I hate the word ‘Consumer’ or I mockingly call it ‘CONSOOMER’. Because that’s to imply everyone in the world is just cattle, but with wallets. We’re no longer customers. We’re consumers now. And a consumer’s purpose is to consume shit, whatever is put out there. Got money? Shut up and consume, it’s what corporate interests and capitalism itself thrive on. Consume and consume.
I hate the word “home” in a real estate context. You do not buy a home. You buy a house and make it a home by living there with your family.
Similarly, “houselessness” is a dumb euphemism because what homeless people lack is literally a home, not just a house.
except that you can have a home without having a house, so “houselessness” would be more accurate with that logic
I guess that’s true, though the biggest problem homeless people have is typically lacking a home. It feels a little off to me to describe someone who feels at home living itinerantly as homeless.
I feel like “houseless” is mostly a PR stunt by outreach groups to migrate to a word with less negative connotations, which I can support on its own. But I totally agree with you semantically. To me, and probably to most, a home is a place where you feel comfortable. A place that can reliably shelter you, that you can return to at any point and feel safe. What homeless people lack is not simply a generic shelter, as ‘houseless’ implies, but a place where they can exist, reliably, without fear. Shelters have a capacity, overpasses have cops, everywhere has thieves. Saying “home is where the heart is” is ridiculously insensitive to the struggles they face. I feel like it’s more empathetic to acknowledge that what they are lacking is fundamental safety.
Excellent points.
I love the phrase “This is not a crack house, it’s a crack HOME”
I agree that a house is not a home, but what do you tell people when you’re buying a “house” but it could actually be a condo or a townhouse? When I say house, people assume I’m talking about a single-family house with a yard, driveway, etc. Is there a better word to encompass different property types that can become your home?