Capitalism and Homelessness
If I can make it there
I’ll make it
Anywhere
It’s up to you
New York, New York. — Frank Sinatra
What if you don’t make it? Every day thousands of New Yorkers wake up and instead of turning off their alarm clock and brushing their teeth, they have to figure out where their first meal is coming from. According to the Center Square publication of New York, in 2020, approximately 47.3 people out of every 10,000 were homeless in New York City. In a place that is as densely populated as New York, this ratio can lead to mass homelessness and a fight for survival underneath the poverty line. As of the start of 2021 it is estimated that over 80,000 homeless people live in New York City. () What makes this issue truly different for New York is the difficulty in finding a solution. Unlike many places in the United States, New York has to fight growing social, economical, and political factors to find a solution to this age-old issue. Is it possible for the city of New York to consider solutions used by other countries for this very same problem? Is it possible that the real problem behind the issue of homelessness globally is our push towards capitalism? We may not be able to answer these questions right now, however, I hope to provide insight on how we may be able to.
According to the Encyclopedia of Britannica is defined as “the state of having no home or permanent place of residence”. () Although this definition may be true to the breakdown of the word home-less, I personally believe that there is a much deeper meaning behind the word. This meaning includes the social stigma against those who are homeless and the mentality that you will never make it out of your current situation. It also includes being almost confined in such a way that your mere existence does not exist in any place besides the occasional charity of someone walking by. Imagine your life being completely reliant on the charity of those who live in a society where we are taught to relish every penny we have. Considering what we know it’s no wonder that “HIV/AIDS and substance-use deaths were 3 and 5 times higher for homeless adults than for the general population” (). We are neglecting those who need help the most.
For me this image played out in the “capitalism capital of the world”; New York City. Growing up in NYC, I will always remember the smell of 99 cent Pizza and the sound of the train pulling into the subway on an overcast day. Considering all of my memories from the city, I personally believe that I will never forget the overwhelming wealth gap that is seemingly apparent everywhere. When I was seven years old, I went on a class trip to Wall Street. I had never been, but I was expecting to see an abundance of wealth and class because of the reputation that Wall Street carried. When we got there, of course, I saw the huge towers and people dressed in fancy suits, but at almost every bench and street corner, there were homeless people. Although I may not have had the experience and knowledge at seven years old, I knew that there was something wrong with this picture. I asked myself, “how was there so much poverty in the biggest financial capital in the world?” My second question was “how can we fix it?”
Up to this point, the city of New York has put into place many laws and amenities in support of the homeless population. Arguably one of the most infamous plans that have been enacted by the city has been the push for more affordable housing. As a key figurehead in this plan, Mayor Bill de Blasio has pursued many different ways of preserving and building affordable housing sites throughout the city. () While this seems like a great plan in theory, in actuality these sites often lead to an increase in crime and violence and segregates those who are less fortunate from the rest of the population.
Consider this article written by Speaker Cory Johnson of the New York City Council. Essentially this article touches on how the impact that government on the city level has helped the problem of homelessness and how it can be used to solve said problem. Specifically, he writes, “We (city government officials) need to take immediate steps to provide appropriate services and supports that enable people to exit homeless shelters more quickly and easily, or avoid them in the first place… We also need a long-term vision that shifts resources to permanent, affordable housing and reduces the number of people who are homeless.” Here he clearly states that there needs to be a change on the part of the city on how this issue is handled. Personally, I agree with this statement because the city has been known to spend extreme amounts of time and money on things that are not as much of an issue. However, many have suggested long-term solutions such as Increasing the minimum wage and decreasing taxes for the poor so that the rate of homelessness itself decreases.
Lastly, I looked at an article that looks to combine both of these viewpoints. This article by EastNewYorkNews is hoping to bring attention to the issue of taxation on the poor. The article states that if we can lower taxes on the extreme poor, they would have more money to afford low-income housing. Personally, I feel like this may be the best solution; however, lower taxes on the poor creates a domino effect that will only negatively impact the poor in the long run. All three of these viewpoints have truth to them, but as a New Yorker, it is my responsibility to figure out which one speaks to my beliefs most positively.
The problem is that finding a perfect solution is not so simple. Competing ideas from different sides of the issue often collide causing friction in an issue that should be considered an immediate threat to our society. Since the early 18th century, the City of New York has put infrastructure in place to help the growing population of homeless people. For years, places like the salvation army and the soup kitchens around the city have been providing food to those who can not afford a meal every day and while that is a good band-aid solution to the problem, there is not enough food in these kitchens to sustain such a population.
As we all know, there is a myriad of different reasons why one may become homeless. Whether it is your low socioeconomic status assigned from birth, or you were just a product of your broken environment, I would say that the reason why one may be homeless, in the majority, is a direct result of things that are out of their control. With that being said, do not mistakenly think that I believe the entirety of the blame should be placed on the city. In an article from the Urban Wire, they allude to the fact that even if low-income houses are provided by the city, they will still be too expensive for those who produce zero income. This implies that there must be some compromise from homeless people for any city-level reform to work.
While there seems to be many different solutions, the city has not been able to find one that truly fixes the problem of homelessness. When looking at the trend of homelessness in New York, there has been an extreme uptick in homelessness in the city over the past decade. Although there are many theories as to why there has been an increase, I personally think that the main reason has been our increasing push towards capitalism. As a country, we constantly have the mindset that people are in a bad financial situation because of laziness and that people take advantage of aid that is given to them. On the contrary, I believe that the vast majority of people who struggle financially are in their current situation because of the mindset that “homeless people are not worth it”.
Without a question, the United States is currently in one of the worst homeless crises in its history. With that, however: it may be incredibly important to look at how those across the globe deal with this growing problem. One of the best examples of this comes from Australia {}. In an article written by SBS comparing homelessness in America vs. Australia, the author touches on the fact that the numbers of homeless people in Australia are higher than that of the United States but not because they have more of a capitalist than us. In fact, the reason why they report more homeless people is because they count them in a very different way. Here in America, we count homelessness by people who either sleep on the street or sleep in a shelter. In Australia, they count homelessness by the factors that make up a home. These may include any relatives that the person has nearby, your level of s security, and “your freedom to come and go.”
Although Australia does have a high rate of homelessness, they are enacting policies that are not only working but can be a solution to our homeless problem in the United States. According to the Everybody’s Home project in Australia, they are taking an approach that is heavily centered around the government providing aid to people who are less fortunate. The part that separates them from America is the fact that they are trying to be involved in every single person’s situation instead of providing a blanket solution for everyone.
There has been an ever-growing debate over how best to deal with this problem and while I am not sure of the answer, I do know that the mere fact that this debate even exists is a testament to our society. This issue is based on the quality of people’s lives. Theoretically, there should not be a debate over the issue of homelessness because we should all be doing everything we can to combat the situation. I do believe that once we are able to find our own humanity, we will be able to find a solution. The question now becomes, when and how will we be able to find that humanity and think beyond ourselves.
