I have just signed this petition on Charge.org and reading the thread of comments I am feeling heartened by the number of compassionate people that also seem to feel that we need to stop thinking of ourselves and become part of the solution to solve some of the social problems we see around us.
Indeed I believe this whole issue resonates with something Danny Dorling discussed at the Blackwell's Empathy Festival that I attended this week and his latest book Why social inequality still persists - http://www.thebookseller.com/news/blackwells-oxford-holds-empathy-festival .. Danny suggested we all need to start taking others to account when we hear or see examples that suggest their empathy switch seems to be turned off. Like Danny, I too have hope that there are still more of us who care for the common good and who find purpose in helping others than those who don't.
However, what society really needs most right now is to hear our collective voice like never before.
Anti-homeless spikes spotted outside one of Foxton's branches in Holborn, London. These spikes have been increasingly used to deter homeless people from sleeping outside stores all over London. Sadly, this is yet another move in a long line of "defensive architecture" aimed at deterring homeless people from sleeping in highly visible places. At a time when more than 8 million of us are reported to be 1 payday away from not being able to pay for our mortgages or rent and homelessness is rising rapidly, we cannot simply push the homeless out of sight. If they are forced away from public spaces, they may end up having to sleep in more isolated and dangerous areas - a horrific prospect, considering that homeless people already face extremely high levels of violence as it is. Let's not make their lives any harder.
