9 ms·

You know what's even more unfair than you having to deal with this "eye sore"? That these people are homeless. Have some empathy. They are people, too.

by id 4y ago

mechanical_bear 4y ago
Why is no one ever told to have empathy for the people whose livelihoods and homes are impacted by this problem?
- PartiallyTyped 4y ago
  Relative impact of issues?
- saagarjha 4y ago
  Because one group has a roof over their heads and one doesn't?
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- id 4y ago
  They don't compare. One group has their homes "impacted" (they are inconvenienced by the sight of poverty), the other group doesn't have a freaking home.
  - cruano 4y ago
    > they are inconvenienced by the sight of poverty Or, you know, wake up to find shit on their driveways, smashed windows on their cars, needles thrown on the street, etc.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
  - Rebelgecko 4y ago
    I'm assuming that you have the privilege of never living near a large homeless encampment. It really does become an all-encompassing matter for people in the area. You're reminded of it every time you breathe in air that smells like diesel and burnt aluminum foil. When you see tents at the very intersection in this article, while the bridge housing 2 blocks away has 50+ empty units due to lack of interest. Every time you go to the library and there's someone in a trenchcoat furiously masturbating. When you're followed on a bike ride by someone who runs a chop shop, looking to see if you're an easy mark. When you're walking down the street and someone screams racial slurs and threatens to kill you. Rationally you can think "that's just the mental illness or addiction causing someone to behave that way". But over time, even if you rationalize the behavior it wears down on your empathy.
- tdfx 4y ago
  Because a certain subset of people loves to advocate for disadvantaged people so long as the personal cost to themselves is zero.
- swearwolf 4y ago
  I think it’s for a number of reasons: 1. The limitations of the oppressed vs. oppressor view of the world, which is very popular at the moment. It takes a comfort with cognitive dissonance to accept that some haves aren’t necessarily oppressors, but it’s easy to assume that they are. See also: the scorn heaped upon small time landlords. 2. Accepting that some people will take advantage of a given situation, even homelessness, for their own gain is a very disconcerting thought if you tend towards empathy for homeless people. I struggle with accepting this myself, even though I can see it happening in front of me. 3. The bifurcation of all political ideology into Republican vs. Democrat, and the suspicion of crypto-Republicanism that is now levied at ideas outside the acceptable Overton window. 4. Bitter jealousy towards people who have managed to secure property in a desirable area that others feel locked out of due to rising costs. I used to feel this quite intensely myself.
jvanderbot 4y ago
You know what would be great? A park with more bathrooms and safe grills in the same area for people to live in. maybe even areas where it's easy to set up a sleeping arrangement and get a little privacy. Hell, why not add some doors and walls to these little areas, and some indoor plumbing to make it sanitary. you could even go so far as to make part of the park for living, and part of it a shared recreational space for them and members of the community to comingle.
- guerrilla 4y ago
  Sir, I believe you are describing an apartment complex ;)
  - jvanderbot 4y ago
    Ah ha.
tdfx 4y ago
I'm not sure why criticizing politicians who are weaponizing homeless populations against local residents to sway public opinion is lacking empathy. If anything, it's dignifying them as people who should not be used as pawns for a political agenda.
thegrimmest 4y ago
I don't think it's unreasonable to ask: 1) How many homeless people are interested in a productive life, with the work/sobriety expectations (and the housing/benefits) that implies? 2) How many of those are actively working towards this goal? It sure seems to me that there are lots of people who want to live irresponsibly, and prey on our sympathy to facilitate that lifestyle.
- bildung 4y ago
  > 1) How many homeless people are interested in a productive life, with the work/sobriety expectations (and the housing/benefits) that implies? Almost all, as becomes evident if you compare the drastically different homelessness rates in other countries.
  - thegrimmest 4y ago
    I'm not sure such comparisons control very well for climate and cultural factors.
    - bildung 4y ago
      Then just look at the distribution in the USA: Among the states with most homelessness per capita are: District of Columbia, New York, Oregon, Washington State, Alaska. Yes, also Californa, but California has most of everything, including housed people.
      - swearwolf 4y ago
        Aside from D.C. and New York, these are all states within the ninth circuit court’s jurisdiction, and therefore are bound to the Martin v. Boise ruling, which allows public camping if there is not adequate shelter space available. If one part of the country allows that while the rest doesn’t, you’d expect that the homeless population will migrate over time to the more permissive area, which seems to be borne out in the growth of the homeless population on the West Coast since the ruling went into effect. Of course, we also mint plenty of new homeless ourselves with our astronomical housing costs, but I see a lot of people with out-of-state plates on the RVs they live in here in Oregon.
asdff 4y ago
empathy means realizing that these conditions they live in under the status quo is harmful and does not come from a place of care. I'm sure the people living in the camp think its an eyesore too and would prefer better circumstances than a nylon tent that anyone with bad intentions and a buck knife can break into.
oh_sigh 4y ago
So invite a homeless person to live in your house with you. I bet you have a spare room or even a couch they could crash on. If everyone who accused people who complain about homeless encampments of lacking empathy did this simple thing, there would be no more homeless encampments. Have some empathy please.

You know what's even more unfair than you having to deal with this "eye sore"? That these people are homeless. Have some empathy. They are people, too.

by id 4y ago

You know what's even more unfair than you having to deal with this "eye sore"? That these people are homeless. Have some empathy. They are people, too.

mechanical_bear 4y ago

Why is no one ever told to have empathy for the people whose livelihoods and homes are impacted by this problem?

PartiallyTyped 4y ago
Relative impact of issues?
saagarjha 4y ago
Because one group has a roof over their heads and one doesn't?
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
id 4y ago
They don't compare. One group has their homes "impacted" (they are inconvenienced by the sight of poverty), the other group doesn't have a freaking home.
- cruano 4y ago
  > they are inconvenienced by the sight of poverty Or, you know, wake up to find shit on their driveways, smashed windows on their cars, needles thrown on the street, etc.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- Rebelgecko 4y ago
  I'm assuming that you have the privilege of never living near a large homeless encampment. It really does become an all-encompassing matter for people in the area. You're reminded of it every time you breathe in air that smells like diesel and burnt aluminum foil. When you see tents at the very intersection in this article, while the bridge housing 2 blocks away has 50+ empty units due to lack of interest. Every time you go to the library and there's someone in a trenchcoat furiously masturbating. When you're followed on a bike ride by someone who runs a chop shop, looking to see if you're an easy mark. When you're walking down the street and someone screams racial slurs and threatens to kill you. Rationally you can think "that's just the mental illness or addiction causing someone to behave that way". But over time, even if you rationalize the behavior it wears down on your empathy.
tdfx 4y ago
Because a certain subset of people loves to advocate for disadvantaged people so long as the personal cost to themselves is zero.
swearwolf 4y ago
I think it’s for a number of reasons: 1. The limitations of the oppressed vs. oppressor view of the world, which is very popular at the moment. It takes a comfort with cognitive dissonance to accept that some haves aren’t necessarily oppressors, but it’s easy to assume that they are. See also: the scorn heaped upon small time landlords. 2. Accepting that some people will take advantage of a given situation, even homelessness, for their own gain is a very disconcerting thought if you tend towards empathy for homeless people. I struggle with accepting this myself, even though I can see it happening in front of me. 3. The bifurcation of all political ideology into Republican vs. Democrat, and the suspicion of crypto-Republicanism that is now levied at ideas outside the acceptable Overton window. 4. Bitter jealousy towards people who have managed to secure property in a desirable area that others feel locked out of due to rising costs. I used to feel this quite intensely myself.

jvanderbot 4y ago

You know what would be great? A park with more bathrooms and safe grills in the same area for people to live in. maybe even areas where it's easy to set up a sleeping arrangement and get a little privacy. Hell, why not add some doors and walls to these little areas, and some indoor plumbing to make it sanitary. you could even go so far as to make part of the park for living, and part of it a shared recreational space for them and members of the community to comingle.

guerrilla 4y ago
Sir, I believe you are describing an apartment complex ;)
- jvanderbot 4y ago
  Ah ha.

tdfx 4y ago

I'm not sure why criticizing politicians who are weaponizing homeless populations against local residents to sway public opinion is lacking empathy. If anything, it's dignifying them as people who should not be used as pawns for a political agenda.

thegrimmest 4y ago

I don't think it's unreasonable to ask: 1) How many homeless people are interested in a productive life, with the work/sobriety expectations (and the housing/benefits) that implies? 2) How many of those are actively working towards this goal? It sure seems to me that there are lots of people who want to live irresponsibly, and prey on our sympathy to facilitate that lifestyle.

bildung 4y ago
> 1) How many homeless people are interested in a productive life, with the work/sobriety expectations (and the housing/benefits) that implies? Almost all, as becomes evident if you compare the drastically different homelessness rates in other countries.
- thegrimmest 4y ago
  I'm not sure such comparisons control very well for climate and cultural factors.
  - bildung 4y ago
    Then just look at the distribution in the USA: Among the states with most homelessness per capita are: District of Columbia, New York, Oregon, Washington State, Alaska. Yes, also Californa, but California has most of everything, including housed people.
    - swearwolf 4y ago
      Aside from D.C. and New York, these are all states within the ninth circuit court’s jurisdiction, and therefore are bound to the Martin v. Boise ruling, which allows public camping if there is not adequate shelter space available. If one part of the country allows that while the rest doesn’t, you’d expect that the homeless population will migrate over time to the more permissive area, which seems to be borne out in the growth of the homeless population on the West Coast since the ruling went into effect. Of course, we also mint plenty of new homeless ourselves with our astronomical housing costs, but I see a lot of people with out-of-state plates on the RVs they live in here in Oregon.

asdff 4y ago

empathy means realizing that these conditions they live in under the status quo is harmful and does not come from a place of care. I'm sure the people living in the camp think its an eyesore too and would prefer better circumstances than a nylon tent that anyone with bad intentions and a buck knife can break into.

oh_sigh 4y ago

So invite a homeless person to live in your house with you. I bet you have a spare room or even a couch they could crash on. If everyone who accused people who complain about homeless encampments of lacking empathy did this simple thing, there would be no more homeless encampments. Have some empathy please.