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Clueless About Homelessness —
Well-intentioned, misguided men, step aside!
Homelessness recently hit the op-ed pages. Comedian and social commentator John Oliver sort of gets it. New York Times opinion writer Jay Caspian Kang tries, but misses. Contrarian Californian Michael Shellenberger reverted to stereotyping. These three men leave readers befuddled at best, disdainful at worst, and no wiser about this skyrocketing human crisis. And they all miss the important reality — family homelessness.
Oliver and Kang at least recognized that those without houses are, gasp!, humans. Shellenberger dismissed those without homes as mentally ill.
Oliver aimed at grossly-misguided policies that criminalize homelessness. He even went “there,” explaining basic biological functions — bladders and bowels. He pointed out that pre-pandemic, for the estimated 36,000 people living without homes in Los Angeles, 16 mobile bathrooms weren’t enough. But John said nothing about families.
Kang jumped on board with the ACLU’s push in California demanding equal protection for those without homes. He called out criminalization as useless while pointing to the humongous gap of affordable housing as a major cause of homelessness. But Jay didn’t touch the issue of families.
