Man . . . The fact that Langley painted stuff and collected reading material for his brother for "when he can see again" is really sad but touching . . .
@@housemouseshorts Why would it be madness? In today's world, plenty of families take care of family members who have fallen into a vegetative state, or are severely paralyzed. If that isn't madness, then why should this be? Sounds like you're the one who doesn't understand people friendo.
@@writershard5065 Do those people set deadly traps to kill people with? I don't think so..this guy died to one of his own deathtraps..thats maddness and irony.
@@housemouseshorts well to be fair, they were paranoid. People were kind of mean to them because of rumors of there home. And the police although justifiably did break into his home....so the traps make some sense
I’ll admit there’s nothing wrong with it if it’s rare enough, but the stigma exists for a reason. If it goes on for enough generations, the descendants start getting really messed up genetics. Which is also a problem with some purebred cats and dogs.
Íris It’s weird as fuck and the stigma exists for a reason. My dad’s sister married their first cousin and they had 7 kids. Go ahead and guess how many came out weird
I can't imagine how awful Homer's death was. You can't move, you can't see, you only have one person helping you. One day you hear that person in trouble, so close to you. And then one day it just goes quiet. And then you slowly starve to death, smelling your loved one's body beginning to decay, before you die of either dehydration or starvation. What a horrible, miserable way to go. And Langley too; you're pinned down, unable to move, the only person in your vicinity completely unable to help you. I feel so awful for both of them. They just wanted to be left alone.
Sort of explains why barricading isnt so irrational particularly when the cops bust in at the head of a torch mob. Refuse? Building material. Note to self: keep the traps out of the living quarters.
This was easily the most difficult video to make so far. Information on the brothers was often contradicted between sources, and the pool of images I could use was absurdly small. There was exactly one image of Homer Collyer that I could find. This also was the most difficult video emotionally. I slowly became attached to the brothers while I read. and I nearly broke down crying while doing my research. Still, it's a beautiful and fascinating story, and I hope that I did it justice.
That is an impressively obscure and fascinating piece of American history. Such an odd pair where tragedy and clearly some other growing conditions (I have NO psyche background so I won't even hazard a guess) just brought them so far down...Still, I'm glad you made this. It is something worth remembering and it is oddly satisfying that a park is on that land, ever commemorating the pair in a pleasant way without being gaudy or any such a thing.
@Cody Ingram "Besides, almost every idiot can trace their poor actions back to some form of mental illness nowadays." Yes, it's almost like harmful behaviour comes from broken minds. Who knew. Dismissing people as "freaks and idiots" as many so often love to do precludes a rational analysis of mental illness. If we knew back then what we know now, they may have been able to get the help they needed before it was too late. It's not about offending people, it's about understanding the human condition.
@Cody Ingram freak, noun: "a person or animal on exhibition as an example of a strange deviation from nature; monster." Yeah nothing dehumanizing or dismissive about literally referring to people as objects to gawk at. I'm sure they made freakshows illegal because they weren't profitable, or something. And that's ignoring the fact that hoarding and the other things on display here are perfectly natural parts of the human condition. (which we wouldn't know if we all thought like you)
@Cody Ingram They may have been freaks but I find them far more fascinating than those kids who threw stones through their windows. The Colliers have gone down in history because even though their behaviour was arguably appalling they were and still are fascinating individuals in the minds of many.
@Rose Fincher Look, I don't know who this nerd you keep talking about is or if he wants me to think cleaning my room with resolve my emotional baggage. I'm not concerned about that. I _am_ concerned my room might develop its own ecosystem.
My anxiety and depression would send me into full blown panic attacks and meltdowns whenever I needed to get the mail. But then I realised that I never get important mail, so I stopped the daily drama and just collect the paper trash from my letter box each week, sometimes only once a month and throw it directly in the recycling bin. Except letters that look important like or which come from the government lol
@@maxdavis7722 If you say in the first chapter that there is a rifle hanging on the wall, in the second or third chapter it absolutely must go off Now change the world "rifle" with "trap"
@@jammccockin8304 that comment didn't even make any sense. That's what you'll say to someone if they was complaining about their legs. Not someone who's feeling empathy for a person's suffering. I bet you're an Incel that couldn't help but post a negative comment to a female.
@@tyrant7583 You're probably right, especially since we have no idea whether the original commenter was male or female and he just assumed for the sake of condescension. Ironic that we have someone like this commenting on a video about people who died in a lonely prison of their own creation.
Love for a brother is so strong. I Hate the thought of his brother waiting, starving, listening or smelling his dead brother 10 feet away unable to do anything.. it really cuts me deep.
Interesting story. I was a roofing salesman in Wisconsin and one day I was called to a house north of Madison to quote a roof. I was a 3 story+ old mansion and had a garage that was falling down. The owner and his wife were very reclusive and in their 70's. Believe it or not the inside was almost like this story. There was junk and boxes piled 6 ft. high everywhere. To get upstairs you had to navigate a path a couple of feet wide all the way to the top. In his bedroom there was junk piled and only a small path to his bed that probably hadn't been changed for a long time. Both of them were not healthy and hardly mobile. The yards were the same. The porch roof was loaded with so much stuff I couldn't believe it hadn't collapsed. Well, we got the job and I knew it was going to be rough. The insurance co. was paying otherwise I would have done it for cost. They were nice folks but only spoke when needed. In the end we took about 10 dumpsters of stuff, none from the inside as per his wishes. Moving everything took 3 days before we could start the roof. This story reminded me of them. i told the local authorities about them and was told they were aware of them and had a son looking out for them. A couple of years later I heard they had both died, I hope together.
I honestly feel bad for them. They just lost their parents, went through the great depression and then Homer had a stroke *before* they got bullied by their entire neighborhood. Because they honestly just seem like nice, sociable people put in a horrible situation. Poor Homer and Langley. :(
@Rose Fincher Here and in other comments you used the abusive as hominem fallacy by trying to discredit someone's statement by pointing out some personal detail which is not relevant to the topic at hand. Just now you used the circumstantial and hominem fallacy by trying to raise suspicion about the biases of the other party involved.
I can only imagine what went through homer's mind as he called out for his dead brother, in the darkness, completely alone, starving and unable to walk...
@@MichaelJohnson-ln1in -,... I liked your thought on this,.. “ we are never truly free “,... but then I thought about it some more and how, actually realizing AND accepting this fact,... then sort of imparts and further degree of ,....well,...freedom. May see like circular logic to some,.. but I like to think of it as seeing something from a higher overview,... allows a full vision of the yin/yang of something. Just,... another,.. thought. Cheers. ;-)
You can't imagine how free we feel gave me chills. Like I have some depressive and anxiety disorder tendencies and this whole pandemic thing just felt like an encouraged excuse to be my worst self and not do what I need to and it is freeing to just live ignoring everything in your own little world and it's just kinda viscerally upsetting if you know what he means.
I think I'm going to take a weekend and clean my house. Update: Two years after posting this, I've finally gotten around to getting my house under control, as well as giving each room a fresh coat of paint.
This story is terribly sad... I can't imagine how it would feel to die alone, unable to move or see, knowing your brother, your only companion and caretaker, is rotting on the floor a few feet away. Its a frightening thought
I feel incredibly sick. This is a painfully sad story about two brothers who believed it was them against the world so much, it lead to their death. His last moments, watching his brother die and feeling the pain of starvation/dehydration must've been... indescribable. It's 1pm and I still feel like this will keep me awake tonight
A big ass house, tons of inheritance, economic Depression, looks outside window its Black Harlem, Bro is paralysed and blind, no water no electricity, Bank takes his property, people are all nosy and shit. Respect for the bro who cared for his own.
Sounds like they were dealing with awful mental health problems, in a time when there was no help at all. No doubt the neighbourhood bullying and news fascination only made it worse.
Every time I think I’ve seen it all in my 67 years a story like this comes along. In my early 20s I worked at a department store in Altadena Ca. I delivered prescriptions and liquor. A lovely combination I’m sure! I was always fascinated when I had a delivery to this run down house and yard. An elderly lady with white hair that stood straight out would answer the door. I could see a pathway through the piles of newspaper and clothing. It went from the front door to the back of the house piled up to the ceiling. Every time I would leave I would think about her and how does this happen. Now that I think of it if every room in my house looked like my closets I would be one of those people. This story was fascinating. Just think of all the nic nacks and odds and ends that were thrown out. Today they would be worth a fortune.
As someone who suffers from OCD, hearing about the way they were remembered, with disgust and fascination, made my soul hurt. I'm not a hoarder, but I understand how extreme anxiety from OCD feels, I can't help but feel sorry for them and find it sad how they loved eachother and we're good people but still faced a harsh view by the public. Honestly it makes me wonder what their lives would've been like in the countryside rather than a small confined space in New York.
Interesting fact, a lot of people during that time that had some kind of mental illness always hated the big city, especially since it was very confined. I mean, look at Van Gogh, who always hated the city, but was forced to live there so he can be able to sell his art easily. But, honestly, I believe that the reason why they couldn't leave the city is because that house was the only place they could stay, and settled, especially since living at the country side was not the same in the 20th century than today.
+Genie Meadows It was BLACK kids...today they call them "teens" on the mass media. They were likely the only whites left nearby that were thought to have a lot of money, and that made them a HUGE target.
If you're talking to me then you should have spoken to me directly :P "And this poster talking about rich and poor and classism apparently hasnt seen the COUNTLESS of rich black athletes and rappers who are constantly arrested for abusing animals, abusing women, shooting people, murder, robbery, on and on and on. And they have more money than any of us "priviliged" whites." You're right but then there's "COUNTLESS of rich black athletes and rappers" Rich blacks are like rich whites they're a minority in the sub group I'm sure white celebrities, athletes and musicians have been caught and arrested for roughly the same things in the past and present.
I cleaned out foreclosed homes for 15 years, this is more common than you would think. One particularly large house, outbuilding and yard with temporary structures contained 44 tons of Debris that filled twenty 40 cubic yard dumpsters. There was very little actual trash, it was millions of dollars of packed in possessions. Turned out the guy had a salvage business.
@@clockhanded save yourself. You owe nothing to someone who is abusing you. Don't make excuses for them, just walk away. Plenty of people who actually would appreciate your help. We deserve what we tolerate.
My mom was born in 1915. She lived in the Collyer neighborhood for a time during the early 40s. When I was growing up in the late 50s she would say my room looked like the Collyer Brothers home because my room was untidy.
My mother was one of those moms who compared our bedrooms to the Collyer brothers' house. She worked in NYC in the late 1940s and told us great tales of the eerie and bizarre brothers.
I dunno, it looked like that skeleton still had sinew and mummified skin along the arm - wouldn't a donated medical skeleton have been bathed in chemicals to burn away fleshy parts?
Their father was supposedly eccentric, and remains of abnormal children was surprisingly normal during that period, not common, but nothing strange in so far as rarities were concerned.
Swamp Life, I looked it up and some sources say "phony two-headed baby in formaldehyde", though actual medical specimens and specimens, both real and fake, like that were common curiosities and often displayed during the turn of the century at "freak shows".
Evelyn Hyde, I'm not so sure that medical skeletons are bathed in chemicals to burn away flesh, if they're prepared anything like animal skeletons, what can be easily removed is removed and then beetles are used to clean the rest off the bone (before being cleaned with chemicals). I agree that's not the typical medical skeleton (perhaps the skeleton is just dirty from being in that house for decades) but the arm they show (which may not belong with the rest of the skeleton) is definitely out of the ordinary. Perhaps the arm is an old écorché anatomical specimen (specimen preserved by being injected with wax etc., like the those created by Honoré Fragonard in the 18th century), to show the circulatory system of the arm.
As an absolute reclusive, for me it's hard to watch this, when I was a boy I saw my father fill an entire room with endless boxes of his father's belongings, my things and his, yet he was completely the opposite of me, very social and loved to run errands every day. At the same time, I'm the opposite of my father, as I hate to own many things, no matter how useful they can be. I don't have any more family left, but this story between brothers reminds me of a film called Dead Ringers, in more ways than one.
Eddy Girón Few things but good ones high sentimental value is the way to go I think I feel pretty reclusive too but I started just going to explore cool stuff on earth (because it’s awesome much to experience and can be yourself who you really want to be in a new country) and met amazing life friends in Hong Kong i ate up everything about it and lived as a HK people do i had a small apartment in mong kok there was all the street food, different settings of each area and will use that same template for other places I find interesting If you ever want a friend message me with an email/WhatsApp or something you’re not alone bro
My late husband had a tendency to hoard things and I used to kid him about it telling him that he must have been a third brother to Homer and Langley! I used to tell him that one of these days I would do a thorough search of his whole pile of junk and find at the bottom of it the remains of at least three very famous missing people, namely Judge Crater, Amelia Earhart and Jimmy Hoffa! He fortunately got over his hoarding problem 15 years before he died when he realized that the junk he collected just wasn’t worth the difficulty it was causing.
For either brother to be on the spectrum is most definitely a possibility, but I'd also wager schizophrenia to be a factor here. Particularly as that is also found to be genetic, and the way that it can regress and display certain symptoms is present here His delusions about what would happen if he sought medical help for his brother is just one example. Homer had many weird behaviours that simply didn't make any sense, ans had no known reasons for doing so Such as leaving the house only at night, travelling six hours for food etc That could very easily be down to a paranoid schizophrenics delusions, as it would be down to a logic and perception of reality disenfranchised to everyone else What's really sad is the fact this opens up the possibility that his brother was only physically disabled, and completely aware that he needed help, but was utterly powerless and at the misguided whims of his brother I honestly don't doubt Homer loved his brother, but I also can't help but think the idea to hide him away entirely may have been one-sided, as he was so protective over his brother, no one could intervene for decades He had absolute power over him and thats quite terrifying After decades of this, wirh Homer being his only stimulation whatsoever, he'd likely believe anything and everything he said about needing to be hidden away like that But at the start, he could have been helpless and unconvinced and we'll never know
@@corazoncubano5372 Aspergers still functions as a shorthand for the level of severity as well as being the term that many grown ass adults have been labelled with their entire lives (decades of adult hood).... Let those who have it use the term if they so desire. Being unnecessarily pedantic with those who are often already pedantic is just obscene.
It’s weird what the workers did to get the gas meters. My postman won’t even walk up to the door to deliver mail when it snows until the walkway has been cleared.
I found this video to be very interesting, or at least the first 90% of it was. However, the ending was very sad and so much so that it changed my entire mood , it left me with a haunting and very dark feeling.
“We’ve no telephone and we’ve stopped opening our mail. You can’t imagine how free we feel.” I’ve been wanting to do this more and more lately. My misanthropic side is becoming more dominant and I’m not sure that’s a good thing.
As someone else recently commented, it's basically their version of cutting themselves off from social media. Although doing such thing 100% is likely impossible, limiting what you expose yourself to isn't necessarily a bad thing. These days, I mostly limit myself to RU-vid and Discord. Even on Discord, I'm only a member of a few very small servers right now. If I'm curious of what's going on in the news, I'll listen to local radio while driving or read a newspaper while on break at work. It takes a lot of unnecessary anxiety out of my routine this way.
Jack Is not gay Calling someone a furfag is like calling someone a nerd. It's not insulting it's just tiresome. You see it every time you comment with a picture of your fursona or furry oc... you know how annoying that is?
When a teenager I read a book called My Brother's Keeper by Marcia Davenport which was based on the Collyer brothers. I remember that book from 65 years ago.
This makes me incredibly sad. Nevermind how Homer died, slowly and no doubt in agony, but the hoarding alone is beyond me. Mental health is important, y'all.
MrKalius I disagree. I think if he cared about his brother, he wouldn’t have kept him locked in the cold, moldy, dusty darkness with rats crawling around.
@@starisesun7692 Dying rather meant he wouldn't be able to deliver food to his brother anymore. I'm sure suffocating under a pile of trash wasn't intentional, or planned. You didn't really pay much attention to the details of this video.
Not at all since they had both worked extremely hard throughout their lives and had the wealth and intellect to show for it, unfortunately even if you are a genius, hoarding is a deteriorating condition. It only becomes worse if the person can't be pulled out of the mess.
Antiform NEETs are capable of being intelligent and hard workers. it just means that they aren't engaged in school, working, or training for work. NEETs can actually still be in the labour force. but these guys still qualify as old NEETs, lol.
NEET stands for "Not in Employment, Education, or Training" and since they were at one point doing all of those at the same time (and extremely well) I don't think they are my dude
It wouldn't be considered an 'apartment' because they occupied the full brownstone. Original brownstones are townhomes, they were just converted into apartments later
Fuc these dudes. They were racist as hell. If they were not so racist they wouldn't have died horrible deaths and add in being inbred makes them even crazier.
@@welbyncastro9169 I agree. Everybody in this comment section is like oh the poor brothers boo hoo but they were awful people who didn't seek medical help, didn't move (if they were so scared of their 'scary' neighbors), cut off contact with the outside world like they were special or something....the brothers brought it upon themselves.
@@jazz1056 what the hell is wrong with you? getting mental help isn't easy nowadays and back then it didn't really exist....did you even watch the video you dumbass? Why are you so bothered about them cutting off contact with outside world???? You don't have to be in contact with anyone. They weren't awful people what did they do that caused you to think that? You are the only awful person here, how can you be so naive?? idiot.
Thanks for this outstanding bit of reporting the facts. I've heard about the brothers, but was never compelled to listen to their story because everything being shown was so sensationalized and I just wanted facts. No embellishments, no sugarcoating. I knew this upload would be different. Well done 👏
This is absolutely tragic. Early on during the viewing of this video, I had wanted to leave a comment making a joke about them being "the original hoarders" or something, but it turned out this was a very sad story. Really, though, the stories of most hoarders are very sad, as it is usually mental illness or some other kind of unfortunate circumstance that leads to their hoarding in the first place.
Wow, somebody with intellect, common sense, and decency towards other human beings - what-on-Earth are you doing here?!? Almost without exception, hoarders suffer from a range of severe mental illnesses, yet they are labelled "disgusting" and "worthless", and they are exploited in television shows for so-called entertainment. Most of us are just one extraordinarily unfortunate event away from a ruined chaotic life, yet entirely lack the pity and compassion for others that we would expect for ourselves, given similar situations and circumstances in our own lives. We should all be extremely careful of how we judge those whom we feel smugly superior to.
God I can’t imagine the pain and sense of helplessness that must’ve overcome Homer when he watched Langley die to his own traps. Can’t move, can talk but not ask for help, can’t eat or drink water, can’t shower… three days, all while watching your brother slowly asphyxiate under a mountain of garbage, reaching for help yet unable to get it. I can’t imagine the emotions and extreme turmoil he must’ve experienced in those three days
I thought the thumbnail was a picture of a coal mine, bloody hell. They sound like 20th Century Chris-Chans. Only he did interact with the outside world, and pay his electric bills... neither of which went well.
I didn't even realize it, but I was thinking of Chris-Chan too during the narration of this story! I definitely don't think that people should romanticize the brothers - people who are hoarders are not simply "living a different way of life" like hermits or naturalists, they're legitimately sick. Mental illness isn't "another way of living".
That's just... Sad. Its just tragic. He tried so hard to take care of his brother, of the memories of his parents. But in the end, he was suffocated by them.
I feel a lot of sympathy for those guys, they just wanted to be left alone. I was declared a 'hoarder' by the local council (I had around 1500 books but little else) and I was evicted and made homeless - as I didn't own the property.
Ive dealt with hoarders and they honestly dont notice it happiness comes to people in strange ways. Freedom to make your own happiness as long as it doesnt hurt others is important
That actually sounds perfect to me. People are weird and different. The end is definitely tragic don’t get me wrong, but I’m a caretaker type of person, i could be very content in that situation.
@@quacksworthsmashington9890...I totally get what you are saying. But, I don't fully agree. I moved in with my Sister and her husband, they are both hoarders. I see, that this is her "normal". But, would I call her happy or content, absolutely not. Her anxiety and frustration are very apparent.
@@quacksworthsmashington9890 That's like saying people who self mutilate should just keep going. Hoarders are mentally ill and need help, not encouragement
Bloody hell, this is indeed a sad story. Kind of one of the first well known hoarders, yet still with the same sensationalism you see on those Hoarders on the reality TV channels. So sad. :(
Mike Zarate It's natural behaviour for us be disturbed by self destructive behaviour. Because it reminds us that we ourselves and our own instability and potential to lose our minds is a danger we can hardly protect ourselves from. Or, to put it in a less bloated way, I think we are instictively programmed to analyse such behiour to learn from other humans' mistakes, as a survival strategy.
Damn that's tragic, in my line of work I deal with the same illness as the brothers. Thankfully we have the ability to get them some help and support with county social workers.
My Grandpa was a hoarder. He did much of the same like stacking newspapers and junk to the ceiling. Hell, the pile of newspapers in his living room was so huge, I didn’t even know that there was a couch under it until after his death. These people man...
They were mentioned in an episode of "The Honeymooners". Ed reminded Ralph that he (Ralph) once had the lowest electric bill since the Collyer brothers.
I hope you know how much this episode messed me up emotionally when I first saw it. I was in my bed late at night thinking about it and how sad of an end it was... Man I love this series...
This story truly is heartbreaking. To sit there knowing that your sole companion and protector for years was crushed to death under the trap of his own making (that you supported) and wait for a slow and painful death... what went through his mind in those days? Did he feel regret for the mess they had made? Was he at peace because this meant they would die together just as they had lived? As for Langley I just know in my bones that he died with his brothers name and welfare on his mind. I think what irks me the most is that you can't toss the men clean into the category of horrible and unhinged. It seems like Langely took good care of his brother. Exceptionally good considering they lived in an environment most of us would've succumbed to long before they died. If they had moved to a cottage off in the wilderness instead of trying to hide in NYC then it's likely we wouldn't even know their names. But at the same time, they chose to live on a literal foundation of waste with a bolted shut front door and dine with rodents. No sane person does that. This is yet another example of how the universe doesn't care how much money you have or how good or bad of a person you have or haven't been. We all meet our end in ways that are an odd mix of our own doing and Chance poking fun at our mortality with her long, mangled finger.
If I go blind and become paralyzed, either my brother in-law, Jim, or my sister, Piggy, will feed me grapes injected with cyanide as per our mercy-killing pact.
When I was a boy, we lived on the wrong side of the tracks, literally. You see the tracks in question seperated the town from the South Dakota side and the North Dakota side. The waterworks and sewer were never run under the tracks, so we still had outhouses piss pots and the like. While we did get power and phone service, it was still a bit spartan. Our neighbor, across the street had a nice modern ranch home the father had built by hand. The mother of the family was, however a hoarder of this class. Their home was a series of alleys going throughout the home. The living room which was on one end of the home was kept in fair repair by the children who would entertain from time to time. The house had 3 bedrooms, one for the parents, one for the boys (4) and one for the girls (6). The kids would load all the crap up on a farm truck once in awhile and haul it all out to the city land fill, but would be forced by mom to bring it all back. The lady died now some years ago, and instead of cleaning the mess, it was set ablaze by the children who survived (4). I had dated two of the girls of the family at different times, of course, they were very sweet young ladies, the mother was a religious fanatic, preaching against the sins of the flesh, but hiding in her hoard as I had sex with one of her daughters on the couch one evening. Strange place indeed....
my own mother was a hoarder. When she passed, I couldn't stand to sort through all the junk, had to hire a service. All that stuff she couldn't part with went into dumpsters.
What the fuckkkkkkk. I was expecting this to be scary but its just an incredibly sad story about companionship and tragedy. Regardless, though... These videos are always so incredible. Please never stop.
This was very hard to listen to, their fates must have been unbearable, its so sad. I imagine things so vividly, and it was painful to hear the fates of these men, it was awful. The fact that Homer likely never knew his brothers fate or perhaps in their final moments they called out to each other, and homer was left to die alone in grievous anguish.
It's sad how the people in the neighborhood tormented them, threw rocks at them, etc. Perhaps they would have interacted with their community more if they weren't victimized by them.
There are hoarders here in Japan as well. It seems like there is one in every town and a lot more in the big cities. Many of them here often go out to the garbage on garbage day and bring other people’s trash back to their house and keep it in their house. Rats, cockroaches and more live in their mess. One man who was a cameraman for a big TV station inherited four houses from his mother and he eventually filled up all four houses to the brim with garbage. He then started to fill the yard down to the borderline! No amount of counseling or requests from the city office would get him to stop collecting garbage. Which he picked up out of the dump! It’s a serious issue here and when talking to these people they always say it’s their “collection”, that they are going to do something with all of that trash. But of course they never do. And in most cases other family members completely disavow themselves from these people. And there is no way to stop them as long as they keep the trash within the land area that they own.
Can imagine a little nightmares style video game in which you travel through their junk filled house, running to escape from grotesque manifestations of the brothers' eccentric neuroticism, exploring their psyches in the process.
I swear I've heard the last music track played in this video from somewhere, but I can't quite place it. Well done on this series, very good use of language. Even if I don't look at the video, the words itself paint a picture.
Dude lived in a condemned building cluttered to the ceiling with junk -- to the point he had to crawl through tunnels of junk like WWI trenches -- without electricity, heat or water, no income and has cut himself off from the world and humanity as a whole. "You can't imagine how free we feel." Sure, whatever floats your sinking ship, boyo. His freedom was worth less than the junk he died buried under...
