Abhor the Poor: Our Reaction to the Homeless
We avert our eyes when they look at us through the windshield. We look down at our phones when passing them on the street. We sigh with relief that we don’t have any cash when they approach us at the gas pump. If we respond, it’s only to expedite the process of moving away from them: the homeless.
By circumstances both within and outside of their control, many find themselves destitute, even in modern America. Surely you’ve heard about the growing homeless problem in L.A., or the fight to keep homeless populations out of residents’ neighborhood streets. Despite billions being spent to fight the problem, it continues to grow.
Although no one wishes to be in these circumstances, just as no one wishes to be afflicted with a deformity or disease, it is a common reaction to treat poor individuals as pariahs. We may find ourselves even going so far as to actually resent the poor and downtrodden, as if it were a personal assault on our sensibilities to witness or to interact with a homeless individual. It’s difficult to admit these truths to oneself, but it’s true that few even want to associate with the poor unless their hearts are inclined toward sympathy.
Unfortunately, many associate Republicans with this attitude—we tend to hold the pitiless opinion that those who are in poverty have either made poor life choices or haven’t worked hard enough to pull themselves out of that lowly pit of despair.
Our disdain is not necessarily misplaced, but it comes at a price. For the politically-active public, their perception of a typical Republican is a fat-cat, cigar-smoking scrooge who’s ready to exploit the poor. This meme of Republicans is evident to our opponents in our capitalistic, pro-business policies and “unsympathetic” welfare and healthcare views. (It is no secret, however, that conservatives are more charitable.) In the way of compassion, we on the right have an image problem to address.
As humans, we detest depravity and find solace in our own favorable circumstances. It is perfectly natural to do so, albeit not moral. We react in this way because we shudder to think of ourselves in such destitute conditions. We are horrified by the thought that we could fail enough times to have everything taken from us. The fear of failure is a very natural instinct. The odious “stink” of failure forces us to imagine the horrified reactions from our peers, our parents, our friends, if they were to find us begging. Even children look on in fascinated horror when they first witness an unbathed man sleeping on the sidewalk.
The contempt we feel is a timeless truth, demonstrated by even those most closely associated with Jesus, the Disciples. They pointed out a beggar and asked Jesus, “Who sinned, this man or his parents?”
To provide an evolutionary explanation (whether you accept the theory as truth or not) of our rejection of the poor, we can simply look to the animal kingdom. Mother animals often eat or reject a newborn that is deformed or unhealthy in some way; a herd may disown an injured member; a dog often goes to hide when sick or dying. Evolutionarily speaking, the instincts in these animals are used in order to literally cull the herd for the survival of the species. These biological notions manifest themselves in human beings as our desire to retreat from poverty and place the beggar out of sight, off the street, into shelters or institutions. However, we aren’t animals and should strive to rise above such notions.
Editor’s Note: For another look at the Republican party’s image issues, see Republicans & Minorities by Lauren Moses.
Many of us never progress past the fascinated child stage in our understanding or empathy for those in poverty. Those in America who feel that contempt have most likely been raised in a wealth bubble; whether liberal or conservative. Often, it is young men and women who haven’t experienced the struggles of have-not and therefore have very little sympathy, owing their circumstances to their own credit; when in reality in their circumstances were most likely created by their parents’ good choices. Only by the grace of God do we find ourselves in our current, favorable circumstances.
Restoring our reputation as conservative “Republicans” means returning a deserved element of humanity to those we may find “deplorable”. Just as Jesus dined with tax collectors and spent time with prostitutes, we on the right must see every homeless person as a unique creation of God. We must see them as God made them; valuable and human. I implore you, look upon the homeless by the bus stop as your equal. If the success of mankind and eradication of poverty is your goal, it is necessary to resent poverty, but it is immoral to abhor the poor.