A homeless person is one who cannot afford to purchase his or her place on the planet, i.e., own or rent his or her space. The rule is: To be alive as an adult you have to purchase the right to occupy space. If you can’t, then the space you occupy must be the common space.
The common space isn’t welcoming. As a group, we begrudge any attempt to live where no one has to pay to live. We make it dangerous and unstable.
There is not enough affordable space for every adult. This is a problem. But the underlying problem is that we have this unwritten agreement that no one gets to occupy space that isn’t paid for. This is basically a cruel arrangement. No one living on earth should have to buy the space he or she needs in order to be alive.
Phyllis Baker | Seattle