
A homeless man who turned his life around by offering book reviews - Tomte
http://www.one.org/international/blog/the-homeless-man-who-turned-his-life-arround-by-offering-book-reviews-instead-of-begging
======
tryitnow
This is a great story. But...someone who has the intelligence and work ethic
to do this probably wasn't going to be homeless for long.

Honestly, there are probably millions of people who pull themselves together
like this - it's just they end up working regular jobs like maintenance work
or burger flipping that aren't as inspirational.

The problem with stories like this is they conflate two problems: (1) being
down on your luck (but hard-working and reasonably intelligent) (2) being
stuck in a poverty loop due to mental illness, criminal record, or countless
other complex factors.

Problem (1) is something a lot of HN readers can relate to, especially in
their early twenties. Hence, the popularity of this article.

Problem (2) however is the much bigger problem. Unfortunately, what this guy
did is only marginally useful in coming up with solutions to that problem.

All that said, I'm sure he's a pretty cool guy.

~~~
Mz
_someone who has the intelligence and work ethic to do this probably wasn 't
going to be homeless for long._

And capacity. Many people on the street have serious health problems or other
obstacles to productivity. I lack neither intelligence nor a work ethic, but I
do have health problems. I have been homeless 5.5 years, though I blog, do
freelance work, etc.

Edit: You also need opportunity. Being homeless can be a huge barrier to
opportunity, both in practical terms and due to stigma. People don't want to
hire homeless people.

~~~
logicallee
>I have been homeless 5.5 years

This is a huge personal revelation. I have happened to be in touch with the
parent poster via HN and they are simply an intelligent, thoughtful, person
with important and good opinions on whatever topics they write about.

I hope you resolve your issues with housing soon. As you write, you have a lot
of capacity for high-level work.

~~~
gpawl
FYI, Mz has been here sharing her perspective on homelessness for several
years:

[https://www.google.com/search?q=site%3Aycombinator.com+mz+ho...](https://www.google.com/search?q=site%3Aycombinator.com+mz+homeless)

~~~
logicallee
Thanks, though that doesn't change my impression of mz from our interaction,
which I listed.

Since we're on HN: I don't see how it's fundamentally different from people
who fail for years to raise money, until they finally do. My interaction with
GP is from not that long ago. They're a smart, clear writer and I hope they
resolve their housing situation soon. Then, if they ever want to do a startup
they'll be better at it than most people, based on my interaction. They've
also studied GIS, though I'm not sure if they want to work with it or in a
different field. I am confident they can resolve their housing issue and I
believe in them. By the way Elon Musk lived in an office and took showers at a
YMCA.[1] That meets the definition of homeless.

If you want a chance to back the next elon musk, invest in whatever mz does
whenever they're ready to take money (though I'm not sure if they have any
such intentions - but surely there's a reason they're on this site).

mz, I hope this reply is not out of place and again, I hope you resolve your
housing issue soon. I am basing my opinion of you based on an interaction with
you and based your writing, which is all anyone gets if someone sends a pitch
deck, emails, or business plan. you might have huge difficulty and perhaps its
stretched for years but I believe you will go through it based on your talent
and abilities. you can do it. go.

[1]
[https://www.google.com/search?q=elon+musk+showers+ymca](https://www.google.com/search?q=elon+musk+showers+ymca)

~~~
Mz
Yes, I do have a Certificate in GIS. In theory, I hope to develop this site
into a more serious income stream than I have so far managed to create:

[http://personalizedrelocationresearch.blogspot.com/](http://personalizedrelocationresearch.blogspot.com/)

It was at least conceived of as a business idea. Most of my other sites were
conceived of as "well, people clearly need this information, so I will give it
to them...and, oh, I guess I should have ads or something because it would be
reasonable to expect to be compensated for my time and effort."

Because of my compromised immune system, I basically need to figure out some
means to make money online. There are plenty of people here who have managed
that. But I have trouble accessing their expertise or getting taken seriously,
much to my personal frustration.

~~~
logicallee
Note: please take the rest of this comment as one input, you'll have to
combine it with everything else you know and your interests. it's just my
suggestion.

Do you already code? it may help your goals if you learn to code. It might
allow you to make some sort of more featureful web app than just blog posts.
Then, your talent for clear writing and communication would combine with the
functionality of whatever you wanted to code. I'm sure you've felt the
frustration of only having whatever options your blogging platform gave you.
with code, it does whatever you want.

plus you might get some freelance coding work which should pay well. but above
all your clear communication with the ability to make features you want would
be pretty killer, I think. don't feel boxed into the idea that you have to
only just write and English should be your main or only output. you can output
code. you can create features that do something. (from a standing start, from
0.) it doesn't matter how bad it is because if it brings some money then later
you can hire coders to redo it. (people call this 'technical debt' but it's a
stupid term. it's just a free option to pay only if you find something that
makes money, where you can throw it away if it doesn't. if you code 99
different things that nobody uses and the 100th is what takes off, you can
just pay someone to rewrite the 100th. you can ignore the first 99th projects.
which proves that it isn't technical debt because you can't just ignore debt
whenever you don't care anymore. you can ignore technical debt, indefinitely,
because it's just a free option to try something.)

So try some small web app. AWS has a free tier. Ignore everyone who gives you
a lot of bullshit. in the article I linked from elon musk talking about when
he was (my term) homeless, he was coding all day. so you could try it and see
if you can find something.

this is just based on my impression of your style of communication, thinking,
logic, and also you have shown an ability to collect a pretty large audience.
maybe the tiniest amount of code would be all it takes. you say you'd like to
work all online so this would fit that criterion. it sounds like you might
already have some exposure to the google ads network which is a killer way to
bootstrap promoting anything: the first time your users spend $90 on your web
app, you can try spending $85 of it on an advertisement (don't know about
adwords actual minimums this is an illustrative example) and if it brings in
just $89 in revenue for every $85 you spend, in theory you can keep turning
that process around until you are at $500, $1000, etc. Facebook ads can
likewise be bootstrapped like this.

all this depends on making something that has some kind of functionality you
can promote, describe, and code. try setting an AWS free tier and go from
there. you write that you're not taken seriously but just ignore it - do it
underground. nobody took elon musk seriously when he was taking showers at the
Y, and nobody took him seriously when he produced a written paper proposing
hyperloop.

ignore all that noise. just do something. You will have to adapt all this to
your goals, interests, conditions, I don't know the details. you also have to
be very careful because (in my opinion) programmers love to waste each other's
time, so stick with popular tools where you can just google what you're trying
to do and someone has posted the solution. programmers hate that you don't
have to waste weeks to years of your life reading manuals, and getting rid of
manuals or making things work is simply not a design constraint for them. I'll
give you an example:

This is how long it _should_ take from deciding to make a Rails app (a popular
web app framework) on a new AWS instance, to having one up: 47 seconds. I
should click "I want a new instance with some super-common stack" and then I
should click "Rails 5 with" (whatever is most common.) And I should have it.

Here's how long it _actually_ takes: [https://hackernoon.com/how-to-setup-and-
deploy-a-rails-5-app...](https://hackernoon.com/how-to-setup-and-deploy-a-
rails-5-app-on-aws-beanstalk-with-postgresql-redis-and-
more-88a38355f1ea?gi=7e2447c3e3f)

In 47 seconds you can barely read through the introduction (which starts with
"Deploying a Rails app can be a somewhat daunting task to get set up right on
new applications, even for seasoned Rails developers.")

Remember that (in my opinion) everything you read about programming is meant
to waste horrendous amounts of your time and be a huge sink. These people
cannot communicate. Which is why you will have such a huge advantage over them
if you deploy any app to do anything, because your version can be clear and
precise and your experience with audiences would help you promote it. just
ignore the noise. Be super careful of your time and only pick _the_ most
common tools and languages.

Note: I didn't adapt this advice to the specifics of your situation, or your
interests, so really you're the only one who knows how to use it, if at all.
As I said at the top of the comment, just think of it like a point of input.

~~~
Mz
I do actually want to learn to code. This is my very first post on HN:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=713015](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=713015)

So far, I have not learned to program, though I do know a little HTML and CSS
from running my blogs, basically. This failure to learn to code is due to a
combination of having been very ill, which makes it hard to learn anything
new, and much of my time being taken up with struggling to survive and solving
my health problems that are not supposed to be solvable. (And probably other
factors.)

The other thing is I am good at solving things, but I am not good at figuring
out "business ideas." I know how to get well when that is not supposed to be
possible. But I don't know how one turns that into money.

I don't think this is just me being neurotic. I think there are some inherent
problems in monetizing such a product. I feel strongly that the way modern
medicine is monetized is part of the reason people are failing to get well.
Modern medicine makes money for treating you, not for getting you well.
Ongoing need for treatment is a means to keep making money and I think that is
an inherent conflict of interest. I haven't yet figured out how you set your
sights on actually getting people well and somehow get money out of that.
Because that is not the financial model for modern medicine.

I would like to create simulations for smaller health problems and eventually
create a simulation to teach other people with CF how to do what I do.
Blogging is wholly insufficient to convey the density of info required. My
thought was that I would start with a small simulation for how you cure
sunburn rapidly by eating the right things and then build on that for larger,
more complicated problems.

But I used to get really ugly pushback for talking about getting myself well.
This was far beyond not getting taken seriously. It was incredibly threatening
and worrisome, so I have also spent some years working on figuring out how to
approach the problem space without inspiring lynch mobs, basically.

I do have a private blog with some of my ideas written out intended as a
design doc. But it hasn't gotten a lot of development. I have been mostly
overwhelmed by events.

Thank you for your long comment.

~~~
yorwba
I don't know how much time you have to spare for learning to code, but even if
it's just 10 minutes each day, that time stacks up. Even if it takes you a
week to get to "hello, world!", there are 52 weeks in a year.

The most important thing is to build a habit and stick to it. If you reserve
some specific 10 minutes of the day for learning to code, like just before
going to sleep, it will soon become so ingrained that you wouldn't even think
of stopping.

It may seem like a daunting task before you start, so much to learn, but if
you take it step by little step, 10 minutes at a time, you can do it.

~~~
Mz
Thanks. That's a good thought and I might be in a position to start setting
aside time for that every morning at this point, or very soon. But I still
feel like I need a thread to pull to start unraveling all of this. I haven't
yet found a good place to start, basically. Ideally, I would like a thing to
mod and ...I guess I need to work on finding a thing to mod. It's something to
work on.

------
BluishLight
Sometimes it seems to me that histories like this put the weight of leaving
poverty in the individuals himselves rather than the government social
services, enforcing the myth that poor people is people that chooses to.

~~~
matt_wulfeck
You don't think personal change represents any elevation from poverty? I think
we certainly agree it can play a major role into poverty descent.

~~~
glogla
Not really, no. In the US, it's mostly about your family, although there are
exceptions of course:

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socio-
economic_mobility_in_the...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socio-
economic_mobility_in_the_United_States)

> The correlation between parents' income and their children's income in the
> United States is estimated between .4 and .6.

> If a parent's income had no effect on a child's opportunity for future
> upward mobility, approximately 20% of poor children who started in the
> bottom quintile (in the bottom 20% of the US range of incomes) would remain
> there as poor adults. At the other end of income spectrum, if children were
> born into wealthy families in the top 20%, only 20% would stay in that top
> income category if their mobility opportunities were equal to every other
> child's in the country.

> But long-term income statistics show this isn't happening. Mobility
> opportunities are different for poor and wealthy children in the US.
> Parental incomes and parental choices of home locations while raising
> children appear to be major factors in that difference. According to a 2012
> Pew Economic Mobility Project study 43% of children born into the bottom
> quintile (bottom 20%) remain in that bottom quintile as adults. Similarly,
> 40% of children raised in the top quintile (top 20%) will remain there as
> adults. Looking at larger moves, only 4% of those raised in the bottom
> quintile moved up to the top quintile as adults. Around twice as many (8%)
> of children born into the top quintile fell to the bottom. 37% of children
> born into the top quintile will fall below the middle. These findings have
> led researchers to conclude that "opportunity structures create and
> determine future generations' chances for success. Hence, our lot in life is
> at least partially determined by where we grow up, and this is partially
> determined by where our parents grew up, and so on."

~~~
oh_sigh
That is a correlation, not causal. Maybe (just throwing something out there)
poor parent's children continue to be poor because the poor parents can't
teach their children the appropriate life skills to save and earn enough
money?

~~~
foldr
But that would be a causal influence.

------
zer00eyz
A long time ago I lived in baltimore, and there was a man who was "homeless"
(he lived in the church he sat behind so he had a bed) who did just this.

You would give him a book of yours and he would give one back that he though
you would enjoy... It was like having a one on one book club, with the
greatest recommendations ever.

When I moved from baltimore I gave him the dozen or so books I had to add to
his collection, and I always wonder what ever happened to him. I miss having a
commute (walk actually) that included the strange bright spot of his presence.

------
aaronbrethorst
Quick fact check: 20-25% of homeless people in the United States suffer from
"a severe mental illness."
([https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/08/27/mental...](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/08/27/mental-
health-homeless-series/14255283/))

Props to this guy for turning his life around despite a lack of support from
the society he lives in, but there are hundreds of thousands of people here in
the United States alone who will never have a similar opportunity.

~~~
nxsynonym
On a similar note, it's always nice to see the "pull yourself up by the
bootstraps" stories involving homeless people, but we (meaning the U.S) need
to place higher value on assisting those who can't assist themselves.

Mental illness is the root of the problem. From homelessness to suicide rates
to general well being, we need a better mental health care system in place.

I've been reading "Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging" by Sebastian Junger and
it draws a pretty clear connection between what we consider a "successful
person" and unhappiness. In essence, people were happier when they lived
simpler lives in tribes, and as society grew to place value on
financial/personal independence and move away from the tribe system of
survival - people became more unhappy and mental illness/suicide rates rose.

The more we segregated people by wealth/social status, the more isolated
people feel and mental illness rates creep higher and higher.

This article just reinforces the idea that only lazy/dumb people are homeless,
and only those who "put in the work" deserve recognition.

~~~
andai
I wonder how the people who are currently homeless would have ended up, if
they were born in tribal times?

~~~
nxsynonym
It's hard to say - I'd like to imagine the addiction and mental illness would
be much less prevalent.

Also the book I mentioned talks about personal value and self worth in a Tribe
setting - sharing and providing for others, keeping the tribe healthy as a
whole, was the main driving factor versus personal wealth and possessions. The
biggest Tribal infractions were failing to fight for the tribe (cowardice, not
protecting the tribe), unwillingness to share food/resources, and killing
another Tribe member.

I'm sure there would be Tribe members who were less effective/productive, but
for the most part it seems like the slack would be picked up by the other
tribe members.

~~~
jeffdavis
That sounds like romanticism/nostalgia, and probably ignores a lot of bad
stuff that happened.

If you want another take on more primitive cultures, read "The Better Angels
of our Nature" by Steven Pinker. You probably won't want to return to that
kind of lawlessness.

That being said, I think we probably have a lot to learn and may have made
some wrong turns. For instance, people are probably happier having more close
relationships with other people, but separate houses where we don't know our
neighbors doesn't allow that.

~~~
nxsynonym
"Tribes" doesn't gloss over the brutality that existed in tribal groups, but
it does remind the reader that the same brutality and savageness exists in
"civilized" societies (the Spanish Inquisition being one example).

Your house example is spot on. As society - specifically Western European and
American - put an emphasis on private suburban living and personal wealth,
people started feeling more disconnected and happiness levels dropped.

Of course tribal life was not perfect, or the world wouldn't have evolved past
it for the most part. Violence towards other tribes and groups was profound
and extreme, but this may have actually contributed to overall happiness
levels instead of detracting. One last "Tribes" point - people who are living
through a common goal in extreme circumstances (war, natural disaster,
disease, etc) are better towards each other and experience lower suicide rates
than in times of peace.

Thanks for the rec - will add to reading list.

------
vellum
The article never explicitly mentioned him finding a new place to live. I
found this reference in a people.com article:

 _Eventually, Dladla was able to pay rent again and even earned extra income
that he used to start a book club for kids in a local park_

[http://people.com/books/homeless-man-who-sold-book-
reviews-t...](http://people.com/books/homeless-man-who-sold-book-reviews-to-
get-off-the-street-becomes-author/)

------
goatofhehills
Flash poll; how many of you have been homeless? How many for an extended
period (more than 6mo)?

~~~
goatofhehills
I was homeless twice in my life, both times for more than 6mo. The entire time
I was a “knowledge worker” employed in hardware and software.

------
cjiang
I see he has a potential to be a net celebrity by doing a live streaming show
focusing on book reviews with a $100 smart phone.

------
pdm55
Jack Charles (Australian aboriginal actor) recently discussed his life. He is
an avid reader, an actor, a drug addict, he slept in toilets at night, shared
any money he earned or stole, was imprisoned 22 times, has been finally housed
late in life.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Charles_(actor)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Charles_\(actor\))
Don't know if you can view his story if you are not in Australia:
[http://www.abc.net.au/tv/programs/anhs-brush-with-
fame/](http://www.abc.net.au/tv/programs/anhs-brush-with-fame/) (Series 2,
Episode 9)

------
SN76477
This is what I have been thinking lately. Homeless rarely add value.

I know that is some gimmicky terms ... but it feels true.

