Some time ago I was appointed another client who evidently lives in a god damn tent and walks to her newly aquired temp job sorting parts.... I can't imagine why she's had a hard time now meeting the diversion program requirements that cost money, but not the community service aspect.... Homelessness is a thing, and people think it is not. I just can't imagine why she was shoplifting....
See, myself, the parole officer, and the judge (only because she used to be a defense attorney) get it. The rest of the salaried, benefits enjoying people working at the court do not, especially the clerk, who is older, judgmental and does not talk to people as part of her job. Their lives are provided for and they don't have to really deal with it beyond paperwork and a process.... They have the luxury of watching what passes for news but is actually brainwashing and the thing that keeps Walter Kronkite purpetually spinning in his grave... (all U.S. channels and programming, by the way). Meanwhile, this girl doesn't own so much as a phone and is said to be leeching off society....
Yes, there are sorry little ingrates who abuse the system, I've seen and represented them. They are not at all the entirity of the system and the easy-to-apply blanket lables people throw around are far from accurate, and applied by your average person, who per usual has never had to deal with reality....
Meanwhile we're still technically the richest country in the world (until China gets above us in maybe 10 years) but we have this.... Spending money on maintaining civilization, do it and stuff gets done; dont' do it and stuff does not. Simple. The natural state of things is not a superpower, and if people will not pay for it, then the natural state of things will come again....