These are not shots inside shelters; these are shots of what advocates called the unhoused homeless, a number estimated between 1,200 and 1,500 nightly in the Emerald City.
As a free 'unhoused' young man, therefore, had he been such, without ties or obligations in life, he would have felt the profoundest compunction at the anticipation of any serious injury inflicted upon another man's hopes or happiness, or upon his own.
The distinction between being homeless and "unhoused" may sound meaningless to you and me, but Carroll has been pressing his viewpoint tirelessly in Palo Alto ever since and getting results.
However, if we are all kind to our neighbors, housed and unhoused, and provide housing programs for those people in need, there would be less homeless people in every city.
Does the term unhoused make someone sound less homeless? It's as though a more politically- correct word is supposed to make life sound nicer for people without permanent housing.
A trendier term isn't going to create fewer homeless people.
vendingmachine Your annoyance at the term feels misguided. Ultimately the problem is the problem, not the word. Yes, unhoused can be used by people as a self-righteous identifier to appear more empathetic while not doing anything (like correcting someone telling their story, instead of listening to the message) but adding a new term to the mix can help refresh the conversation and is not inherently worthless or harmful.
I wouldn't classify my dislike for the word as an annoyance. I see it as more of an attempt to soften the harsh reality of homelessness. Have you ever heard a homeless person refer to themselves as unhoused? I haven't. I did not call the word worthless or harmful. You read into my comment assumptions that I did not make.
From the ages of 7-13, I was "sexually molested" by a non-family member. I had a miscarriage at age 12. I could keep using softer terms, so as not to offend the tender sensibilities of those who don't want to hear words like rape, but then I would be discounting my serial traumas.
vendingmachine commented on the word unhoused
Does the term unhoused make someone sound less homeless? It's as though a more politically- correct word is supposed to make life sound nicer for people without permanent housing.
May 11, 2023
tankhughes commented on the word unhoused
vendingmachine Your annoyance at the term feels misguided. Ultimately the problem is the problem, not the word. Yes, unhoused can be used by people as a self-righteous identifier to appear more empathetic while not doing anything (like correcting someone telling their story, instead of listening to the message) but adding a new term to the mix can help refresh the conversation and is not inherently worthless or harmful.
May 17, 2023
vendingmachine commented on the word unhoused
I wouldn't classify my dislike for the word as an annoyance. I see it as more of an attempt to soften the harsh reality of homelessness. Have you ever heard a homeless person refer to themselves as unhoused? I haven't. I did not call the word worthless or harmful. You read into my comment assumptions that I did not make.
From the ages of 7-13, I was "sexually molested" by a non-family member. I had a miscarriage at age 12. I could keep using softer terms, so as not to offend the tender sensibilities of those who don't want to hear words like rape, but then I would be discounting my serial traumas.
May 22, 2023