A Homeless Man and His BlackBerry

[Recursion]

http://mashable.com/2013/06/25/homeless-man-and-blackberry/

Despite nearly everyone owning a cell phone, we think of them as luxuries, especially as data plans approach $100 a month. The idea of a homeless man with an iPhone, but no job or roof over his head, is discomfiting, mostly because poverty is perhaps one of the last bastions of unexamined prejudice in the U.S. Few would argue that people of different races or genders shouldn't own phones, but it's still common to temper sympathy for the homeless or destitute if they have a phone.

Even the most progressive areas of the country can show a certain callousness to what poverty should look and feel like. In San Francisco, for example, city supervisor Malia Cohen sparked controversy when she posted a picture on Facebook of a homeless man talking on a phone while huddled underneath a freeway overpass. "This kind of made me laugh," she commented, which lead to an uproar and eventual removal of the picture. Ironically, California last month decided to expand their Lifeline program to give free phones and service to the homeless, recognizing the value of the devices for the disadvantaged.

The reality is homelessness is a simple term for a complex sociological condition, affected by a mosaic of factors that interact and affect one another in often unexpected ways. Large-scale trends like unemployment combust with local factors, such as lack of affordable housing or services easily accessible and open to those in need. Add in volatile personal situations — like addiction, family violence, financial instability or simply being far from family — and you have a slippery slope to stand upon.

...

Did he finally pull himself out of his "temporary condition," as he called it? Or was he like countless others who slipped through the cracks into the shadowy netherworld of genuine destitution and poverty, becoming one of the "unsheltered"? I just don't know. He may still have his own phone number, but he remains out of reach, lost somewhere in a world where social ties are tenuous connections, no matter how many devices we have.

The videos in the article are definitely worth watching, too.

[sheshe2]

1. Recursion, what is that saying...

"There, but for the grace of God, go I.”

[MADem]

2. I have a crappy tracfone. It is more than enough for my purposes. nt

[Spitfire of ATJ]

3. How many articles does it take that people are only one paycheck away from ruin before this stops?

[jtuck004]

4. Carlos Slim says thank you. Tracfone has made him even more money.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-25/richest-man-slim-cited-for-profiting-from-phones-for-poor.html

He has $70 billion, Forbes said richest man in the world for 3 straight years, with part of his wealth being sustained by this pipeline from taxpayers to his pocket. Seems cleaner than being in health care insurance or banking, perhaps, but his business plan is not making a lot of good-paying American jobs. Insist on American-made phones, pay for the stinkin' factory and training, owned by workers. No leechy private worthless subsidies for no return on that investment.

Oh, sorry, I fell back into the 1900's again.

[OneGrassRoot]

5. Gawd...

I didn't know this about the program...about Tracfone.

So, ARE there American-made phones? That would be a most awesome program: a worker-owned cell phone manufacturer. But of all products, is that feasible in the US?

Are there any cell phone manufacturers that don't have horrors attached to them?

Thanks for the post.

Edit to add: It isn't just the phone though, right? It's the monthly service. I take it Tracfone is providing that as well?

[jtuck004]

6. "ARE there American-made phones" No. Not that there couldn't be, but the

lower costs for labor, less overall regulation, are all provided as excuses as to why.

And yes, it is the monthly fee that makes the big money over time.