Reality Bites: Bah! Humbug!

A person of good intelligence and of sensitivity cannot exist in this society very long without having some anger about the inequality – and it’s not just a bleeding-heart, knee-jerk, liberal kind of a thing – it is just a normal human reaction to a nonsensical set of values where we have cinnamon flavored dental floss and there are people sleeping in the street. – George Carlin

When I was in eighth grade, my older sister taught at a school for homeless children. I think her students were in middle school chronologically, but she was teaching them second grade math. Once I helped her grade classwork and I asked why even second grade math was hard for them. In a rare moment of patience, she reminded me that these children didn’t have a secure home, the guarantee of a warm meal, or someone to help them with their homework. At no point did I feel an indignant urge to say that I worked hard for my grades or rattle off my own challenges the way some “adults” do when people reference privileges we take for granted. Mostly I felt embarrassed she had to explain something so obvious in retrospect.

I sometimes worry when I write characters that have experienced things like foster care and homelessness because most of my knowledge is second-hand, but writing anything other than purely autobiographical material means getting to know people I’ve never been, going places I haven’t gone, and doing things I haven’t done. I may write a lot of fantasy, but I try to ground people in reality so readers only have to suspend disbelief for the fantasy elements. That means looking up a lot of information and seeking insight from people who know better than I do.

People have studied cognitive impairment as both a cause and consequence of homelessness (1, 2), as well as the impact of nutritional deficiencies (1, 2) and excess cortisol (the “stress” hormone) on developing brains for years. Studies confirm what we should know intuitively: too much stress and not enough food or sleep hurts a child’s brain development. The resulting cognitive impairments hinder “making better choices” (assuming any are available) to escape systemic poverty or homelessness. Can it be done?

Yes, sometimes an exceptional person beats the odds – but most people are not exceptional by definition, and some unexceptional people still have the nerve to feel superior to those less fortunate than they are.

Are you really “better” – or just better-fed?

People who feel threatened by such questions only reveal their own insecurity. Don’t get me wrong. We all have our insecurities, but we don’t all weaponize them against others or want to hold people back to feel better about ourselves. I just want to be okay, and I want others to be okay, too, or I don’t feel okay. It’s not altruism, just basic human decency.

I’m not going to pretend I know what the solution to poverty and homelessness is, but I suspect it won’t be any one thing. What I do know is that we won’t find ethical solutions without being honest about who becomes homeless, and why. 8%-10% of children age out of foster care. After age 18, 20% of foster children become homeless (that includes some of those who were “fortunate” enough to be placed). 7 out of 10 girls who age out will be pregnant by age 21. Up to 50% of the homeless population was in foster care at some point. Others are veterans our nation failed to support.

That’s who some applaud being arrested for the crime of (checks notes) being abandoned and betrayed by society. Incidentally, it costs less to feed and house the homeless than it does to imprison them, but private prisons are big business. This is what happens when we vilify the impoverished and deify the wealthy no matter how amoral their methods. Is that what Jesus would do?

I’ve said in the past any regard for the well-being of hypothetical children begins and ends with denying bodily autonomy. Nowhere does this become more apparent than attitudes toward hunger and homelessness, like the controversy surrounding free school meals. It’s probably the single most efficient use of our tax dollars to support communities and student learning (instead of throwing more money at private corporations that never deliver on their promises), and still some oppose it. They don’t want kids to eat as punishment for the perceived failings of their parents just as they celebrate the imprisonment of people who never had a family.

And some of those same hateful people will cry watching A Christmas Carol or It’s a Wonderful Life even as they condemn the real life Cratchits and Baileys, and defend the real life Scrooges and Potters. All I want for Christmas is for people to choose fiscally responsible kindness over fiscally reckless cruelty.