(January 4, 2016 at 3:01 pm)Kingpin Wrote: So I got in a little trouble with a co-worker today when she was going on about how our city wasn't doing enough to help the homeless. She claimed she was passionate about helping the homeless. I thought this was great because I too am passionate and regularly help the homeless in Detroit by bringing them gift bags of essentials and offering time in shelters.
However, as she went on she claimed she never even met a homeless person in downtown, goes out of her way to avoid them when she visits and never been to a shelter but read that there were only two and that wasn't enough. I applauded her concern for issue, but I perhaps mistakenly corrected her in that I didn't feel she was passionate about the homeless but was merely moralizing. She got upset with me, but I did my best to explain it to her.
The word compassion carries with it these dual senses about making an absolute moral judgement about something AND being prepared to do something about it. So you have compassion in the face of poverty when you make an absolute moral judgement, 'That is wrong! It shouldn't be like that,' and then you're moved from the depth of your being to do something about it. If you're not moved from the depth of your being to do something about it, you don't have compassion, you have moralizing.
She didn't like my explanation. Curious your thoughts here on it.
For some it isn't whether they are prepared to do something to help the homeless, but whether they are realistically in the position to. Maybe you don't get that, if you've never faced difficulties which are as real as those faced by people who you can actually observe because they are already in the street. When you have to struggle to avoid that situation, you are completely alone. It isn't until you are completely down that people start to care, when there are photo opportunities in it for them, and gold stars for their resumes! I'm glad you aren't ignoring those who could actually die this winter as a result of being outside, but please don't rain piss down on those who have to spend all their time working just to avoid becoming the next to join the street crowd, or are working as much as they can and still can't keep up with the bills. When you're in that situation, there isn't much you can do that would be kinder than to pretend you don't see them. For those who fall in-between, not being a chest-pounding, elitist asshole about it may help recruit some into helping out with what you do. In the meantime, I hope you will be directed by your conscience to fight for the rights of every person in your country to have a roof over their head, even if that means making homelessness just one more of history's grave horrors.
Also, some people are better at raising awareness of the homeless situation than lugging soup pots and goodies for the homeless around town. If the most you can do is talk about it, and the awareness you raise inspires strong kids who can help to volunteer, then that really is more than just talking about it.
Mr. Hanky loves you!
