I was taking to a friend about anti-homeless laws, and he put it perfectly:
“It’s a huge issue in our society - at the individual level and at the community level - that so many people genuinely believe it’s harder to exist near those who are struggling than it is to BE someone who’s struggling.”
Ironically enough, this appalling absence of empathy is inevitably self-destructive because most Americans are one bad day from being homeless themselves.
Oh totally. People are so brainwashed they don't realize how precarious their lives are right now. I can guarantee you they'll be shocked to find there's no housing available for them when wildfire destroys their homes or when their landlord decides to evict them for whatever reason they want.
Too many people fall into the trap of thinking of homelessness as a "moral failure" as opposed to a systematic problem. Sanctimonious scolds who promote their cruelty as virtuous. It's sick.
It is sick. It's a very white middle and upper class thing. Before I started working with a housing agency that places formerly homeless folks into housing, I thought the same way. It took years for it to become clear how many ways someone could become homeless. I made this graphic some time ago.
I'd change it to take out the "pick one" because so many people get affected by multiple causes. There's probably other causes that could go in there too, like domestic violence, or being kicked out for being LGBTQ, or having to leave home because you're a foster kid.
I think I would leave it as it is because the point you're making is it's not the person's fault that they're homeless when capitalistic parasites have been methodically shredding America's safety net for DECADES. Greed has been elevated as a virtue instead of a pathological disorder.
Ok, thanks for the feedback. I did decide to revise it slightly to take out the "Choose one", plus I increased the font size and added my handle and the year.
