Silly Questions

I get a lot of good questions. And when possible I answer them. But, there are people out there who attempt to disprove my ideas - to pose seemingly innocent questions, but are actually full of so much....oh, what's the word? (they are called "loaded questions") They aren't legitimate questions, but questions that are supposed to trip me up, and throw off my rationale for the things I say and do. They are an attempt to make me look like a hypocrite. I'm not saying I'm Jesus, but Jesus did receive the same kinds of questions. Ya know? But Jesus always had a good comeback - especially because he understood the nature of the question - the nature of the heart behind the question - the real reason why the question was being asked. And he easily, and quickly put those people in their place.

I admit that at first I didn't understand some of the issues and questions posed by these people. It's taken me a while to figure them out. But figure them out, I have. And, over time, I've learned how to respond.

The following is one such question. The author of the question assumes he already knows the right answer to the question, and assumes that I will agree with him, if I am truly honest. But there is something fundamentally wrong with the assumptions within the question, and the mindset that gave birth to it. Ah....without further adieu...the question, and my answer:

Q: Now that you have a home, would you mind if people less fortunate than you (the other Nashville homeless and street drunks), lingered around your apartment and begged for donations? Are you such a homeless advocate that you would be willing to allow ALL the church organizations to hand out their free food in front of you new home?

A: Well, I can only assume that this question comes from someone who has bought property in the downtown area, where these issues have been made prominent. Or, at the least, an advocate for those people who bought property downtown.

It seems silly to me that I have to resort to answering this question on a less than mature level, because this person seems to not understand even the basics of good money management, real estate investment, or citizenship.

One would think that a person with enough money to buy a luxury condo or apartment downtown would know how best to manage their money, especially in regards to their own personal interests and desires.

The top three considerations when buying any property is LOCATION, LOCATION, and LOCATION. Geez, that's such a basic, elementary concept - for the life of me I don't understand why seemingly intelligent, educated, financially secure people don't "get" that.

When I bought my first house, my wife and I looked at many many houses, all over town, and the most important thing for us to consider was the neighborhood in which the house was located. How close was it to family and schools and stores? and the type of neighbors. Who would be our neighbors. Not only did we look inside each house for what it offered, we also drove around the neighborhood of each house and considered who we would be moving next to - were the people in the other houses our age, with similar likes and dislikes - were their children in the neighborhood the same age as our kids, etc. We considered these things because compatibility with the existing neighborhood is important to enjoying one's property. Most importantly, if the house we were considering buying was great, but we didn't fit the neighborhood, then we passed on that house.

And I think that's the crux of a lot of the issue with the people who recently bought into the downtown area. They only considered the property, and not the neighborhood - at least not the whole neighborhood. Homeless people, drunks, mentally ill people, and the charities that serve them have ALWAYS been downtown. And not just Nashville, but in every metropolitan area since THE BEGINNING OF FRIGGIN' TIME. There have always been homeless people, and homeless people have always gravitated towards the center of civic activities. So, it is really hard for me to believe that anyone moved into the downtown area of Nashville, (and other cities in the country) without knowing that homeless people already existed there.

So, then, what was their thinking when they bought their luxury downtown property? I have no doubt that certain promises were made or implied by the developers and others, that measures would be taken to drive the homeless out of downtown. And these luxury loft purchasers actually believed that the homeless could be moved out of downtown. Sorry, you just can't erase several millennium of social evolution with a couple city ordinances.

But more directly to the question. (Believe me I could write on this subject for a very long time.) I rent the place I own, but even if I bought the property I'm at, the situation would not be any different.

This doesn't apply just to me but to everyone: (I'll type it big so to make sure you don't miss it) YOU ONLY HAVE CONTROL OVER THE PROPERTY YOU OWN, AND NOTHING MORE!

Just because you bought a house on a particular street does not mean that you also own that street. Just because you bought a house a block from a park does not mean that you now own the park. And neither does this give you the right to control anything that happens in that park, or what other people do within that park - or street or sidewalk - or anything else. You certainly don't have the right to tell you neighbors how to live, or what they can or cannot do with their own property, or how they make use of the streets or parks or other city owned property.

Even if you have a problem with what happens in the neighborhood you bought into, it's a moot point. It's your own fault for moving somewhere where you don't fit in, or don't like what your recently acquired neighbors do. You should have considered all that before you moved in.

Now, for my own ideas about my own property? I ascribe to the age old philosophy of "caring and sharing". It was something my children were taught in pre-school. It's something that is taught in Church - the idea is taught in both old and new testaments. It's all about caring about your nieghbor, treating your neighbor like you would treat yourself, and sharing all that you have with others, especially others who aren't as fortunate as you. You bet, I'd have absolutely no problem with truck load after truck load of people coming to feed and clothe and otherwise help the homeless in my front yard - if I had a front yard. And I wouldn't care if it were Crazy Christians or Athiest Hippies doing it. And if the drunks want to panhandle me every time I step out of my front door, that's ok. No, they wouldn't get anything from me that way, but that's beside the point. With every encounter with a panhandler, we have the opportunity to help them find a better way. You see, nothing is a nuisance, unless you make it out to be a nuisance. And what is, or is not, a nuisance, depends entirely on your view of life, and what you think is actually important.

It is odd, though, that with all the money that the Downtown Partnership, and the Urban Residents Association, have spent trying to chase away the homeless, (and failing miserably at that) they could have built a proper facility for the homeless, that would have given the homeless real options, and real solutions to their problems, besides panhandling and hanging out downtown.