The sight of pain and suffering, or the mention of it, brings tears to the eyes of many. It also makes many people to spring up into action, whether it is to find an alternate distraction, or to do something to either contribute to or reduce the elements related to the pain and suffering in question. Seeing pain and suffering on TV is almost the same. While in the media we usually see homelessness in places like Africa as being a segment separated from glamor and fashion from places like Hollywood, the reality is that the “Homeless Capital of United States” is still Los Angeles. You may not hear about that regularly on the news, because hearing about Africa and other far away places may attract more viewers. And more sympathy.
National Estimates of 2007 indicate that as many as 1.6 million people in the United States are homeless, and around 530,000 of them are children. Homelessness has only increased since that time1. What is it about a place like Haiti that makes us want to help them more than the homeless and starving people within America? Why do we have to see disaster in places like Chile to want to help a far away nation, instead of wanting to help regularly or once a while in things around us, or other parts of the world including the United States? Why do we focus on wanting to help a homeless or a starving person far away, when we have more of such people right in our own neighborhood that we ignore or avoid on a daily basis? Do we feel better and more part of the society by focusing more on what the media is focusing on at some given moment? Is it because feeling superior enough to be able to help others far away seems better than the feeling one feels seeing and encountering the homeless in real life on a daily basis?
The homeless on TV are the only real homeless?
As of February 16th, 2010, the only big word I kept seeing on TV was “Haiti.” A major earthquake in Haiti resulted in devastation that tore apart the lives of thousands of people in that region, the same way the lives of thousands of people around other parts of the world are taken away due to starvation and homelessness on a daily basis. I kept and still keep seeing Michelle Obama on TV talking about Haiti and how “we” can all donate to the “American Red Cross” to help them:
And now, as of March 6th, 2010, the new big word I keep seeing on TV is “Chile.” A major earthquake hit Chile on February 27th, once again sending the lives of thousands of people into disaster, just like the people in Haiti, and just like all of the homeless people in your city, state and country. And now we see Barack Obama talking about the disaster in Chile:
Why are we not seeing Mr. and Mrs. Obama talk about the homeless and starving people in America? Why do we not see Bush & Clinton, sitting next to each other, talk about the homeless in China or the homeless in Washington, instead of the homeless in Haiti? What about the homeless people in Haiti and Chile before these earthquakes? Did those people not deserve any help or attention?
Why are we not seeing the “American“Red Cross, the TV, the Republicans, the Democrats, the Green Party, the Independents, the Confederates, the KGB, the Batman Party, news and others focus on the devastation in the lives of people who are dying in other countries, and in California and other states? Are the Haiti Homeless are better than the American Homeless? Are the Chile Homeless are better than the Mexican Homeless? What about the homeless in Iraq, Russia, China, India, Japan, Nepal, and other places? Why are not all homeless people, if their homelessness came around because of things not under their control, treated equally? Does a homeless person have to go through an earthquake or a flood in order to get help or attention?
The Homeless Victims In Media VS The Homeless Victims Who Are Not Spotlighted In Media
What is it about Haiti and Chile that is getting them more attention than other people who are devastated? In the case of Haiti, it is not the earthquake that should be under sole observation. The observation should also include the displaced and affected people. Does that mean that a person who becomes homeless because of an earthquake deserves more attention than a person who becomes homeless because of growing up in a poor neighborhood or losing their jobs? Do Presidents & their enforcers talk openly about helping some specific people because doing so shows that they are supporting what is popular on the media at that moment? What about you?
What do you think? Please let me and others know in the comments below. If you can talk or think on your own for at least 31 seconds about the homeless people around anywhere in the world without needing a teleprompter, you may be a better speaker than the people you saw in the videos above. You may also then be better suited to answer the questions listed here.
Thank you for reading2.
Footnotes
Footnotes allow me to add information & more personal notes to bottom of articles without disrupting much the flow of the main content. If you have any questions or comments about this footnote or footnotes in general, please contact me or leave a comment below. Thank you.
- The National Coalition for the Homeless works on finding out information about the homeless people in the United States, and to work on finding some solutions to homeless for many as a whole. [↩]
- Homeless Person Begging picture from http://www.sxc.hu/photo/695464 [↩]
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I Think this case is different. Yes, responses to different Neither responded. Both of them are very important things to helping them. Like big disaster earthquaqe in Chile is unexpected. Man who had been Rich become poor. Because they do not have asset and home again. but we should not forget Homeless elsewhere. because not highlighted by the media, we should helping them too. You know, it can be the explosion of poverty.So, we help them with what we have without choosing one of them.
@Heru Kurniawan, thanks for the reply! Good point about the explosion of poverty. Choosing one based on the media can indeed result in unwarranted ignoring of people who need help at other times, or even at the same time.
Although you might be right about media as a trend setter for big events around the world that need attention, you are missing a fairly big point. Earthquakes like the ones in CHile and Haiti have not only made a lot of people homeless, but have sent those countries in ruins. There is no infrastructure there to help them in any way. There are no hospitals, no doctors, no food supplies, no shelters for homeless people, no nothing. Whereas Los Angeles, while still being the Capital for homeless people in US, has plenty of shelters and social welfare aids that homeless people can use. They are still taken to some hospitals and treated if they are sick. They can get off the streets if they want to. Very hard, but it is possible for them to have a life. And that's because US functions as a country. But Haiti and Chile are less than that. They don't have an economical backbone or institutions anymore. They are in shambles. No man's land.
Sure there are plenty of poor people in your neighborhood. Have you done anything to help them?
The earthquake is more of a crisis situation that needs immediate attention to stop illness, famine, child abductions. There is a crisis caused by mass destruction that if clean water, food and children being cared for that have lost parents …these issues need to be addressed with urgency.
Hunger, homelessness and every other failure in society whether it is in the US or outside the borders needs to be addressed. Distribution of wealth, crime and corruption are root problems too.
I think that it is not the some, of course, they are all important, but thing is that a disaster happened and people lost all of their assets
I Think this case is different.thanks for article.
humanitarian assistance to victims of disasters such as earthquake in the chile is more grounded in a sense of solidarity because that country need much cost in a short time. And I think, a solution to reduce homelessness existing in every country like US always be striven in both the short-term or long-term programs by the government.
I thinks it is more about a matter of emergency. Those homeless and starving would die soon if lacking of necessary aid. Compared with victims in natural disaster, homeless in USA seems not so urgent. Surely all homeless deserve the equal help no matter what it is the reason. But it is true that those on the spot light got more attention and people tends to give more in that situation.
nice question…homeless and hungry at extent may be true but that's a natural disaster.
I think because Chile and Haiti are an emergency case that cause the whole country are homeless, no food, people lost all of their assets, they cannot help each other.
What happened in Haiti and Chile was brought by a natural disaster. It's not their choice to be homeless, they are victims of unfortunate events. On one hand, I don't have any idea why there are homeless people in America, I can't generalize all of them. But I got a feeling some of them are to blame with their fate.
The homeless on TV are certainly not the only real homeless. Countries from all over the world provide help to the people who suffered catastrophe for the purpose of politic sometimes .But we can not ignore the needed people in our own country for the only aim that everyone can own a happy life at least live up to a basic living need.
this is good, really interesting to listen Obama i like him as a good president
Home is the basic amenity for a person to survive.The horrible situation of the Homeless people is SAME in every parts of the world.
Both are homeless, but why there are no equality here?
Homeless are important everywhere in the world and no matter what country you come from. When you are living in such conditions, no matter what language you speak, what color you are, you definitely deserve help.
Both are homeless
so usefull video, i like it
may be every one is different and we should never compare both. the videos are useful.
Bassically are homeless are same. but might be they have different case for what happen to them. They homeles with because of traged, not like usually homeles. I think