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

by mechanical_bear 4y ago

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.

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.