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Joined 1 year ago
Cake day: August 2nd, 2023
  • _Mantissa@lemmy.worldtoAsk Lemmy@lemmy.world•What's a 'dirty word' that you hate hearing when it's used to describe something or someone?
    5·
    1 year ago

    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.