Originally Posted by TheRitsman
Using dehumanizing terms like "nuisance" "bum" "druggie" "addicted littering the street" is toxic and does nothing to help the situation. I don't think it's a mischaracterization to explain the ways in which dog whistles for dehumanizing and having a complete lack of compassion for these people are being done.
Words matter, intent matters and outcomes matter. Like the term "old stock Canadians" not technically being racially insensitive, it's clear what the term is meant to invoke. Same as alt-right idealogues describing "the good old days". It's important to be careful in how you talk about others, and call out when you feel a group is being disrespected otherwise we risk making the mistakes of the past where we've dehumanized an entire group of people and aimed to remove them in various ways.
We already see problems where people aim to simply "move these people somewhere away" without recognizing that solves approximately nothing. Saying things like "just get a job" or "just put them in an institution" or "police should arrest and fine these people" seem to forget that the houseless, mentally ill and drug addicted folks live outside your societal norms and won't necessarily be incentivized or disincentivized the same ways you or I will. An arrest keeps me from doing anything illegal because I have my family, my house, my job my life to lose. These people have nothing, and aiming to take more away in the pursuit of solving the problem isn't really a solution.
We've been trying "tough love" for decades now, and yet the problem hasn't gotten better. I'm not disagreeing that some members of the community will refuse to join society when given the resources and option to, but that is a small minority of people, that has been artificially expanded because of a lack of resources. Talk to these people and recognize they didn't have a family support, some sound like they were never taught to take care of themselves and remember how hard it is for you as an adult to form new positive habits. Shit it's hard enough for most people to eat healthy, go to the gym, and not procrastinate. Imagine trying to get your life together with absolutely no reason to. Everytime you try you're back on the street, sleeping in the cold, or barely sleeping at that, you're told to go to a shelter where people scream, fight and the police ears there constantly.
I recognize I'm talking about this from a place of incredible privilege, with my health, my house, my job, and money that allows me to do nearly everything I like. Do you recognize that? And if so, do you speak about these marginalized people in such a way that respects the vast canyon of difference between your experiences in life and theirs?
The thing I find ironic is that people will dehumanize the homeless and the drug addicted until it's their family or friend, when all of a sudden they recognize it's the system. Pray you never have a family member or friend fall into the grips of homelessness and drug addiction, and know that if you do, they at least have you, because many have nobody.
Now get this shit back on topic, and stop speaking I'll of the homeless and drug addicted. Create a shit on homeless people thread on the main forum if you'd like, otherwise keep it to buildings and shit. I don't come here to read drivel about those lesser than us. Pick on someone your own size.
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