Homelessness — a challenge to our virtuous impulses
As the tumult in Washington was unfolding at the start of 2021, I got an invitation to preview a short 10 minute film made on the streets of the nation’s capital by Pakistani-American director Bob (Babar) Ahmed. The film was titled Tikkun Olam, which is a Hebrew term from Jewish teachings on iconoclastic efforts at finding a pure path beyond distractions to improving the world. Using this concept as an exotic metaphor, Ahmed’s film targets the persistent global malady of homelessness — an urban challenge that has become even more acutely obvious during COVID. In the masked quiet world of the pandemic, the film shows the relationship between a child and a homeless veteran on the streets of Washington DC. The child feels an inherent impulse to help the languishing veteran along a stretch of immaculate pavement. What brought a decorated war hero to such a fate remains unspoken but alerts us to all the hidden tales that land a person without shelter.
The challenge of homelessness has bedeviled all political orders. From the most socialist states to the capitalist economies there are always people who fall through the cracks of habitational safety nets. The United Nations agency that deals with this challenge is UNHABITAT, and estimates that there are at least 150 million people worldwide who live on the streets. An additional 883 million who live in slums with risk of losing safe habitation. The causes of homelessness are complex ranging from rural-urban migration, rise in property values, addiction, mental illness and erosion of cultural and family norms of shelter. Surprisingly, many of the countries which we often consider has having very high qualities of life and strong social safety nets are still plagued by this challenge. The highest per capita homelessness of any OECD country is New Zealand, followed by Australia and Germany.
The United Nations Sustainable Development goals up to 2030 has noted the eradication of homelessness as an important goal. There is a specific target set forth in this regard under the “Sustainable Cities and Communities” goal (SDG 11) that sets forth an ambitious agenda in this regard. Just as the COVID pandemic was unfolding last year, the United Nations passed the first resolution on combatting homelessness on February 19, 2020. This was a historic moment as the issue has so often been neglected in large international policy discussions because of its perception as a transitory domestic problem. The author of the bestselling book about his own story of descent to homelessness, Chris Gardner, The Pursuit of Happiness was also present at the event. The book was also made into an award-winning film with actor Will Smith and played an important role in destigmatizing homelessness in the eyes of the public.
While international efforts by governments and philanthropies are important, the full scale and scope of our efforts will only reach fruition through invoking individual virtuous impulses. As the film Tikkun Olam suggests, homelessness can shatter the innocence of childhood but can also be a motivator for humane impulses in us all. How far we then take those callings of action will determine how fast we can rid the world of the dehumanizing impacts of homelessness.