Genocide: the deliberate killing of a large group of people, especially those of a particular ethnic group or nation.
Given the definition above, do you all think it is safe to say that the current phenomenon of homelessness in America is more or less an example of genocide? I discussed this notion with my friend yesterday and am unsure about my opinion of it. According to the National Health Care for the Homeless Council, homeless people are three times more likely than their non-homeless counterparts to die at any moment, and typically have life spans that are 30 years shorter than “average.” 831 Los Angeles County homeless people died during 2017, an 81.5% increase since 2013. There is obviously a strong correlation between homelessness and death, but I will provide a caveat: debilitating mental illness among homeless people may be a confounding variable in this correlative relationship. “…Individuals with co-occurring mental illness and homelessness, arguably the County’s most vulnerable populations, may account disportionately for the increased death rates,” said Dr. Jonathan Sherin of the LA County Department of Mental Health, quoted from the Los Angeles Daily News (Abram).
Now, are the deaths of homeless people due to deliberate action? From what we’ve learned in class, homeless people and people living in poverty experience very slow, extended deaths, largely caused by difficult labor and long work hours, malnutrition, stress, etc. These problems are arguably byproducts of capitalism and inequality. One could say that everyone is dying a very slow, extended death, but I think we could make the case that homeless people’s’ life spans are directly affected by such problems. (That is in contrast to most of us in this class, who are dying slow, long deaths simply because we are mortal.)
Even if it is not technically an example of a genocide, using the word “genocide” to describe homelessness as a national issue is justified if doing so expresses the severity of homelessness and its widespread harm, in my opinion. What do you all think? Do you agree? Disagree?

                                                                              Sources
Abram, Susan. “More of LA County’s Homeless Are Dying. Here’s Why.” Los Angeles Daily
News, 17 Jan. 2018,
www.dailynews.com/2018/01/17/more-of-la-countys-homeless-are-dying-heres-why/
“The Hard, Cold Facts About the Deaths of Homeless People.” Nhchc.org, www.nhchc.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/HardColdFacts.pdf.