Newsweek Finds Homeless Man Useful, Temporarily
The mainstream story celebrates a 'homeless man' who heroically assisted in catching a shooting suspect, a feel-good narrative in a society all too eager to parade individual acts of virtue while ignoring collective responsibility. Newsweek, like many outlets, frames this as an extraordinary moment, not a tragic indictment of our society's priorities. It spotlights the individual's usefulness
without questioning why such a resourceful citizen lacks basic housing. While we laud the man's actions, perhaps instead of fleeting praise, we could address the $634 billion federal discretionary spending on defense in 2018 (the year this article was published, source: Congressional Budget Office), dwarfing the scant $54 billion allocated for Housing and Urban Development. One might wonder: if a
homeless man can solve crimes, imagine what a stable, housed man could contribute. But that doesn't make for quite as neat a story, does it? The media loves a hero, especially one who doesn't ask for a living wage or a roof over his head.