Several weeks ago, I was riding downtown
with a friend of mine, Michael. As we drove, we passed a number of homeless
people sleeping under a bridge, and I made a comment that the large of a number
of homeless people sleeping in the streets is a symbol of how far the economy
has to go just to put people back to work. He stated that he had a different
view of this situation. He viewed homelessness as a symbol of how lazy and drug
infested people have become. He felt that if people really wanted a job, they
could get one. People just needed to pick themselves up by the bootstraps and
get to work. I was stunned by his comments as I had just read an article on the
large number of houses that are in foreclosure and many families were being
left destitute. I let him know that people are affected by situations beyond
their control and sometimes they just need a helping hand. Most people are
homeless because of external forces, not by their own personal choosing.
I believe my view of what homelessness
symbolizes was shaped by my first hand experience talking to homeless people.
As part of our religion class in middle school, we went to the French Quarter
to hand out sandwiches, gloves, and socks. Speaking with these people, I could
see their pain and the shame they felt at their situation, and I gained an
enormous amount of insight into how large of a problem this really is. I
suggested to Michael that he spend some time talking to homeless people and his
view of what this symbolizes may change.
Whereas Michael and I currently disagree on the factors that lead to
homelessness, we both agree that something needs to be done to help people get
off the streets.
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| From Uptown News |
The topic of homelessness is intriguing because it is a social issue that can clearly demonstrate an individual’s background and worldviews. The common clash of opinions on the state of homeless people that you had with your friend Michael seems to make statement about more than just the issue at hand; it addresses privilege, individualism, and empathy. All three of these concepts were subtly addressed in your article but it would be great to see how they factored into your and Michael’s view of the social issue of homelessness.
ReplyDeleteThe topic of homelessness is interesting because there are so many dynamics that go into why people are homeless. Some are lazy, some are drug addicts, some are released crazies from institutions. Back home we have lots of homeless people, in some ways its worse than New Orleans. I've had many discussions similar to yours, and I hate to say it but I agree with Michael however, I don't know his entire argument. My thoughts are that the homeless could get jobs and people could get housing if people were to stop buying houses they cant afford, and if they were to suck it up that their dream profession isn't attainable right now and work the lesser job that no body else wants to work. I could go on about this topic all day. There are plenty of jobs. Maybe not what people want right now but, there is money out there.
ReplyDeleteHomelessness is a tricky topic in the US especially, since we do have so may resources that most countries don't have. I think that you are right in that it is caused usually by an outside force and that the homeless person doesn't chose to be homeless. However, having experienced homelessness in Latin America, where it really isn't an option, there is no free public education that is valuable. If you are born homeless than you have very little chance of obtaining a job or rising to middle-class status. While, in the US, we have good public education, scholarships, etc... that are designed to help even the poorest of people out.
ReplyDelete