I have become increasingly aware of victim blaming in our society. Victim blaming isn’t a new concept nor is the debate new. I think that it boils down fear. Horrible events are going on among us. Terrible things are happening to people. Rapes, murders, and violence of all sorts litter that news daily. No one wants to believe that bad, scary things can happen to us or our loved ones. The easiest way the quell those fears is to blame the victim. If we tell ourselves that the victim engaged in conduct that made them deserve what happened to them then all we have to do is not repeat that conduct ourselves and we are instantly immune to the harm the person suffered. It makes sense. It’s simple. And it’s completely untrue. Innocent people get harmed, children die, women are raped, homes burn down, bad things often happen to undeserved individuals everyday. In fact, I would argue that very few victims have done anything to deserve anything.
When it comes to homelessness I feel that we engage in the same victim blaming. People who suffer homelessness are indeed victims. Most of us sit in our homes, enjoying central heating and air, cable TV, internet, running water, bathrooms. We see these things as necessities. We may pause with concern when we pass a homeless person on the street begging for change, we may worry that we too could face the same fate, but we are quick to calm this fear by saying “that person must have done something wrong in their life” or “they want to live that life instead of working hard like I do.” We rebuke the homeless person as lazy or drug addicted. We have contempt for that person and the choices that they have made to bring them to this point in their life, though we know nothing of what has brought them to this point. In essence, we blame the victim of homelessness so that we can assure ourselves that we will never be in their position.
fuckedupedness 