Chances are if you are told to visualize a homeless individual what comes to mind is someone mentally unwell and unwashed. It should come as a reminder however that this is often not the reason for their circumstance but rather a result of their circumstance. Even if it is the reason for their situation it still does not serve as a justification. Depriving any human being of basic necessities such as fresh clothing, a shower, and a place of safety will only exacerbate these conditions. Even those who can afford homes still share similar struggles. To stay clean and healthy absolutely has a cost under capitalism. The less money you make the more you have to work and the less time you have to care for yourself. The less money you have means further difficulty to afford better clothing, food, and cleaning. Yet even with this in mind we all too often allow such features to influence our attitudes towards such people. People tend to point towards the unkempt look of their fellow humans as justification for irrationally cruel measures such as promoting hostile architecture and the criminalization of homelessness. Examples of this can be seen in benches deliberately made to not allow individuals to sleep on them and the forceful removal of homeless encampments by the state. These measures only further dehumanize individuals and do nothing to actually solve the issue of the homeless.
Actually addressing homelessness starts by recognizing these are people. It doesn’t matter how they look. They have needs that must be provided for. Fresh clothing, food, and hygiene products are such a start. Encampments should not be subject to the brutish violence of the state. Hostile architecture must be directly opposed. Homeless spikes can be covered with items such as styrofoam and pillows. Empty homes can and should be squatted. Numbers from 2019 indicate that there are roughly 31 empty homes per homeless in the United States alone. A healthy community does not exclude the well-being of others but takes into consideration their well-being. When you see someone pissing in the street or talking to imaginary voices your first thought should not be to employ the violence of the state against them. The conditions we exist within shape our looks and behaviors. A sense of understanding and a commitment to aid will help more than simply dehumanizing other people.
Homelessness is in part a byproduct of the conditions enforced upon us by capitalism and the state. These two systems continue to promote our alienation and irrational sense of competition which in turn leads to the justification of exploitative relationships. We are social creatures that need each other to survive. Survival of the fittest often favors those who are most able to cooperate and care for one another. A “dog eat dog” mentality eventually leads to all of us suffering. This idea of competition and domination being basic facts of nature has long since been refuted by the likes of Peter Kropotkin’s early 1902 work, Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution. The concept of mutual aid essentially explores how we as humans rely upon cooperation and reciprocal relations. We thrive when we care for each other and not when we recoil in disgust and dehumanize individuals.