Homelessness in NYC

I was waiting for the train yesterday night and there was a homeless person howling behind me. Not howling in pain but more like a wolf baying at the moon. Minutes later a second homeless person comes by barking. Soon they are howling and barking at each other.

At some point a crowd gathers to watch this and it occurs to me that truly we treat the homeless like wild animals in a circus. Like unpredictable but mildly entertaning beasts. Creatures who you dont want to go to close to because you dont know if they bite. And what disease you may get if they do bite. We dont like it when they wander into our civilization and intrude into our ordered lives. They dont belong in our subways and streets. They belong anywhere so long as its far away from us.

Do we need to have this distance and desire to look at them as animals so we dont have to re-evaluate our civilization? So we dont have to wonder how we allow homelessness to happen in a country so wealthy? Do we really need to think of the homeless as animals so we can prevent being inundated by remorse?

(something i posted on my blog)

I think many people just enjoy being cruel.

i think if any two people were out on the street barking and howling at each other, people would stop and look, regardless of if they were homeless or not.

But then again, alot of homeless people have mental illness, and need treatment, not people gawking at them like at a circus.