Less than a mile from the White House
I shot this on Wednesday in Dupont Circle. He somehow looked sort of comfortable, but I assume things could get significantly more cushy for him. It's an outrage.
America vs. The World
The big trouble with dumb bastards is that they are too dumb to believe there is such a thing as being smart. — Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
Friday, November 17, 2006
I shot this on Wednesday in Dupont Circle. He somehow looked sort of comfortable, but I assume things could get significantly more cushy for him. It's an outrage.
6 Comments:
Mandasaurus, did you live in DC when Bill Clinton was living at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., because I did. I can assure you that there were just as many if not MORE homeless people there. Frankly, having survived a mugging by a homeless man in DC and having my gas ciphened and my house broken into all via homeless people, I was outraged. I don't think that any one person is responsible for this and I don't think that this 1 homeless man is indicative of one administration failing our nation. Let it go.
To both commenters:
I must have missed the part where J.B. mentioned Republicans or George W. Bush.
The White House is the seat of our nation's executive branch, and I do think it's a commentary on the sad state of how our nation cares for the least fortunate that a man sleeps in the cold near the home of the most powerful man in the world.
You're right, not every problem is the fault of Republicans. And not every commentary on the failures of our society is a criticism of the current administration. Knowing Julie Beth, I can confidently say she would be equally outraged no matter who was inhabiting the White House.
Billy:
You know no more of the man's situation than Julie. Yet you seem confident in accusing the man of "sleeping it off" and ascribing his condition to a lack of "personal responsibility" rather than other much more likely explanations, chief among them mental illness and debilitating substance addiction.
Do you really think that most homeless people live on the streets by choice? As difficult as this might be to believe, it's a really hard and generally shitty life.
I am a strong proponent of individual responsibility. But I feel far more justified in criticizing society for creating the situations that lead to homnelessness than I do criticizing someone for sleeping in a doorway.
If you want to read a clear-eyed view of homelessness and some outside-the-box thinking on how to solve it, check out this Malcolm Gladwell article.
I (J.B. West, not Mandasaurus), could have easily replaced "White House" with "Lincoln Memorial" or "Capitol Building" or "Washington Monument." I wasn't even thinking of Republicans when I did it. I rarely think of Republicans at all.
We could talk forever about the causes of homelessness, but if there is a government solution here, it lies with the District of Columbia, not George W. Bush or even Dick Cheney. In fact, it's now Mayor-elect Adrian Fenty's responsibility and he's a Democrat.
And while billy dennis assumes correctly that I know nothing about that man's story, he assumes incorrectly that he was sleeping on private property. It was on a public sidewalk outside a CVS Pharmacy.
Chance, read the article I linked to in my comment and then come back and post again.
Thanks for taking the time to read the article, Chance. I know you're busy, and it is a long one.
This is one of my favorite topics: the role of government in society. I put a high premium on personal liberty, and am wary of the dangers of big government. But since I also believe that society, and government is part of that, has an obligation to care for everyone. That's what civilization means — without it, we're just animals with opposable thumbs and large craniums.
I'm looking forward to debating this in the weeks ahead. I believe government can be a force for good — we just have to figure out how.
Yes, I agree. It is an outrage that our politically correct society will tolerate such antisocial behavior as refusing to take personal responsibility for one's own condition and for "sleeping it off" in the doorway of someone else's private property.
I am willing to bet that within a mile of where this guy was sleeping it off, there are one of two shelters, or perhaps a church that would have been happy to find this guy a warm place to sleep.
The fact of the matter is that you know NOTHING of this individual's personal story that lead to his sleeping in some doorway. But the opportunity to criticize a Republican is just too sweet to pass up, isn't it?