Response 9

2016-03-16

Part 1: This picture was taken by the Jay St-MetroTech Station at the corner of Willoughby Street. I picked this particular spot because homeless people often have to move from place to place to find somewhere to sleep when they cannot find space in a homeless shelter. This results in people sleeping in areas like this on the street. This gate prevents people from sleeping in the space protected by the gate.

In the text by ” Anti-homelessness spikes” by Alex Andreou, the author talks about how the architecture being built pushes the issue of homelessness out of the view of the public. In the picture, the gates represent restriction and prevents New Yorkers from  dealing with the issue everyday.  Just think about it, every time you constantly see something that offends or disturbs you its like you can’t get it out of your head. Now imagine, if instead of complaining and being angry about it you actually did something to better the situation. For example, if every New Yorker that got off at this station everyday saw a homeless person sleeping in this corner they would be forced to deal with the issue. Think about what would happen if that instead of complaining that the person should be removed from the spot it was suggested that a homeless shelter or something else were built nearby. Homelessness is such a big issue because we’re focusing on making the people that can afford a home comfortable while treating those who can’t as if they are a mess we have to clean up. We are forgetting that the homeless are people too, that they could have become homeless for any number of reasons and because of that they deserve to have comfort as well.

 Part 2:In the text by Paul Mason “The end of capitalism has begun” , the author states “the power of imagine will become critical. In an information society, no thought, debate or dream is wasted- whether conceived in a tent, prison cell or the table football space of a startup company” (page 8).  The quote brings up the issue of how an information society would function. It expresses that in the information society a new level of freedom would become available to all people. They would be able to exchange ideas, follow dreams and participate in debates regardless of their circumstances or life situation. This idea of an information society is in contrast to a capitalist society which despite the fact that it seems to function well for the moment does not allow the same freedom.

Part 3: An issue that I’d like to bring up from the ” Anti-Homeless Spike” is why are homeless people treated as if they aren’t human? It seems like New York is becoming a place that’s only for those who are privileged enough to afford it and in the event that you can’t you have to be removed from the equation all together. Its almost like when your a kid and you accidentally break a vase or a glass and you try to clean up everything or even hide the mess all together before your parents come home, hoping they won’t notice it right away.  We are treating homeless people like the mess we don’t want people to notice> When we take away the common areas they sleep in without giving an alternative it pushes the issue of homelessness into a dark corner where some hope, that no one will ever find it.

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4 Responses to Response 9

  1. Abigale says:

    Good point about the “out of sight and out of mind” theory. I think we try to push the homeless people out of the way so we won’t have to deal with it. I don’t believe this is because we are completely heartless, but people don’t want to be forced to see a harsh part of life that they can do very little about. Guilt has a lot to do with this as well.

  2. Good point and well said that we forget that homeless people are people too.

  3. you made some really good points, especially about the homeless being people too and sometimes people who are not homeless forget that. The picture you chose was an interesting one, I pass by that gate all the time and did not even think about it being put up to keep the homeless out.

  4. Jean says:

    great response, we tend to forget that homeless people has value as well. The gate was well explained and elaborates the fact that the city is trying prevent homeless people crowding our streets

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