Homeless
You can search any area of the internet for a public opinion on homelessness, the topic has been exhausted on a surface level with activists claiming that we face the worst case of poverty for over a century, under the Tories rule. However, I believe it’s rooted deeper, a philosophical angle can begin to underpin the true nature of homelessness and perhaps highlight that the crisis lies within all of us, because, what are the masses without the individual?
Incentives are the most powerful tool on earth. You may not have considered this before, but for a second just think what drives you; beneath the morals, ethics or knowledge, it’s the incentive that fuels your goals, whether it be a social, financial or academic gain? With this in mind, even those that passionately support the homeless of our country wouldn’t swap their personal situation for poverty and this is due to the complete lack of incentive when it comes to being homeless, there obviously isn’t one. This leads me to believe the system is to blame and is responsible for UK homelessness, the issue lies deeper than our current government or austerity measures, we live in a world so capitalistically driven, so consumer-orientated, that we worship it like a newfound religion.
Orwell once discussed the position of homeless people in his book and journalistic exploration, Down and Out in Paris and London, a book that raised questions around homelessness and whether we could ever truly eradicate it in a world where even the kindest amongst us could never align their capitalistic incentives with those of a homeless man or woman.
The most underlying point of this philosophy, and perhaps the most profound component, is the situation in which we live, has arisen solely for the extreme and ridiculous gain of the top minority, that 1% of our society.
Consider this, if a homeless man was to walk into a retail shop, frozen from the cold, distraught and terrified at leaving the warmth of the shop to face yet another night in sub-zero temperatures (set aside the fact he would probably be removed for his appearance and condition, which isn’t socially acceptable), the homeless man asks for a coat, for free, the worker would most likely refuse because they are bound by an invisible restriction; there is no ‘incentive’ for them to help the man and give them a coat, they must earn their manager that capital and unbalanced percent. However, if we traded in what really mattered, in what gives us the most satisfaction, instead of financial gain the shop worker would understand real incentives, helping others is a human instinct, resorting in happiness and self-fulfillment for both the shop worker and homeless man? Are these not the things we should strive for?
Think about it.
by Rob Henderson
