This is shocking and terrible. Quinn and all you folks at the Garden of Eden have always been pillars of the Steem community. I have enjoyed your posts about sustainable living and admire all the good you do for others. And many times have I drooled over the food you cook! Always thought it would be fun to visit the Garden of Eden if I'm ever in Texas.
You have all built a wonderful community for yourselves and it's so sad to see such mistreatment and discrimination from those who should know better.
Sending you my prayers from Japan and well wishes for Quinn's speedy release & recovery. I have just donated 500 Steem to the @gardenofeden account. Please use it as you see fit for Quinn's defense.
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!
Very sorry to hear this, Upvoted and resteemed, and I hope you all can continue posting to keep stacking up Steempower. One day soon this will be over and we should all just life safer lives. Also we should all be writing our Last Wills and testaments just in case.
It's better for your heirs if you avoid probate altogether. I simply provided bills of sale to those I want to have my stuff after I die.
It's nice of them to let me use it while I live =)
You guys need to move the homestead from this hostile region to somewhere that has an understanding city government that is libertarian and would never do this and there are plenty of good states and counties left in the US where they would never fuck with off the grid people like this but yeah it would really help if this post was edited to include a little summary of what you guys actually do because most steemians have not heard of your organization and dont know about all the good work you do in your area, so it would help to show some screenshots of past posts or just a summary of what you guys do and how this happened because of someone "biting the hand that feeds them' sort of scenario unfolding Im assuming, some sort of fight must have happened, but what really sucks is that it is more evidence towards the whole argument against helping those in need because this will just happen and yeah it makes me worried that many steemians are actually hurting rather than helping by giving money or even food and resources to those "in need" and maybe Aynn Rand was right...... maybe we also should realize that if we would just save ALL of our own resources well then we could get rich enough to maybe one day actually afford a house for the homeless people here and we could help them a lot more... just an example... but what if instead of sharing all of the resources he had shared he had just sold them or kept them, used that money to buy more land, use THAT to give homeless some homesteads.... I dunno I just like to wonder about these issues... even though we all agree we are all arguing about it on steemspeak.com discord too
The whole Aynn Rand idea of Altruism being bad makes too much sense to ignore... when u help others they will just take advantage because they must to survive its an instinct and when u present poor and desperate people with an opportunity to rob you, they are going to rob you,a and it just sucks that the police make it worse but what can you expect
It is better to find poor people online who will work hard and appreciate a dollar , instead of trying to help people who just take and take and take like we see more so in the USA which is a generalization but its so true man I try to help -people here in the USA and they just act like if i had $20 to hand out, that $20 must have been nothing to me, when it still is worth something to me, they just act so entitled and fucking welfare is to blame for that so many people walk around the USA acting like they will always be entitled to have someone else pay for their fucking food just because.... and yeah when the federal reserve and treasury just print up trillions of fiat paper money you start to not give a fuck... why care anyway?
well now with crypto we can LET the fiat people implode while we get to pick up all the pieces! we will end up with the stable currency and Steemians are going to come out of this stronger, just like our friend here. I am just happy to hear he did not die, so that is good and he will learn a lot out of this, and when he gets out of jail soon and his bail is paid I am sure he will be able to pack up and get the fuck out of that hell hole of a town wherever it is, why subject yourself to that tyranny. There are plenty of places you can homestead where counties will be HAPPY to see you living in their low population counties! Not all of the USA is like this, you will find better homesteading lands
upvoted 100% and resteemed
I am an Ayn Rand fan, but I think what these folks do is marvelous. You can't just NOT be generous because someone MIGHT bite the hand that feeds you.
Matthew 25:40 says "Inasmuch as you have done it unto the least of these, my brethren, you have done it unto me." This is an anecdote to say that when we serve the least deserving, we serve the most on high.
The people they serve do not take and take and take. Many of them are invited to cultivate the land, help repair tools, clean, maintain the housing, offer first aid, prepare oils and herbs for medicinal purposes...they pitch in. It's part of the whole thing. They have dignity in it. A lot of folks who walk into places like these are yearning for a better life. They may have come from a place where providing for themselves is simply not an option. They learn how to take care of themselves here, how to grow and cultivate, how to gain friendships and become a person they can be proud of.
What these folks will likely do in the future is be prepared to spot the signs next time something like this is looming, if there are signs to see. The fact is, this incident could have happened to anyone in a situation like this. Nurses, doctors, care-givers, therapists -- they all run the risk of hazard whenever there are less fortunate, vulnerable, or unstable people involved.
GOE will be back at it again, they will just be more prepared to either prevent or minimize this kind of thing in the future.
As far as the location, you may be right. They could relocate I guess. But this is their home. They have cultivated the land and the resources for years here. And this is not the first time they have had to relocate. Ron Paul has fought for them as well. I think no matter where they go, they will draw negative attention and persecution from fear. But you may be right. There may be a place that is more suitable for this kind of arrangement.
I'd be curious to know what the circumstances of the attack were, and what kind of reasoning the police came up with to "finally get their guy." I'll bet it was something like this,
Homeless guy: "Oh, police people, he was assaulting me so I knifed him out of self defense!"
Police: "Thank you for your statement homeless guy. That's all we need. Quinn, you're under arrest, anything you say can and will be used against you..."
Quinn: "Wait, don't you want to hear my statement?"
Police: "Sure. But it doesn't really matter what you say. We've got it all written down the way we need it."
GOE: "Wait, don't you want to hear what really happened? We have dozens of witnesses. Video footage. Testimonies. Evidence. We'd be happy to share. This was not his fault. He is a peaceful man. The man who stabbed him is unstable and we are not sure what his motivation was. We have fed him and housed him at least a dozen times in the past without incident."
Police: "Um, no thanks. We've got all we need. Don't call us. We'll call you."
I find Ayn Rand absolutely abhorrent and to use her repellent selfish ideology in this post after this horrible incident is beyond distasteful to me.
The guy who came in and stabbed this poor guy was probably mentally ill. To use him as an excuse to prop up the idea that freely given care and hospitality is wrong just blows my tiny mind.
What the Garden of Eden people do is brilliant and beautiful.
@sue-stevenson While I urge you and anyone to research objectivist ideology further to understand why self-interest is necessary and not nearly as abhorrent as blind altruism to society, I agree that this is no argument to change the mission of the GoE.
@ackza The most important piece of the ideology is the internal locus of control. It is up to every person to determine their personal values and to act in accordance to those values. GoE clearly feels it is in their best interest to serve their community in the manner of food and shelter and feel that what they donate is in excess of what they desire. I also hope that they are acknowledging the potential for people's reliance upon their charity and considering that impact on the community as well, but someone more familiar with the project like @littlescribe mentioned that often people will work to demonstrate gratitude/pay their debt. But bottom line is that those agreements do not concern you or me. I'm always glad to discuss with a fellow objectivist, as I believe it to be the most moral ideology, but it can often be twisted into "evil" by others, so I hope that you may grow in your understanding that the key tenant is that no person can determine for another what is in their best interest.
Bless you @cryptomancer!!!! Thank you so very much for your support in many ways. We will take this energy and send it to Quinn. Thank you for the blessing.
You are most welcome. I hope very much that this tragic incident can have a happy ending. All of us here on Steem are rooting for you guys!
I have no doubt that this too shall be an opportunity to shine the light on the darkness and that truth, love and honor shall prevail. Your support is indeed a blessing. I know for sure that all the great vibrations are helping him/us heal! <3
Thank you!
Thank you very much @cryptomancer
Same here! I've always wanted to visit. It seems like such an awesome place to dwell. I love the whole sustainable living concept, and all the fresh and healthy foods they cook and prepare. Blessings to you all at GOE!