Homeless Veterans | Matt Connarton Unleashed

0:00 Speaker 1: I'm I gotta say something about this that nobody ever

0:03 Speaker 1: brings up, but this is well documented. I don't know why.

0:07 Speaker 1: This is one of those things that nobody ever brings up,

0:09 Speaker 1: and I don't know why, but I like to say

0:11 Speaker 1: this whenever the subject comes up for people who don't know.

0:16 Speaker 1: There is a large percentage. I mean, estimates vary, but

0:20 Speaker 1: there is a large percentage of homeless people in this country.

0:23 Speaker 1: And wherever you're watching or listening to this, in your

0:26 Speaker 1: city or here in Manchester where we are, there's a

0:29 Speaker 1: percentage of homeless people who are veterans. Why do I

0:33 Speaker 1: mention that because the Veterans Administration, while it does very

0:37 Speaker 1: well for some people, a lot of people fall through

0:40 Speaker 1: the cracks. A lot of people end up homeless because

0:45 Speaker 1: they have to take pain medication that they get through

0:48 Speaker 1: the VA because of what happened to them during their

0:51 Speaker 1: military service serving our country. And then one day they

0:54 Speaker 1: get cut off and after resort to street drugs and

0:57 Speaker 1: it becomes you know, and they just fall down the

1:00 Speaker 1: whole and then they wind up homeless.

1:03 Speaker 2: And add to that the fact that they've also recently

1:07 Speaker 2: cut veteran services on mental health and they've literally taken

1:10 Speaker 2: mental health clinicians and put them in a telemarketing like

1:14 Speaker 2: room right where they're all talking to clients openly in

1:18 Speaker 2: this room.

1:19 Speaker 1: Right. But I'm bringing this up for a very specific

1:23 Speaker 1: reason because there's a particular look people who like to

1:30 Speaker 1: bash homeless people, who like to make fun of them,

1:32 Speaker 1: who like to talk about them as though they're trash

1:35 Speaker 1: that just needs to be swept away somewhere.

1:38 Speaker 2: Uh.

1:38 Speaker 1: They tend to be of a certain political ideology, right.

1:43 Speaker 1: You know, you don't hear liberals talk in that way.

1:46 Speaker 1: But the same people who are the cruelest in their

1:51 Speaker 1: condemnation of people who are homeless are typically the same

1:56 Speaker 1: people who like to wrap themselves in the flag, who

1:59 Speaker 1: like to act like they're more patriotic than the rest

2:02 Speaker 1: of us, and who love to talk about how important

2:05 Speaker 1: it is to honor and support and take care of veterans.

2:10 Speaker 1: So I want the people who do that. I want

2:14 Speaker 1: the people who think it's cool to kick, hopefully not

2:19 Speaker 1: literally but figuratively, or perhaps they fantasize about kicking them

2:22 Speaker 1: literally homeless people when they're down. Just understand something you

2:28 Speaker 1: might be talking about a veteran when you do that.

2:31 Speaker 1: So anyone who thinks it's cool to be assholes to

2:34 Speaker 1: homeless people, just understand you might be assholes to people

2:39 Speaker 1: who served their country. And then, because we have a

2:43 Speaker 1: long history of discarding people when they leave the military

2:49 Speaker 1: and not giving them the help and support that they need,

2:52 Speaker 1: and that is well documented. You can trace out all

2:55 Speaker 1: the way back to World War One when our veterans

2:57 Speaker 1: were not given things and support help that they were promised.

3:02 Speaker 1: So just understand if you're a conservative who loves to

3:06 Speaker 1: wrap yourself in the flag and talk about how veterans

3:09 Speaker 1: are so important because the military is so important and

3:11 Speaker 1: we need honor our veterans, and you would also just

3:14 Speaker 1: as soon spit on a homeless person as even acknowledge

3:18 Speaker 1: their existence or give them any sort of dignity. Understand

3:21 Speaker 1: that you've got a conflict happening there, because that might

3:25 Speaker 1: be that might very well be a veteran that you're

3:28 Speaker 1: doing that too. And I will say this every single

3:30 Speaker 1: time this subject comes up, because nobody ever says it,

3:33 Speaker 1: and I don't know why, but a lot of homeless

3:36 Speaker 1: people are veterans who fell through the cracks. So you know,

3:41 Speaker 1: people who just mistreat them, you know, I understand if

3:44 Speaker 1: you don't want to give them money. I don't give

3:46 Speaker 1: them money, Okay, I don't have a lot of extra

3:47 Speaker 1: money to just be given out to people. But I

3:51 Speaker 1: would never I would never disrespect a homeless person. I

3:55 Speaker 1: would never talk down to them. I would never be

3:58 Speaker 1: mean to them and nothing like that, you know, I mean,

4:01 Speaker 1: unless they came at me. Be right, They're a human beings,

4:06 Speaker 1: child number one. They're a human beings and you don't

4:09 Speaker 1: know their story. You don't know how they got there,

4:12 Speaker 1: you don't know what happened to them. But part of

4:14 Speaker 1: that too is also just so you know, conservatives who

4:16 Speaker 1: think it's cool to go around shitting on homeless people.

4:20 Speaker 1: That homeless person that you think is a piece of shit,

4:23 Speaker 1: they might be a veteran who fell through the cracks.

4:25 Speaker 1: And we all know veterans who fell through the cracks,

4:28 Speaker 1: so just something to consider. Yeah.

4:30 Speaker 2: And then when I was an EMT, I can tell

4:32 Speaker 2: you I responded to a number of veterans who needed

4:34 Speaker 2: help and who fell through the cracks, and the VA

4:37 Speaker 2: didn't take care of And they should have never ended

4:40 Speaker 2: up with me because they weren't being taken care of

4:42 Speaker 2: right by the VA.