Homelessness and Hate

I am always surprised by the hatred that ordinary people extend towards the poor and homeless. Time and time again, I witness intentional acts of hatred and meanness by folks who, but for a momentary lapse of compassion, I readily identify with and would probably befriend under most other circumstances.

At best, the behavior of most Americans towards the poor and homeless is apathetic. But even this fails to account for the fear, anger, aggression and outright cruelty. So, it would seem, not only are most people apathetic, but they actually desire the destruction of those less fortunate than themselves.
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What can explain this pathological social condition? In my mind, I think it’s a form of collective depression. It’s often said that depression is rage turned inward. And this is where the issue turns political: collective depression is the manifestation of political and economic oppression of the masses by elites. The destruction of the economy, brutal capitalist ideals, and evangelical intolerance act together in concert to create a form of oppression that is truly soul-crushing. Nothing is certain. We all feel threatened and insecure over our future. We fear that the bottom might collapse under us with no safety net below to catch and restore us to our lives.

It not a very great logical leap for most of us to intuit just how unfair this is. This intuition, no matter how subversive or deeply buried in our subconscious, leads to anger. Frustration follows, fueled by the corporate sponsored media, crass commercialism and biased political opinion which is passed-off as real analysis. We’re left befuddled, confused and unable to understand our circumstances. For reasons outside our control, we’re caged off from the world. We’re afraid. And we strike back at those who represent what potentially awaits for all of us.

But the real tragedy here, is the apathy which consumes us. We have lost the ability to connect with other people solely because of their economic circumstances. And we could care less. Further, we gain a measure of comfort and temporary security when we act out on the poor. In a perverse sort of way, our happiness and sense of security depends on our capacity to commit acts of cruelty against those least able to look after themselves, let alone defend themselves against our rage.