I once
knew a man named C. C choose to live homeless because when he lived with his
family he drank, and he was an alcoholic. Living homeless, he was able to stay
sober, while indulging in pot once in a while. He also regularly worked odd
jobs, seasonal work, etc. I just blew someone’s mind. I’m obviously not saying
all homeless individuals choose to be homeless, they don’t. But the idea that
all homeless people are the same, whether that be destitute or lazy, and just in need of a specialized skill and
all their problems will be solved is ridiculous. Now, I don’t think the techie,
Patrick McConlogue, below is that simplistic, but I don’t think he understands the
complexities of homelessness.
Will
Oremus felt the need to defend McConlogue’s proposition as McConlogue shares in the link above. McConlogue laments in
his piece that he walks past a homeless man every day. Oremus doesn’t defend
McConlogue’s point of view. He is just as critical of the language employed by
McConlogue as everyone else. McConlogue in pretentious fashion decides he’s
going to fix it. McConlogue writes off most homeless people, but there is one
guy, who he dubs “the journeyman hacker,” he feels is capable of learning, so
he decided to spring into action.
McConlogue
offers the man two options (he claims not to have offended the man, but I have
my doubts)”
- Offers to come back the next day with $100 in cash
- Offers to come back the next day and give him three JavaScript books and a cheap laptop. Then he intends to come by an hour a day to teach the man to code when he feels ready
McConlogue
asked his readers what they think the homeless man will do, and what he should
do moving forward. Because while his intentions might be from a good place,
albeit he has a limited understand of homelessness and lacks the ability to
empathize, he turns it into a social experiment. His approach to the problem is
full of patriarchy and paternalism after all he never asks the man anything about himself to inform the situation.
Oremus
feels the Internet’s response to McConlogue is over-the-top. Oremus calls out Slate’s
Evvgeny Morozov and Daily Beast’s
Jamelle Bouie as examples. Morozov is kind of known for criticizing techies,
while Bouie was just really not impressed by McConlogue’s point of view. Here
is what Oremus says about why people are unhappy with McConlogue’s post:
“McConlogue’s post makes people uncomfortable not only because it is naïve and condescending, but because it raises an issue over which many of us quietly harbor guilt and doubts of our own. What is the proper response when your heart aches for a homeless person you pass everyday on the way to work? Is it to flip a few coins in the guy’s direction now and then? Maybe buy him a sandwich or two? Resolve to donate some money to a local shelter this year? Turn your head and walk on? And if your answer is any of the above: What makes you so sure that your approach is doing any more good than McConlogue’s?”
I’m going
to pause here to answer these questions. Because these other methods don’t make
assumptions about the “deserving poor.” Because giving someone money allows
them to make decisions for themselves. Giving someone a sandwich has immediate results.
And finally, because offering to teach a specialized skill to a man without any
means to employ that is condescending. But maybe what we should all do is engage with them in conversation, speak with them as people and not some scenery on the way to work. Moving on…
Oremus
notes that helping the homeless takes a level of commitment that many people
can provide, and while most people would focus on the tangible things like
food, shelter, and basic needs. Oremus thinks we should forgive McConlogue for
his misguided attempts because he’s hearts in the right place. But I’m not
convinced. See he turned this into a social experiment and his separates the
deserving from underserving. This outlook on poverty is archaic and dangerous.
It is rooted in the idea some poor people are lazy and doing it to themselves
because being poor is better than working for a living. See if you just teach
this homeless man some skill all his problems will be solved. It doesn’t matter
who this man is, only McConlogue’s perceptions of him. Does McConlogue even know why this man is homeless? Does he have any medical or mental health issues? Because I can't imagine teaching someone in the middle of a schizophrenic episode, which many of the homeless suffer from (thanks Reagan!).
Below you’ll
see the tweets from Bouie about this whole thing.
I hope the homeless guy takes the $100, just mess with this condescending dick-face. http://t.co/KvC5DhDFyl
— Jamelle Bouie (@jbouie) August 21, 2013
I should say that I think what’s most helpful to the homeless guy is giving him money. http://t.co/AxAiHr2IXZ @WillOremus
— Jamelle Bouie (@jbouie) August 22, 2013
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