Homelessness and What "No One Is Saying"

an imagined dialogue

The following is an imagined dialogue, but every attitude expressed by “B” here is one that I have encountered often in my 5+ years doing tenant activism in New York City. The podcast above is a bit old but is directly relevant here, as the podcasters are both involved on the front lines of getting psychiatric help for impoverished people.

Two men are walking around in Portland, parts of which have recently been described as an “open-air psych ward,” like a “Sudanese refugee camp,” and a “constant reminder that we’re living through a time of widespread social collapse.”

A: Boy, there’s a lot of homelessness.

B: We’re saying “unhoused” now. The word “homeless” increases stigma.

A: Don’t we want the status of homelessness to be stigmatized, though? I don’t want to insult people experiencing homelessness, but I also think that the concept of homelessness is well-understood by most people and that there’s a certain amount of emotional force behind that word that “unhoused” simply doesn’t share. I want people to feel shocked by homelessness because it’s shockingly inhumane.

B: OK, fine. But so what? What about these homeless camps?

A: They seem… not great. They don’t seem safe or good for anyone.

B: Oh, what, are you disturbed by the homeless? Do they disgust you?