calixprynce
...
people are subconsciously terrified to admit how close we all are to homelessness --- a fire, a sudden death, a tragic accident, or simply life falling apart. I think people react against them to create a degree of separation between "them" and their own life/security illusion.
It's also that homeless people are the embodiment of the antithesis of the American dream. If owning a home in the suburbs is the measure of success in the US then being homeless is the proof of failure.
Just like how black people are perceived as an existential threat to hardcore racist southerners and white power types, just like how Arabic Muslims are perceived as an existential threat to US "values", so too are homeless people perceived as an existential threat to the idea of capitalist prosperity.
It's also that homeless people are the embodiment of the antithesis of the American dream. If owning a home in the suburbs is the measure of success in the US then being homeless is the proof of failure.
Just like how black people are perceived as an existential threat to hardcore racist southerners and white power types, just like how Arabic Muslims are perceived as an existential threat to US "values", so too are homeless people perceived as an existential threat to the idea of capitalist prosperity.