#VanLife I guess it's where the houseboats were 30 years ago

Excellent, Charles. We hurtle onward to our techno dystopia,,,but, figuratively and literally, ya still gotta buy the pork chops. Well written, Sir...

One example followed by many sweeping generalizations. Must be a Mudede piece

@5 you would have to be familiar with Mr. Mudede's work to understand @3's point.

Good stuff. When you sell your labor, be it for 38K or 138K, you are a class in service of the owners in society. The golden chain only gets longer.

Wow! Your playlist is so effing REAL! Is sticking earbuds in your ears to avoid having to make eye contact or possibly even (gasp!) some conversation the new norm for cutting edge journalists like you who have a keen eye for the details that fortify assumption? You should have stayed for another drink, caught your bus, and spared us the vacuous poignancy of your dribbling insights.

Teh ad hominems. They burn.

Ah, yes, conversation. Like real people have, I screamed like a raging asshole wondering what's wrong with the world.

Anyhow, Mudede is why I read the slog. It's the talk i want to hear. Peace.

I live in a 14 ft box van. I will never pay rent again. I run the instagram @heatwithpelleter

Keeping it real. Good on you, Mudede.

Poor Charles Mudede. Comments on his excellent journalism only fall in two categories:

1. "This one time, I saw Charles drink BOTTLED water. To make matters worse, he then ate a candy bar from Nestle, and he uses a phone. Some socialist you are, you kapitalyst fuck."

2. "LOL classic Stranger, classic Charles Mudede. Don't you know many Si-Vals only drink Soylent Orange or Agent Green or whatever because it's hyper-efficient and time saving? just like living in your car? Replacing long term stable housing with a van and replacing your costly vansportation with a bus/tent combo and replacing viable healthy human relationships with porn and stranger comments is actually the libertarian utopia."

This article is messed up and laced as fuck with cultural references and source citations. Please write forever.

I read your piece and thought that I wouldn’t want people to come here to think that it’s really that dystopian, and yet, I sit here and can find no good reason to argue against it. It’s an excellent metaphorical piece that closely approaches reality if not surpasses it by telling us where we are headed.

@15 you don't seem to get how percentages work. Most people who live in the Seattle area have homes, poor to rich. You have to be an extra-special fuckup to wind up homeless and that isn't a fact that has changed much across the years.

My initial, visceral reaction is WHO CARES. Not a good response. What I mean is why do people only care about things like this when middle class white people are affected? When things are bad for the white middle class, you know who has already had it bad? All of the poor people and all of the working class people and all of the non-white people and all of the people who got pushed out of their homes and jobs and lives by middle class white people. It's just like the drug epidemic and the gun violence problem and any other issue that has been around for decades harming everyone else, but it's not a CRISIS OR A PROBLEM OR EVEN SOMETHING ANYONE GIVES A DAMN ABOUT UNTIL FAIRLY WEALTHY WHITE PEOPLE ARE IN THE MIX. I don't care!!! I care about all of the people who are poor, working class, and non-white. I care about the town of Flint, MI being poisoned. I care about THE ENTIRETY OF PUERTO RICO being left to rot and die by the United States government. I care about the hundreds of thousands of non-white people in this country who have suffered due to white supremacy and racism in this country. I care about so many other people than I care about 2 clean, employed, white people with a dog and groceries living in an RV in Seattle. Seriously, until our society cares about anything more than money and wealthy white people and white power and white privilege and murder weapons, we are going down and guess what, that means a good number of white people are going down, too. Forgive me if I don't give a shit. (And I am a white woman, who grew up poor, went to college, and can technically be considered middle class).

You can take a dog in a Lyft or Uber???

@17

I'm sure you can't see it, but your whole comment screams of white privilege.

"All of the poor people and all of the working class people and all of the non-white people and all of the people who got pushed out of their homes and jobs and lives by middle class white people."

There are people of color who have never been poor and never will be poor.
There are people of color who will have more than you have ever had, more than you will ever have in your entire life.
There are people of color who are smarter than you, stronger than you, and wiser than you.
There are people of color who are doctors, lawyers, scientists, entertainers and athletes who will never have to worry about a white middle-class person like you taking anything they have.

Here's another thing you should think about.
There are people of color out there who are worried about poor people, even if those poor people happen to be white.
There are people of color out there who wants to make this a better Society for all people, including white people.

Do you really want to know who cares?
Apparently, Charles cares.
He knows that when you see middle class people living in an RV on the side of the road that it's a sign of a huge problem in our society.
These particular middle-class people happen to be white, but that didn't stop Charles from having sympathy for them.
You see, Charles is not a racist.
A lot of people who've never had to deal with racism in their lives confuse the fact that Charles speaks to racial issues with racism.
If you've ever dealt with racism, then you know the only way to fight against it is to expose it, to bring it into the daylight.
Many times Charles will discuss race, and those who have never experienced racism will view that discussion as racism. Believe me when I tell you that it's not racism.
Sure, lots of people, mostly white people, might see it as racism; because they've never experienced real racism. They see it as an attack against them, and they feel that they must defend themselves. It's not an attack, it's a call to action, a call to wake up and see the world as it actually exists around you.

I'm a Detroiter.
I've experienced racism first-hand. I've had to explain to my children that there are people in this world who will hate them for the color of their skin. I've even had to teach them that there are people in this world that will want to kill them because of the sound of their name.
I've also worked in Flint.
I've been there, I know what it's like.
I've drank the water.
I've seen the faces of the people who live there, both white and black, who don't have the opportunity to leave.

I know what poverty and deprivation look like, and there's something you should know about it.
It's horrible and dehumanizing.
Hunger doesn't care what color you are.
Want is not a racist.
Poverty is color blind.
We are all equal in despair.

You're right, your response is not good.
It shows that there is a seed of racism deep within you.
Maybe you realize it's there, maybe you don't.
The fact that you think that white people will always be the last people to be affected my poverty shows that you have a very low opinion of people of color.
You may find this surprising, but there have been poor white people as long as there have been poor people.

The thing that I find most disturbing isn't the fact that you can't empathize with these people because they are white, even though Charles clearly did, it's the fact that you don't realize this could very easily happen to you.
If you did, you would definitely care.
It can, and you should.

I'm not trying to call you out to make you feel bad. You should realize that all people have internal bias, admitting that you do doesn't make you a bad person, it makes you a human being.
I wanted to show you the incredible level of cognitive dissonance you have shown here in the hope that it will help you to move past it.

@16

Anyone can have a little bit of bad luck.

Try not to be such an asshole.

@16 You're very naive, do you ever go outside? Talk to anyone? Have any friends? All it takes is a serious illness and even an upper middle class family in this country, with good education and jobs - before the debilitating illness - can end up will $$$$$ medical debts, leading to loss of everything and ending up homeless!

@20 you're entitled to your opinion, but it's not backed by facts. You know ABSOLUTELY NOTHING ABOUT ME - not who I am, what I have experienced in my past, what my situation is now, or why I feel the way I feel. And your lecture to me does not include any actual facts.
Your personal anecdotes are meaningless. You could be making them up. And even if you aren't, so what? They are not facts. Your lecture is nothing but you trying (and failing) to put me in my place, because you believe you know better than I do.

FACTS and objective, scientific statistics regarding wealth and poverty; racism and the reality of white people vs. non-whites (especially blacks and immigrants) in this country are the only things that matter.

I wrote a comment and gave my opinion in response to this story. You gave me a sanctimonious lecture personally attacking me, calling me a racist, and pretending you know things about me that you do not know. Your assumptions are nothing more than that - assumptions - made as you presume to know me and believe you can shame me (and prove what exactly?) with your lecture. You want me to move beyond MY bias? Who exactly are you? Oh right, some guy on the internet who thinks he knows more than other people. Maybe you will move past your need to "try to help" people like me who not only don't need you or your "help," didn't ask for it, and sure as shit won't listen to it. Blah blah blah another man on the internet telling me who I am and why I am wrong and how he knows so much more about the world than I do. If only the world were made up of people like you DOING ACTUAL THINGS IN THE REAL WORLD instead of berating people they don't know on the internet.

@23

Everyone has implicit biases, that's a fact.

In your initial comment you are condescending to people of color and you are dismissive of the poverty of white people.
That's a fact.

I didn't mention your gender anywhere in my response, but you have attacked me based on my gender. Very nice.

You said that I'm making assumptions about you, but any assumptions I have made here are based on what you wrote.

You're making assumptions about me based on absolutely nothing.

You're just another person on the internet who feels entitled to say whatever you please without any negative response.

I have every right to express my opinion, just as you do.

"My initial, visceral reaction is WHO CARES. Not a good response."
You know everything I said was true, otherwise that wouldn't be the lead off to your original comment.
I wasn't trying to shame you, and it's a good thing too, because it doesn't seem that you're capable of feeling shame.

Feel free to continue your life with your racism and sexism.
Feel free to continue feeling Superior to people of color, while at the same time dismissing the poverty and misery of people who look like you.

I will give you one more piece of advice, whether you care to accept it or not.
Don't post things on public forums if you don't want people to respond.

@Adam Kadmon, I would say the same to you (don't post things on public forums if you don't want people to respond). You are one sanctimonious prick.

And the guy with Calm Your Tits as his bio photo calls me a sexist.

@26

That's a joke from the TV show trailer park boys.
The boys say that to each other.

You called me a prick, that's a sexist remark, therefore you are a sexist.

Besides, I said you can say what you want, think what you want.
You go right ahead and be there racist you were born to be.

If you want people of color to just stand aside and let you have your privilege, maybe you should go someplace else.
If you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen.

Remember, you're the one who responded to a black man's article with " WHO CARES".

And please, respond again.
I love telling racist exactly what I think of them.

@17 says:

"but it's not a CRISIS OR A PROBLEM OR EVEN SOMETHING ANYONE GIVES A DAMN ABOUT UNTIL FAIRLY WEALTHY WHITE PEOPLE ARE IN THE MIX"

and then parenthetically adds:

"(And I am a white woman, who grew up poor, went to college, and can technically be considered middle class)"

So thank you for the anecdote that fairly wealthy white people are actually in the mix xina -- we're all in the mix. This is such a quintessential Seattle white guilt 'light-a-candle-and-cry' rant.

Holy shit you guys! You are on the same side.
Adam, I have always found you to be a thoughtful commentator but I think you are mischaracterizing xina. She makes the very valid point that it isn't until middle class white people start to suffer that we in this country decide that there is a problem, and that this is unconscionable.
xina, I understand what you are saying, but please don't let your anger do away with compassion. Is it fair that white America doesn't really get motivated until it's their own being gored? No. Hell no. Is it hard not smile thinly and think that these people Charles met kinda deserve it? And where were they when other people ended up on the street? Yes.
But I think you're speaking out of frustration. And I sure as hell don't think you're racist. You're a white person appalled by white supremacy and the only thing I think you could possibly be faulted for is maybe not expressing compassion for this couple. Compassion I'm pretty sure actually do feel, since you grew up poor and white, and you know how hard it is to climb out of poverty and how fucking easy it is slide back into it.
Frankly Adam, maybe that's what rubbed you the wrong way, but boy howdy you projected a lot of motives onto xina, and I don't blame her for being pissed.
You're both people of good will, who have suffered poverty and discrimination and are both working to make the world less racist, and less sexist, and more just
So let's take a breath.

@Lissa

Thank you for the thoughtful comment.

You are partially correct, I did find it disturbing that xina was unsympathetic toward the homeless couple based on the fact that they are white like her. Having been raised poor, I find it very surprising that she would be so unsympathetic to their situation.

I was also extremely disturbed by her "WHO CARES" jab at Charles.
Let's not forget, Charles is an African American, and he is accused of being a racist by commenters here on Slog on a daily basis.
He writes a piece where he shows compassion towards white people in a very difficult position, and her best response is "who cares."
She even admits that it's not a good reaction, yet she still feels the need to make a post and lecture a black man (who experiences racism everyday) that "... it's not a CRISIS OR A PROBLEM OR EVEN SOMETHING ANYONE GIVES A DAMN ABOUT UNTIL FAIRLY WEALTHY WHITE PEOPLE ARE IN THE MIX." When in fact Charles have spoken about homelessness and poverty on multiple occasions.
It seemed to me as if she was attempting to shame him for feeling compassion for these people.
I can guarantee you that Charles has cared about homelessness long before he wrote this article.
It reminded me of every time a white liberal, a supposed "ally", has attempted to silence a person of color for making a political point that they did not 100% agree with.
This sort of thing happens all the time.
A current example would be #WhiteFeminism.

I'm sorry, but a white person lecturing a black person about the Injustice of white privilege is itself an example of white privilege.
That level of hypocrisy is unbelievable.

Dr. King cared for everyone that suffered poverty, including white people.
I was raised to respect dr. King, and his teachings.
I found xina's comment disrespectful to Charles and the legacy of dr. King.
I don't hold all white people responsible for the racism that I have experienced, or that my children have experienced, and I've tried to teach my children not to judge others based on the color of their skin. Judging people based on the color of their skin is racism, and that's what I taught my children and what my parents taught me.

I will admit that my anger got the best of me.
It has to do with more than just this one comment by this one person,
It has to do with the fact that I see Fascism and Nazism and racism and xenophobia and sexism and homophobia taking over this country.
That is more than bad enough, but when I see the response of so many on the left it infuriates me.
I was taught that the only way you can fight racism is with love. And yet here we are, adopting the tactics of hatred and bigotry, and in so doing becoming the thing we're trying to prevent.

Believe me, I'm not trying to lay all this on xina, and on further reflection I've seen that I was harsher than I should have been. I'm seeing this sort of thing more and more lately, and it has me afraid for the future.

Thank you again for your comment, it's helped me put this incident into perspective.

Xina, you seem progressive to the point of disassociation with reality, but your instincts about ol Adam, dick on his shoulder , Kadmon are spot on. He’s a horrible human being who relishes in other people’s suffering while playing the victim card to absolve himself of his shittiness. He has some adopted black kids or some shit so he thinks he can virtue signal about how racist everyone is and how nobody gets it but him. (Like you’re the only motherfucker with a multi racial family) Some one at work laid their dick on his shoulder once and he got promoted for it so he thinks he has carte blanc to play the victim card and shut you down.

Girlfriend, you’re the real victim here. The victim of another white, male, privileged piece of shit who just wants you to shut up and listen to their version of how life should be. Get your warrior princess on and continue to fight this midwestern yokel and his pathetic attempts at patriarchy.

@Lissa. Shut up. I’m thoroughly enjoying this woke-off.

@Muffy

You just can't keep a story straight, can you?

By the way, I don't have any adopted children.

I almost feel sorry for apologizing to you for insulting you about your "past issues", but I'm not going to let your assholery bring me down to your level.

I see your still cool with adults sexually harassing minors.
Why am I not surprised?

Keep it classy.

@30: Ah! See I didn't take her comment as an attack on Charles, so much as a comment on fact that this doesn't get energized until white middle class or upper class people start to suffer, but I can see why you got so upset. I think you both are reacting in anxiety and sorrow and anger at the state of things. I totally get your pain at people on the left not living up to their ideals and throwing marginalized people under the bus or deciding that some people's rights can wait until later. It's a gut punch every time.
I just hate to see you guys fighting, I always like reading your comments, as well as xina's.
Thank you for writing back. :)

@31: As for you, ya little shit stirrer, you rarely have anything of value to add to any conversation and you are running true to form here. Go find a comment thread on Facebook and pick a fight there if you're looking for lulz.
Xoxo

I'm Homelss, live in the Back seat of a 2009 Acura TSX. Work 2 part time jobs have a Girlfriend in Redmond Dress nice have a note 8 and go to the normal day to day activities. Only I live in a car because I can't afford rent and bills. I'm tottaly okay with it, it's 2018 at 21 years old I have no chance to live a life the genrations before me could

@Adam. Dont recall any apology. Wouldn’t care if you made one. Your caring, woke facade is as trashy and fake as you are. Imaginary apologies don’t make up for that.

Your black kids? Who gives a fuck? I have 1/2 Puerto Rican kids. Does that mean I get to sound off as authority on racial issues? (I actually agree with you on that. Strength to love is one of my favorite mlk books)

I take liberties with your story because you take liberties with my humanity. And the victim card you love playing? Pathetic. If I don’t consider myself a victim for all the shit I’ve been through, I’m definitely not buying your dick-on-the-shoulder victimhood.

And as for being cool with child molesters...I’ve dropped a few head first off the top tier in my day to administer the real justice they deserve. What have you done to protect children?

@Muffy

"I take liberties with your story because you take liberties with my humanity."

Really? How so?
I didn't know you could be so dramatic.
Do you really think that making mean comments about you on the internet is taking liberties with your Humanity?
I had no idea you were so fragile.

When I was 17, I was sexually harassed by my boss. He asked to suck my dick.
When I refused, he made jokes about it in front of my coworkers.
It was a shitty thing to do, but it doesn't make me a victim.
Sure, he tried to victimize me, but I didn't allow that to happen.

You are the one constantly playing the victim.
"If I don’t consider myself a victim for all the shit I’ve been through...."
Sounds like you're having a little pity party, whether you want to call it that or not.
"you take liberties with my humanity."
You're such a victim that you're victimized by comments on the internet.
That's pathetic dude.

"Does that mean I get to sound off as authority on racial issues?"
You already sound off as an authority on racial issues all the fucking time.
Regardless of anything else, you are a human being, and as a member of the human race you have the ability to speak as "an authority" about whatever issues affect you in your life, you fucking moron.
You don't need my permission to speak about anything and I sure as hell don't need yours.

By the way, if you agree with me, what the fuck is your problem?
Oh wait, I know.
Your just an asshole.

When did I say you were cool with child molesters?
This is what I actually said:
"I see your still cool with adults sexually harassing minors.
Why am I not surprised?"
You realize that sexual harassment and child molestation are not the same thing right?

You're going to tell me that you assaulted people that you suspected of child molestation, and then ask me what I've done to protect children.
Dude, you have serious mental issues.
How many people would I have had to have beaten up or killed to prove to you that I have "protected the children".
Sorry, but my methods of child protection don't include violent assault.
I'm sure all that macho nonsense is bullshit anyway. Where exactly did you find these unpunished child molesters to play your vigilante superhero Fantasy games with anyway?

As for the apology, here is a link.

https://www.thestranger.com/slog/2017/12…

Going after you for that was wrong, and I admit it.
You can accept my apology or not, that's on you.
And apologizing to you for a mistake I made does not change my opinion of you.
You've been through some difficult shit in your life, but that's no excuse for the way you behave.

One final thought.
"He’s a horrible human being who relishes in other people’s suffering while playing the victim card to absolve himself of his shittiness."
That's some pretty serious projection there, because you pretty much described yourself to a T.

I can't wait for your response.
Please hurry, everytime I hear from you it bring Sunshine into my life.

@35: Your problem is that you're totally okay with it, but by the time you realize it's not at all okay it might be too late.

@Raindrop
I think you misunderstood what he meant by "okay with it".
It doesn't sound like he's happy about living in a car, he's just resolved to the fact that that is all he can afford.
I am a little curious though, are there any suburbs near Seattle that have more affordable housing? The guy has a car, so he could commute to his jobs.

It's also possible that that was posted by some sort of sock puppet account.
The account has already been deleted.

@41:

$250k doesn't sound so bad - unless of course you're having trouble coming up with $25 - $35K for a down payment.

Two words: rent control.
Three words: tax the rich.

Tax all the millionaires living in this state. Start with the Amazon man who pays nothing and has done a great deal to drive these rents up.

Lastly, stop voting for establishment Democrats. I'm the last person to recommend the GOP but ..you'd think this city so smart - why'd they vote for a mayor bought and owned by developers and corporations? Heck, a lot of people didn't vote at all.

@37 - Tell us again about your black wife and villa in Italy.

Choices add up. Owning pets and using a ride service tell me these people are living as if they have money, which apparently they do not. You choose where to spend your money. I chose to spend my income on a roof over my head ALWAYS. That was my priority, even if it meant skipping meals and walking to work. As for having kids, I could never afford it. But hey, go ahead and cry about how tough life is now because it was SO EASY in the past, right? All the crashes and depressions of the past are magically erased in this century and no one ever had to struggle until now and it's all so unfair.