Thread by @philipoconnor

Sun is out, so this will be the last thread about this #homelessness thing - buckle up, questioning snowflakes, it’s gonna be harsh:
You are “only asking questions” not because you want to help, but to give yourself a reason for not doing so.

It’s OK, this course of action is as Irish as it gets. This is evidenced by the questions you ask - about the woman, her sexual history, the parentage of her children, her criminal record. You are trying her in the court of public opinion to absolve yourself and society from ...

... the responsibility for helping her, and by extension other people in a similar situation. You are "only asking questions" that lead to the conclusion that it "serves her right" so you can wash your hands of her.

You are not some crusader saving the tax-payer money, because if you were you'd be manning a burning barricade outside a banker's house and trying to get back the €64 billion that was handed to them in your name.

But you don't do that, because you know your place and you're happy, as long as you can feel morally superior to other people and you can keep your family secrets to yourself.

But here's the thing about shame - most people in precarious situations no longer give a fuck what you think of them. They are way past that stage and are concerned with simply surviving, because that's what it takes to walk into a Garda station and sleep on a bench.

There is absolutely nothing you can say to a homeless person or parent that will make them feel tangibly worse or any more ashamed than they already do. But in asking your fucking "questions" you are perpetuating the power of that shame.

Perpetuating the power of shame is what allows the powerful to get away with their crimes. It shifts the focus to the victim, so that clergy can continue to rape and the church can continue to cover it up. It shifts the blame to homeowners while the developers get off scot free.

It absolves our politicians and us as voters of the responsibility for making sure that society functions and protects the "most vulnerable" for more than just the two weeks before every election before they are shat on again.
Fuck shame.

The only person who cares about your "questions" is you, and the only reason is because you want answers that absolve you. But like I said a few days ago, if you voted for FF or FG, this is on you.
Now my question to you is - what are YOU going to do about the mess YOU made?