A majority of us view the life of a homeless person as a lifestyle that we will likely never have to adopt.
A vast majority of us, simply based on the fact that we are all attending college, have it pretty figured out and have a list of effective measures to keep homelessness far out of the picture, whether that be parental assistance or a hefty and well-maintained saving’s account.
However, the homeless lifestyle is not one that people typically decide to adopt.
It’s not like there are many children out there who list “homeless” as something they would be interested in becoming when they grow up.
We need to be more thoughtful about the fact that there are American citizens who have nowhere to go, no one to fall back on and probably nothing to subsist on for their very survival.
According to software organization Social Solutions, over half a million Americans are homeless — about 206,286 entire families, and about a quarter of the entire population are children.
This number doesn’t seem too surprising, though it is a rather astonishing statistic.
I mean, we see people on the side of highways or in front of businesses all the time, begging for money or food to meet their basic needs.
This is something we most likely encounter weekly, since there are over 150 people living without anywhere to go in Faulkner County alone.
More people should be aware of the helplessness that is exhibited here.
Many claim that people living without homes or means are simply lazy or unwilling to find work to make a sufficient income, but these people actually lack most of the opportunities that many people view as basic and abundant.
As college students, it’s typically difficult for us to understand how life could be devoid of the help of family and friends.
The altruism that we are exposed to from those who care for us is something that some people out there do not get the pleasure of benefitting from.
There are those out there who are trying to gain a perspective of the homeless lifestyle, such as those who participated in the “Night Out for the Homeless” here on campus, during which students camped out in front of Old Main to simulate being homeless for 24 hours.
However, we will never know exactly the hardships that these people experience on a daily basis until we ourselves have nowhere to go and no food to eat, which is something that I hope none of us have to go through.
Simply put, the world should not be a place where even a single human being has to struggle for the simplest of physiological needs.
Of course, this issue transcends America; according to The United Nation’s website, an estimated 100 million people are homeless worldwide and about 1.6 billion people lack adequate housing.
It’s hard to gain a perspective of this widespread crisis as we live delightfully in our nice houses with our parents or have enough money to pay the rent of an apartment with an eight-foot swimming pool in the back.
There are many, many people out there who struggle to find the opportunities that come so easily to us, and we should have more of a perspective of this fact as we go about our lives in privileged splendor.
The greater qualities of life should be the pursuit of the humans that live it; seeking fulfillment, accomplishing goals and watching oneself grow as a person should be the worries of the people of the world as we live out our short time on Earth.
Basic physiological needs, such as finding shelter and food, should not have to be something struggled for in anyone’s daily life.
