Occupy: sleeping in our storage locker

[OakLeaf]

I'm not sure what that has to do with Occupy, except for the obvious:

(1) the movement is protesting policies that have greatly exacerbated homelessness; and

(2) the movement is exposing a small group of middle-class and recently middle-class people to issues that homeless people have always faced, and they're publicizing their problems in ways that were ignored when homeless people complain about rats, sexual assaults, and no place to use the bathroom.


Stereotypes to the contrary, most homeless people don't choose to be homeless, and of those who do, most choose homelessness because the other alternatives open to them are worse. If by "some sort of support" you mean a job that pays a living wage or a decent safety net for the unemployed, well ...



I DO understand, choosing to let homeless people camp in your building is not an easy decision. I'm not sure what I'd do, and I've got no criticism of those who would evict them from residential spaces. But it's worth remembering that the stories that have survived the Depression of people opening their homes to the homeless are stories of charity and kindness and humanity, not stories of victimization.