Dear World,

Homelessness is the clearest indication that as a society we have failed. Yet for some reason we regularly reinforce the idea that homeless people have, in some way, failed themselves.

We choose to believe that it is their fault, that they have not worked hard enough or that we simply shouldn’t worry about them because they’re just pissed. It must be their fault since we live in a meritocracy….which is of course complete rubbish!

The idea of being justly rewarded for how hard you work is a lie you tell yourselves to help you sleep at night. Moreover, not only do we kid ourselves that it is not our fault, we treat these people as though they are threat to society – this is evident even in the language that is thrown at homeless people every day.

You may have heard the phrase “beggars operate in this area” … operate like they are some kind of mafia or terror group out to destroy modern civilisation. The other phrase that’s bandied about is “don’t encourage begging” – almost on a par with don’t feed the pigeons, dehumanising our fellow citizens and making them sound like vermin.

Society walks past them – and that includes you and me. The government does nothing about it except cut funding to the organisations that give a damn.

But if even one person is living without a roof over their heads, then society is failing and, to be blunt, we are all morally bankrupt.

Shame!