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Saturday, January 14, 2006

More Detail:
But How Reliable?


UD found another article about the affluent beggars [see posts below] that suggests they don’t have families that are distraught and willing to help them out. They both describe screwed up families that don’t care about them. This may or may not be true. Let us assume it’s true.

So they’re on their own. They’re both intelligent, adept in the language and ideas of therapeutic culture. They are young and employable. Why are they panhandling? In Ashland?

Well, like any affluent mother, Elizabeth Johnson wants the best schooling for her children. (The couple actually has five children, but they put the first two up for adoption.) “The family has stayed in Ashland since the summer in order for Seth to attend the Waldorf-inspired experimental classes at Willow Wind, part of the Ashland public school system.” So there are concerns about schooling.

But there’s also the drugs consideration:

Their difficult childhoods and interest in drug culture quickly solidified their bond, the couple say. One of their first experiences together was canoeing on the Withlacoochee River and taking LSD. "Both of us coming from broken homes," says Johnson, "and needing to develop ourselves." …"Well, I think we had no love," Pancoast quickly adds, "we had no clarity … we were both so disassociated for different reasons.…"


This article about the affluent beggars delicately side-steps the question of whether the couple is still interested in drug culture....


Can Pancoast's gruesome and moving memoir be far behind?

********************************************************

Update:

A reader writes:

"Perhaps the best thing to do is pass the story along to the IRS.

What do you think the odds are that he fully reports all of his income?

Also, I've always believed in taxing unearned income at a higher rate
than earned income. Generally, that means soaking stock dividends,
bond interest, and capital gains, but I think it should also apply in
this case."