Homelessness in Los Angeles: Causes and Solutions

Introduction

Los Angeles experiences several crises at the moment that affect the population. Nowadays, the traffic, gentrification, suburban deterioration, higher than ever real estate prices, racism, violent crimes, education degradation, and other issues slowly undermine the functioning of one of the most famous cities in the US. All these problems matter, all of them require immediate attention, action, and commitment from society and public authorities to prevent the situation from getting worse. The government encounters the challenge of overcoming these issues by various means. However, people might not expect the city to recover fast or at least to be sustained at a decent level for living. In this paper, a crisis of homelessness in Los Angeles will be discussed with consideration of traditional, feminist, and Pragmatic concepts that determine what constitutes a community and how it should operate to be efficient.

Homelessness is a Problematic Issue in the Community

It might be suggested that homelessness is Los Angeles’ most pressing concern. People are continually facing high rental fees, low or flat wages, and a deficit of affordable housing.¹ US President Donald Trump stated that Los Angeles’ increase in the number of homeless people could “destroy” the city. The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) reports that there are around 60,000 people in Los Angeles County that do not have a home (United States).² This number has increased by 33% over the previous four years. 85% of the homeless in Los Angeles are adult people without children, 44% are black (even though black constitute 8% of the total population of the city), and 70% are male.³ CIA states that more than 780,000 people spend more than 90% of their income on rental fees.⁴ These people are highly endangered to become homeless anytime. The data, public discussion, and media attention suggest that homelessness might be one of the most disruptive problems for the city of Angels.

How Homelessness Arises from a Hobbesian Theory

The dispute about the causes of homelessness was raised a long time ago. The extent to which homelessness is a choice, which factors influence homelessness more – all these questions can be viewed from the point of Hobbesian community formation theory. Thomas Hobbes claimed that people behave in their self-interest.⁵ It is implied that successful people are settled, they do not care about others who suffer from poverty, homelessness, and various hapless events. Regarding Hobbes’ narrative, one can say that the situation with homeless people in Los Angeles arises when elites act in their self-interest while establishing rental prices and choosing residents selectively. Homeless people suffer from this unfair selection; however, they have no opportunities to solve the issue.

Both rich and poor people live under the sovereign authorities because they want to be kept from the dangerous natural condition, the war of all. However, the Hobbesian “desire of power after power” retains the gap between decision-makers and begging ones.⁶ This social contract described by Hobbes balances the situation by introducing the sovereign that should handle the situation. However, in real life, the authorities may not manage the community in a way where all people might be protected.

Understanding of a Community Based on Feminist Ethics

Through various theories, we can re-develop our understanding of community and its formation. Jaggar’s feminist ethics concept can suggest the new meaning of community. Jaggar identified several problems that women faced due to the lack of rights and representation. The issues were the following: women are not well morally developed; they are determined to execute feminine work.⁷ Jaggar stated that the culture previously overvalued masculine behavior and undervalued female characteristics.⁸ The philosopher based the feminist ethics concept on the argument that women should have equal rights in political, public, and economic communities to provide justice to all people.⁹

Based on Jaggar’s inferences, one can state that the city should pay attention to the vulnerabilities of its members. The community should include men and women who are treated equally, have standard moral practices, and support mutual agreement despite having different views. It might be suggested that the understanding of a community based on Jaggar’s statements is leaning towards the creation of a moral community where all people are caring and can protect themselves together from violence.

How Empathy and Communal Cooperation Arise in Feminist Ethics

The establishment of a moral community might not be possible without empathy and collaboration among members of the city. Based on Jaggar’s feminist ethics, one can state that understanding encourages a person to act in a specific, altruistic way.¹⁰ Empathy can highlight the peculiarities of a situation and make it essential while supporting people in a community to act accordingly to their moral standards. Communal cooperation in feminist ethics stems from the contractual thinking that demands a person to be empathetic to see a situation from the perspective of others.¹¹ Empathy allows us to understand the reasons of others and to cooperate in a community based on mutual agreement. Both understanding and cooperation should play a crucial role in moral discussion and judgment.¹² The philosopher emphasized how authorities and communities failed women in various ways. Thus, it might be suggested that if people were more empathetic, the community would not face the situation of glaring inequality towards women.

How Jaggar’s Feminism Helps Address Homelessness

Returning to the community problem stated previously, homelessness in Los Angeles, one can argue that Jaggar’s feminism can help in addressing the issue. Usually, people do not want to care about others and do not see the situation on the other side. On the one hand, empathy can help real estate owners understand the perspective of people who are seeking a home, consider the reasons why they found themselves being homeless. Communal cooperation, on the other hand, can encourage people to help each other and understand that caring for others might not only be satisfying but assisting the society in developing further for the commonwealth. The elites can reconsider their opinion regarding people who might become homeless due to high rental fees. Empathy should be combined with a moral judgment that people are equal and deserve the second chance if they are asking for it.

Conclusion

While Los Angeles experiences a severe homelessness crisis, people and authorities together are able to apply different concepts and suggestions to tackle the issue, to provide affordable housing, and restrain the increase in rental fees. People should understand that the wealth of the community suffers when homelessness becomes intense and starts disrupting principles and norms society lives with. The significance of interdependence and attentiveness should not be overlooked as the final aim to overcome current issues in Los Angeles and prevent the people from being homeless stays the most important.

References

1. Flaming, Daniel, and Blasi, Gary. “Los Angeles: Why Tens of Thousands of People Sleep Rough.” BBC, 2019. Web.
2. Hobbes, Thomas. Leviathan. Somerville: Ancient Wisdom Publication, 2019.
3. Jaggar, Alison. Feminist Ethics: Projects, Problems, Prospects. Edited by Claudia Card. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1991.
4. “2018 Homeless Count Results.” Lahsa.org. Web.

Footnotes

1. Daniel Flaming and Gary Blasi, “Los Angeles: Why Tens of Thousands of People Sleep Rough,” BBC,  2019.
2. Daniel Flaming and Gary Blasi, “Los Angeles: Why Tens of Thousands of People Sleep Rough.”
3. ”2018 Homeless Count Results,” Lahsa.org,.
4. “2018 Homeless Count Results.”
5. Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan (Somerville: Ancient Wisdom Publicatio, 2019), 80.
6. Hobbes, Leviathan, 80.
7. Alison Jaggar, Feminist Ethics: Projects, Problems, Prospects, ed. Claudia Card (Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1991), 79.
8. Jaggar, Feminist Ethics, 79.
9. Jaggar, 80.
10. Jaggar, Feminist Ethics, 80.
11. Jaggar, 87.
12. Jaggar, 105.