I'm sure everyone has heard about the "homeless hotspots" at South by Southwest this week. It's gotten play on innumerable blogs, on Twitter, and even on the Daily Show. At first I sort of shrugged it off: if people want to dehumanize themselves for some money, is it my business? I'm not offended by porn or prostitution (legalize it!), why should I be offended by this?
And I'm not. While I think it would have been better for BBH Labs (the creator of this idea) to generate positive publicity, I also don't think they've committed some terrible crime against humanity. SXSW has become a ridiculous event filled to the brim with tech-obsessed yuppies. I haven't seen any news of the event bringing attention to the issue of homelessness in any other way. While I in no way believe we should see the homeless as hotspots rather than, oh I don't know, humans?, I also don't think attendees of SXSW don't know a human being when they see one. Hopefully they are being courteous and chatty, maybe tipping their hotspot a couple extra dollars for his or her troubles.
After all, these men and women are not being paid a lot. They're making $20/day to stand in the sun so that men and women (presumably with homes) can access their twitter feeds. Maybe BBH should have added a little something to the t-shirts aside from "I'm so-and-so, a 4G hotspot" - maybe something about an organization that works with homeless communities dealing with mental health or addiction issues. They didn't, and that sucks, but I still don't think the whole thing was an affront to our collective humanity.
That sounds terrible. It sparks the argument of whether they're creating jobs for the homeless or exploiting those in need. With some extra content, this would be a great piece for the Spare Change newspaper.
ReplyDeleteI actually had not heard about this but it sounds really interesting. I think it is as good an idea as it is bad. If the homeless were sitting or standing by the road all day for a mere probability of getting a dollar from a stranger, then this is not so bad. After all, they still get that dollar as a tip, and still retain their pride because this time they have worked for it, and it is not free.
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