for small shit that others get away with easily. They expect themselves to fail, but when it happens, it devastates and panics a lot of them. Many of them have tried rehab and other programs, but could not succeed at it even when they wanted to. And they can't or won't go back home because their family is shit or doesn't love them or something similar.


Some of them are on the verge of going on suicide missions, to drink and drug until they die or get killed. They drink and drug and sleep around in order to numb their pain and be as unconscious as possible.


It's usually people caring and accepting them exactly AS IS, wanting them to stay, and refusing to let them quit, that brings them back.


Being homeless and poor does not take up all their time. It actually keeps them idle, a prisoner of circumstances, held back and kept out from all they could be doing and experiencing. They have no money and they are isolated from mainstream society. It's an endless waiting game, waiting for a monthly SSI check, waiting for the soup kitchens to open, waiting for a door to open, to somehow escape thru, like a feral cat that a family is trying to tame.