A Voice for the Houseless: Choosing Freedom Over Struggle
Raelee Childers, houseless and with a substance abuse problem, is writing a sometimes column for us. She says she hopes to open the hearts and minds of those that are so quick to judge a book by its cover. Comments will be monitored for civility towards the author as well as other commenters.
Disagreements are fine. Personal attacks are not.
“Why don’t you just get a job?” It’s a question I hear often, spoken as though it’s a simple solution to life’s challenges. But for me, the question reveals a deeper misunderstanding of what it means to live with purpose. The real question isn’t why I don’t get a job, but rather why I would dedicate my life to work that doesn’t align with my values—a life spent struggling just to survive, rather than thriving on my own terms.
Work is often seen as a badge of honor, a marker of contribution to society. But let’s take a step back and examine the reality for many working people. Countless jobs are grueling, underpaid, and leave little room for personal growth or fulfillment. The promise of financial stability feels hollow when most of the money earned is swallowed up by rising living costs—rent, groceries, medical bills, and debt payments that never seem to shrink. Add to this the portion of our income funneled into taxes, funding foreign aid, corporate bailouts, and programs that rarely benefit the people actually doing the work, and it becomes clear that something is deeply wrong.
For many, this isn’t just a temporary struggle—it’s a lifelong treadmill. You work long hours to barely get by, sacrificing time, energy, and health for a system that doesn’t seem to care about your well-being. The idea of owning a home, pursuing a dream, or even retiring someday becomes a distant fantasy. Meanwhile, stress and burnout take their toll, leaving you questioning what all this effort is really for.
This isn’t an anti-work mindset. It’s a call to rethink what work should be. I believe that work, in its best form, should be meaningful and sustainable. It should contribute to both the individual and the greater good. But when work becomes a source of suffering—when it robs people of their dignity, joy, and energy—it’s worth asking whether there’s a better way.
I’ve chosen not to participate in this system, not because I’m lazy or unwilling to contribute, but because I want something more. I want to live a life that feels intentional and aligned with my values. I want to dedicate my time and energy to things that truly matter: building relationships, fostering creativity, and finding ways to help others in meaningful ways. For me, that means stepping away from the traditional idea of a job and embracing a different kind of work—one that prioritizes community, purpose, and authenticity.
This choice isn’t without challenges. Walking away from a system that promises security, however flawed, can feel daunting. There are days when uncertainty looms large, and the pressure to conform to societal expectations is strong. But when I weigh those challenges against the alternative—a life spent working for someone else’s gain, struggling to make ends meet—the decision becomes clear.
Some might see this as a rejection of responsibility. I see it as taking full responsibility for my life and how I choose to live it. It’s about recognizing that my time, energy, and creativity are finite resources and deciding to use them in ways that align with my values. It’s about stepping off the treadmill and carving a path that feels true to who I am.
The truth is, we’re often told there’s only one way to succeed in life: get a job, work hard, and hope for the best. But success isn’t one-size-fits-all, and neither is fulfillment. For some, the traditional job market offers stability and a sense of purpose. For others, it feels like a trap—a cycle of work and debt that leaves little room for anything else.
I choose not to accept that cycle as the only option. I choose freedom over struggle. I choose to explore ways of living that prioritize connection, creativity, and well-being. I choose to believe that a better way is possible—not just for myself, but for all of us.
So, the next time someone asks why I don’t just get a job, I’ll ask them this: Why should I settle for a life that isn’t worth living?
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Then you can’t be asking for money from people who do work, and that includes handouts from the government because guess where that money comes from – tax payers who work.
Since Raelee has very clearly and articulately explained she is jobless and homeless by choice maybe her next essay can go into more detail about how she’s gotten by for 20 years without working or taking handouts from those who do – because if she’s taking handouts it would make her a monumental hypocrite.
I’d love to know how Raelee has financed her life of “connection, creativity, and well being” and her drug addiction, while living a principled homeless lifestyle.
The simple truth is most of the homeless are sponging off the rest of us by one means or another – taking handouts as long as there’s no strings attached, panhandling, stealing, faking disability and so on.
100%!
Exactly.
Agreed.
Your rationale and rationalization has evolved.
Congratulations!
Good luck out there.
Yes, I know working is a choice.
working separates me from you.
there needs to be MORE space between those that work and those that don’t.
I agree there is a problem in the system.
working people should be doing MUCH better than the unemployable.
as this letter writer portrays, becoming unemployed is almost a easier choice than the struggle of employment.
it is some of our aims to reverse this trend.
employed people need to win far and above whatever social service money is to be given to the unemployed.
Its a game of incentives.
The capitalist economy needs to offer a better deal to workers, and social service agencies need to redirect food stamps to the working public, not the unemployed
If you work full time, you should get way MORE food stamps than the unemployed able bodied scammers draining the tank.
A society of scammers and thieves is not better than a load of no-accounts…
I sit in the house I bought by working, and wonder whose couch you are sleeping on…
Work is not crazy, it’s just right…
You have a defective mindset, but you be you…
This is the answer.
and your current situation is ? how ?
Well. There was once a Grasshopper and an Ant.
— web stuff
The fable concerns a grasshopper (in the original, a cicada) that has spent the summer singing and dancing while the ant (or ants in some versions) worked to store up food for winter. When winter arrives, the grasshopper finds itself dying of hunger and begs the ant for food.
—
Good luck with your (soon to be)… starvation.
You did leave out the most important part of that fable. The ant took the grasshopper in, fed and kept hm warm. Compassion over condemnation.
actually, they ants ate the dumb grasshopper and lived happily ever after. the end.
Eh ?
The Original fable the ant rejected the Cicada and said ‘dance the winter away’.
You are probably referring to the newer socialist version.
—
The fable concerns a cicada that has spent the summer singing and dancing while the ant (or ants in some versions) worked to store up food for winter.
When winter arrives, the cicada finds itself dying of hunger and begs the ant for food. However, the ant rebukes its idleness and tells it to dance the winter away now.
Versions of the fable are found in the verse collections of Babrius (140 BC) and Avianius (34 BC), and in several prose collections including those attributed to Synitpas and Aphthonius or Antioch.
—
Go figure.
You are why I do not give any money to the homeless. I wish I could help people who need help but YOU ruin that. Saint Jude’s for the win. Why do you think some else should work to pay your way.???? I wish you well but I won’t pay for it. Good luck.
I heartily agree…
Raelee, you are not helping your fellow layabouts, at all…
This entire article is hypocritical. You say too much of working people’s income goes to taxes which are spent on things you disagree with, yet one of those very programs where my tax dollars are spent is on those, like yourself, who choose to collect welfare programs like food stamps, mediCal, SSI etc. Based on your very article, you should stop receiving these benefits since I don’t want my money to support you. You claim working people sacrifice and work to help get a sense of well-being, which, yes, is part of being self sufficient. Certainly choosing not to work and to be dependent on me, a taxpayer through the benefits you so willingly take should, for any honest person be the last resort. However, you choose not to work, which means the money you receive you are actually stealing from me and my fellow working people, much less the ones with actual disabilities that don’t HAVE the choice to work. The whole premise of this article loses credibility with every dollar you accept from the people and government you choose to “walk away” from.
Raise taxes on the rich.
Cut taxes on the working class.
Well that leaves the author of the article out altogether. She is not working class as she doesn’t work.
You suggest taxing the rich to support the non working? Unfortunately, while a pleasant fantasy of unending childhood, where all work is a matter of choice, the end result is that the burden of those choosing not to work at all would soon eliminate the resources of even the richest. It would then be back to the ancient paradigm of war and enslaving the loosers to getvwork done.
I support taxing the rich to support everybody.
A 50% tax on all income over million dollars would cut taxes and increase services for the great majority of population.
This might even motivate some of the unemployed to get jobs.
As the author points out, it’s not necessarily that she doesn’t want to work- it’s that she doesn’t see much point in it if, at the end of the day, you’re just as poor and miserable as if you were unemployed.
And using some of that money to fund free campgrounds, free shelters, mental healthcare, and drug/alcohol rehab would benefit all of us- not just the comparatively small percentage who would use those services.
In case you didn’t know, the millionaires and above pay around 60% of what they make in taxes, fed, state, County, etc. So, you were saying…..one thing you can do to right this wrong in your mind is……check out the line item on your income tax paperwork, there is a line for voluntarily contributing whatever you feel like. I suggest you pony up. Just one dollar….it could feed a kid.
I consider the high taxes you wish to impose on the rich as a clinically insane approach as well as extremely dishonest. I work for a living. Those who choose not to work should suffer the consequences of that choice and starve, be refused medical care, etc. It is immoral and wrong to steal from those who work hard and give it to those who actively choose not to. That’s exactly what taxation does when it pays for anything other than infrastructure or defense. I’m with Trump 100% in abolishing income tax completely. I am also for stopping all government support to the author of this article based on the statement she chooses not to work. That is indeed how the program rules read and to receive these benefits is fraud. Hopefully someone in the fraud department SIU unit will read this article and press charges.
If you make more than a million dollars a year and would be asked to pay higher taxes under what I’m suggesting- then you are indeed a very luck person with little room to complain.
But a millionaire does not work 20 times harder than someone making $50,000. I’d say the working class are the ones who could stand to have things made a bit easier for them, not the millionaires and billionaires.
However, the millionaires and billionaires are indeed the ones who, more often than not, are the very ones providing employment to the working class. It would be totally irresponsible and downright crazy to put so much burden on them that they withdraw from the economy altogether since they choose to work, choose to employ others. Don’t forget how Newsom’s terrible leadership and the economic disaster he has created made some very wealthy people pull out of the state and relocate to where their businesses could thrive under freedom Instead of tyranny.
It is insane that this post was downvoted.
Yes!!
Yes.
Well saod
Or at least express gratitude, not arrogance, eh?
I find your article disrespectful and hypocritical. You shun people for working hard, having little time to enjoy life, and paying taxes. Yet People like myself and others pay taxes domestically more than others so that you can look down on our choices while you collect social benefits to continue your “ free meaningful lifestyle”.
The taxpayers pay more taxes so more people can enjoy their free lifestyle like yours.
Hour lack of understanding of fundamental economics is astounding.
Used to give money to homeless but for reasons that you have mentioned – no more.
Good luck!
Raelee, imagine living in a world where everyone conducted themselves in the same manner. Think Blade Runner.
Robots need neither food nor shelter though, right?
Clearly work should be purposeful and not just to make someone else get more than their share of our natural and national bounty. Artificial Intelligence is going to take over many mindless tasks, but who profits? and who loses their job and livelihood. Things are not going in a good direction. Raelee is positing a different relationship among people, goods and services. She doesn’t have to have all the answers to know that what we have now is wrong. Raelee is a reminder that the failures of society, that brought us the liberating philosophies of Camus and others, have not gone away. Perhaps those failures have become greater, and we all the poorer for it.
She does have any answers at all.
Kapitalism as practiced is a giant ponzi scheme designed to make the rich richer and keep everyone else in perpetual debt buying (largly) unnecessary garbage. Easy enough to change….stop buying crap, and it’s all crap. This will require lifestyle changes which will be painful….make your car last 20 years, stop flying(HSU just bought carbon credits to avoid doing this) learn to grow some of your own food, don’t spend money you don’t have, and hardest of all abandon social media which are largely platforms for pushing consumerism. Or not.
Hers are the words of a parasite trying to justify its leeching behavior.
?
Wow! I left home one week before turning twelve. I had no less than 2 jobs and went to school while sleeping on a bit of cardboard in the loft of a dilapidated crop dusters hangar in Roswell NM. And by 15 I had 3 jobs while going to high school to pay for a two room shack while going to highschool. Just so I could work me way through college and HOPE for a better life. Did I get it? I never worked less than a 60 hour work week. For pittance. Even the ten years when I was a pot grower. Me entire life was a whole lot of work. Even when I was struggling everyone that I love and depended on me were certainly better off for it! I thought of it all as falling into a swollen river. I swam hard to get to a weaker current so I wouldn’t drown. And then I swam hard to get to where I could grab onto something. And then I pulled meself out one handful of debris and mud at a time until I was no longer in danger of drowning. I didn’t quit even when I wanted to. And there were and still are plenty of folks around hoping I would fail! In other words I had heavy rocks in me pockets.
For me quitting was/is not an option.
Only in old age and at death do we really know what was worth it or not.
Well Dave at nearly 70 was all that work worth it? You bet it was! And I am still working.
Life is not fair. Fairness is not a component of breathing. Life is what you make of it.
Very well said. First off, I admire Raefee for putting herself out there to explain her true feelings knowing people will be unfavorable. It does sound like a great life. One, I think, most of us would love to be able to have. But unfortunately, it is a self-centered point of view that does not take in the realities of a functioning society.
I was taught that your main responsibility in life was, if you were not disabled, to be fully responsible for taking care of yourself. Because if you didn’t, who did you think you were better than that they should spend their life taking care of you? And if we all did that, then there would be plenty of time to help those less fortunate, who truly needed it.
True freedom is knowing YOU are able to take care of yourself and those you love and not burden others. And plenty of us here have found all you have outside and/or inside the job.
Life is not fair or just. “Rights” that many are fond of demanding do not exist. Writing them on a piece of paper is meaningless. Mao had it right, All power comes from the barrel of a gun….
Ms Childers is providing work for a team of social workers. That’s a good thing.
There is no freedom without discipline. Everything in the universe requires work. You have just abdicated your responsibility to do work to survive to others to give you the fruits of their labor. You are not free.
Raelee – what help & “community” are you providing to others? Sharing your stash?
Your essay just reinforce the notion that “ALL homeless people choose not to work”. Like you do.
I would never help someone like you. You basically live off other’s hard working money & you spit on it. Sharing your life style choice, while living off others, is not helping the working homeless or the homeless person with a mental disability that cannot hold a job or live with other people.
It sickens me to hear homeless people talk this way. I honestly believe the government should provide to the struggling people trying to get out of their struggling situations. BUT not for people like you. You must have family? They should be picking up your tab, not the Tax Payers.
Honestly, I do not wish you even good luck.
Last thing, consider that to be true to your believes you should stop accepting government & private citizens hand outs? That would be being true to yourself.
I, I, I. Me, Me, Me. My, My, My. If you want to be happy stop thinking about yourself.
The rich ruin everything, and our country, and way of life, is on the top of their list.
This country was NOT founded to support the ultra rich, Wall Street, banks and corporations.
We need to take it back and care for our fellow citizens. You know, like Christ said.
Try: Proberbs 6:18
How do you pay for the things you need to pay for?
Do you receive SSI? Do you steal? Do you beg (or panhandle)? Where do you get your clothes and shoes? Where do you eat? Where do you sleep.
Can you answer these questions?
Jusnita – you are waisting your breath. Your questions are the equivalent of “pearls to pigs”. She is entitled to ALL of that from the people with working ethics that she seems to despise.
The only thing I receive is my food stamps that’s it other than that I go and try to clean up the community by recycling sometimes that’s how I make my money. No SSI no SSDI no I don’t steal from businesses I don’t panhandle or beg for anything
What about your children?
I really like what you’ve written here. My Road Dog used to always say “the best way to smash the system is to live like it doesn’t exist”. I was homeless for 5ish years. Eventually stumbled into this area and found myself doing work that I loved surrounded by people I loved. Shit comes together when it does. And unlike some other commenters I’m not the least bit butthurt about kicking down anyone after even a 20 hr shift or watever
Your revolution is over… Condolences! The bums lost! My advice to you is to do what your parents did… Get a job, Sir!”
Yes, quit being a leech. My husband and I have worked hard for what we have and we refuse to give it to someone who chooses to sit on their butt and do nothing. I watch the people that panhandle and some of them are old enough to collect social security or young enough for other benefits but they expect the rest of us to support them. Oh yes and feed their dogs! I don’t think so, I would support my own kids and grandkids but not someone else’s.
Oh what you mean to kill myself cuz that’s what my dad did [edit]
Do you think you are the only one that had a parent kill Themself or die? No you are not and they don’t do meth, be homeless and abandon their 4 children
I would rather work multiple minimum wage jobs and live in a crappy housing situation than to be houseless.
I’m not sure if anyone has ever mentioned this to Raelee but a lot of times you have to do a lot of crappy jobs for many years to get to a good place in life. Start at the bottom, work as hard as you possibly can, make smart choices, and eventually you will have good job/life.
Right on, Dirt Hippy. I agree, being outside is terrifying and we should all work very hard to stay inside our insulated boxes.
The comments, below, other than from Juanita, are abominable – and expected.
i read down to Juanita, then stopped.
The comments are just what one would expect – the same diatribe, “Get a job” .
No one seems to be hearing what she has to say.
No wonder the orange bozo got elected, with people like that around.
Dog eats dog mentality. I got mine, so you get yours.
She is pointing out a reality that most are unwilling to admit. That most modern jobs are mindless and soulless, and many feel trapped, but see no alternative. Those are the people giving the hateful feedback. They cannot afford to admit that the system has failed them.
The author could have explained how she does survive. That was the missing piece. Without that explanation, she left herself open to classic criticism.
Work is also known as “protestant work ethic”. It is ingrained and taught as a belief from childhood.
No wonder we judge and have guilt around the very idea of not participating…
There are other models. Other civilizations have addressed how to provide.
There are other ways than the modern industrial model.
An open mind is needed. And compassion.
It would be interesting to see what indigenous peoples in this continent and other places have modeled, in the past, to provide.
Question your own feelings and honest appraisal of your life and employment before judging another. You are likely putting up with a job you care very little about, but are terrified to admit.
An open mind. A rare and valuable commodity in this day and age.
I think the indigenies just traded shells and furs and stuff since they weren’t smart enough to create their own bank.
So how would you explain this system works?
Eh, the author of this piece has previously written about being a drug addict who is homeless because of their addiction.
There’s plenty of people in this area who have consciously chosen to move away from, and even out of, the system the author speaks of. Ironically, they all know that it takes more work than staying in it (which is where a homeless addict that lives off of welfare resides).
These are high minded and hollow words from a person who has shared too much on this site previously to fool regular readers into buying this manic screed.
Next life I want to be a dog…people CARE about THEM
homeless dogs have shelters and case workers
homeless HUMANS don’t
Homeless humans have both shelters and case workers.
That is why they are called “jobs” & not “vacation”. Very few people are fortunate to work doing what they love & make a living out of that.
We work to pay our way in the world & avoid being a burden to others & the government.
I recommend you take a “reality ck pill” & read what she wrote, again, after that. You can also start paying this woman’s way, with your own money, since you admire her ways so much.
///a life spent struggling just to survive, rather than thriving on my own terms.///
But you’ve spent prior essays bemoaning your struggle to survive and detailing the ways in which your struggles are the results of choices that others made that were beyond your control.
So how are you “thriving on [your] own terms”?
I was interested to hear more from you after your first essay. But I’ve got to be honest, at this point I think that you’re input is a net negative for the local homeless community.
This particular essay sounds like an addict who has recently gotten some of their preferred product.
Agree – I thought the piece was very well written but thanks for pointing out so clearly that it contradicts her previous articles – both can’t be true.
Indeed there’s a beautiful sentiment expressed here. And one of my favorite things about this area is the density of people that we have that actually embody this attitude.
They aren’t homeless drug addicts that depend on charity, they are resourceful weirdos that carve a life they cherish for themselves out of this callous society. Many of them certainly technically qualify for different kinds of assistance, but won’t trade their freedom for that hand out.
There is a truth to what you say.When I lived down south I worked in a mini town close to the coast where millionaires came to vacation but locals were broke. My car took a shit right before my shift. I was stranded and stressed. The local mechanic was a serious tweeker but the town people assured me he was trustworthy. He saved me. Fixed my car for me and wouldn’t accept money because he knew I was broke and instead let me bring him my shift dinner after I was working. I left my car unlocked and a key so he could work on it and I walked up after work to a police man just chilling behind to make sure my car wasn’t stolen because he saw they key on the dash. It was a hell of a place so small that people all knew each other and helped out.
nice story
thanks for the reminder
That sounds nice, but I would never live a key in my car, outside, in the small town we live :-(. People in the town seem to know each other & they have great reservations about leaving, even, a shovel or hammer outside.
But no one knows who wrote it.
The author’s name is on the article.
Unless you watched it being written a name on a paper means nothing. Going to need a notary on that. Just comparing to previous articles which weren’t so literate.
Well, the author had the secret code to our website that allowed her to post as Raylee so I’m guessing it was her.
Okie dokie.
It’s interesting that so many people on here are willing to condemn someone who is choosing not to participate in a predatory system rather than attacking the system itself. We all recognize that the bread rations have gotten leaner. Wealth inequality is the enemy not the people unwilling to toil for meager scraps. Revolution or Starvation may be a choice we all have and soon. The powerful have become to powerful and they think that the programs that “keep us safe” are the answer. Give them just enough to keep from drowning. Why isn’t anyone attacking substities and bailouts. Our largest companies and banks are the biggest welfare grifters of all. Take away their welfare and let the free market reign. Less government less bailouts. If my business is drown in taxes which they then give to the banks who won’t lend to me they need to fail. We are over regulated to the point where it feels like they want us the fail. While we bend over backwards for inept CEOs running the banks, healthcare, and agribusiness because of what lobbiest. Be mad at the right people.
These folks aren’t deep thinkers
Pretty scary looking future when all we have are these ‘libertarians’
I’ve got mine!!!!
In the 60s, Federal Tax Revenue was made from 30% corporate taxes.
Today it’s 10%.
In the 60’s, the highest earners were taxed 90% on income, before loopholes and avoidance.
Today it’s 26%, before loopholes and avoidance.
Musk won’t be adjusting that in the People’s favor.
It’s just fear. Misery does not love company- misery does not know Love- misery needs company. Misery needs others miserable so it might justify its miserable existence. It’s all subconscious. Supporting a broken system is exhausting. Even the bankers are suffering. Kindness is Queen. Compassion is King.
So you expect other people to feel your hardship and give you money that they work for? You can call it what you want. You should not accept any free items. You need to starve for awhile till you decide to take care of your self. Sad you have such a bs story why you don’t work . I wish you many cold miserable nights and hungry days. POS Sad I can’t help people that have disabilities because you are f%%king it up.
women shouldn’t have to work and shouldn’t get to vote
why are you wishing misery on anyone?
jdog, trolling will get you banned. If you have a philosophical belief on why women shouldn’t vote and why women should laze about eating bon bons all day, I’m ready to hear it though.
not trolling, thats my opinion. men used to take care of women and still should. but thx for threatening to ban me for having different beliefs
I feel sorry for the woman whom gave birth to you. I imagine you are one of her many regrets.
If she was educated, but likely his ideas come from generational bigotry, misogyny and/or religious home schooling.
You are very likely correct.
better luck next election
What “next election”? You forgot: “vote for me. You will never have to vote again”.
I never said I don’t work I just refuse to work a 9 to 5 job for a government that doesn’t care about me
Live hard… die young
Lifestyle clickbait.
She has children she’s given up and abandon. So this life she talks about helping others but she didnt even raise her own kids. Something to think about when you read her bullshit. “My mom didn’t call me, left me at 6” How about you didn’t raise your children at all. They know you left them for drugs, a guy, and dogs. And apparently freedom to be creative.
I do t think someone should get to choose to live this lifestyle when they chose to have children and not raise them. How many kids Raelee is someone else raising for you? Your dog brings you the most joy as you have at least 4 children out there with a birth mother that chose drugs and homelessness over being a parent.