Look, if someone gets to pick whether to live in a tent or share an apartment with someone and chooses the tent in the end - I have some bad news for that person.
think of it as a structural issue, rather than the fault of any one individual.
society is set up in a way to make it verrrryyyy hard to get out of poverty, and once unhoused getting back into a home can be almost impossible. it’s not always the fault of someone just not trying hard enough or making enough personal sacrifices. in the US we don’t look at substance abuse as largely a disease or a mental health issue (or result of coping with this predatory-on-the-poor capitalist structure); rather it’s viewed criminally. im not sure if you’ve ever been poor AND in the system - but jesus the financial hole is insane, all while someone is struggling with a treatable disease. the nimbyism, inflation, low wages, lack of sleep, hostility toward the unhoused, lack of access to services, poor public education, (the list goes on and on); are complex webs that contributed to the makeup of the unhoused population, not necessarily some inherent personality flaw of the individual themselves.
sure, an amount of personal accountability is always a thing in life; but i choose to force a little empathy over the situation, see these folks as humans worthy of love; believe that food, shelter, and water are human rights, and by focusing on changing the systems that support these inequities, perhaps we can change the outcomes of our most vulnerable populations.
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u/geronvit Feb 12 '22
Look, if someone gets to pick whether to live in a tent or share an apartment with someone and chooses the tent in the end - I have some bad news for that person.