My Gripe with the Word "Unhoused"

Sometimes, I can't help but wonder who is pushing for new words to enter the mainstream. The one that frustrates me the most is the word "unhoused" versus "homeless." This new iteration is overly sanitized, to the point where the emphasis on literal syllables has shifted.

In "home-less," both halves of the word get equal air time. But in "un-housed," the emphasis is on "housed."

You can almost hear a real estate magnate say "they're not homeless...they're simply (un)housed."

Moving to the word "unhoused" removes a sense of urgency, and frankly, we as a society should be surprised there is not more homelessness in the US, considering all the structures in place to foster homelessness.

In a country where unemployment can be an extinction level event and a landlord can hit you with a 20% rent increase, it is miraculous how a majority of Americans are not waiting in line for daily shelter. 

This is exactly the kind of society where a high-stakes miniseries like Beef can have its moment. Each episode is increasingly absurd, but the disappointment, lack of social supports, and conversations around what is and isn't "deserved" are documentary-like. This is the depiction of a nation with anger that culminates in hair-trigger moments: viral incidents after fast food workers get an order wrong, gunshots when someone approaches the wrong car.

We may live in a relatively peaceful time when considering millennia of war crimes, but it does feel like today's violence is more shameless and unhinged than before. As any semblance of community shrinks and the difference between rich and poor thickens, we are perpetuating a society where for many, there isn't much to lose. And opting for such passionless language like "unhoused" to describe people's suffering is just one more way we obfuscate a problem with difficult, but attainable solutions.