How "Hostile Architecture" Herds The Human "Undesirables"

If you’re in favor of herding people like cattle stuck inside the confines of electrified fences, then this isn’t for you. If the idea of utilizing misery, and pain, to heard people to where you can’t see them, makes you sick, you might think it’s not a problem but it’s a real thing. And now the powers that be, the shot callers in society and in government, have another way to just ignore a generational issue and hope it goes away without addressing the core problems that have kept it growing over the decades.

The Problem

The problem is homelessness in America. And, one would say, around the world. And while other countries have dealt with this in much more humane ways, or at times, worse ways, the new way of doing it is barbaric, unfeeling, and cruel.

No, you don’t want to make it easy on the source of the problem, but to go out of your way and make the miserable life of homeless people even worse, or unreasonably uncomfortable, isn’t what this country is supposed to be. But, it happens.

From stories of businesses refusing service to homeless people because they’re afraid of how they look, or might act, to the rough realities of homeless encampments and pop up tent city areas, homelessness is fueled by many things and there are those who go out of their way, not to solve the problem, but to create a bigger divide between them and the rest of the world.

Imagine it’s your missing child, or loved one, out there on the streets. How would you want them treated? Is this the type of thing you think about when you ponder where your hard earned taxes are going? For many, that’s exactly where they want their taxes spent. But for government, particularly in large metropolitan areas like Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York, or entire states like California, the homeless problem get’s herded around like a rancher heards cattle.

Now, thanks to the interesting new inventions in design, and creative engineering, we have reached the point where our “human cattle” are able to be moved around with the equivalent of an electronic fence.

Aggressive Architecture

The human equivalent of the electric fence for cattle is called Aggressive Architecture. Aggressive, or Hostile Architecture is also called defensive design or urban design, and it comes from a strategy of using elements of the environment to purposefully guide behavior. Now, the members of the public that are deemed unworthy, or weaker, are excluded from public spaces.

Even as a person deemed to be a well functioning, desirable, individual, these types of designs aren’t accomodating. And yet, most of them are put together by the very taxes you’re paying. From your city and municipal taxes, to the gas taxes, and sales taxes, that our leaders love to continually levy upon us.

Living in small town America, you might be less likely to see such instruments of torture. Unless you’ve encountered the “homeless” and seen first hand what they go through, you may have no regard for the issue at hand. Now, imagine you’re at the bottom of it all, have falllen a part, and had no family or loved ones to pick you up and offer you a helping hand to get back on your feet. This could be your life.

Don’t take a walk in the city of QUEENS, unless you’re in good and healthy shape. Even someone getting winded, maybe dehydrated and tired from the heat, might want to find a park bench. But, a number of park and roadside benches have been replaced with leaning posts like the one above. It’s designed to keep anyone from sleeping on them at night, or sitting for too long.

In the 80s, America started seeing the future of the mentally ill go downhill. Instead of progress, it regressed to a time when mental illness wasn’t a priority. Taking care of our own citizens was becoming less of a priority, as new ideas like globalism began to take hold. Before then, there were mental facilities that were far easier to find.

Many of those undesirables that you see on the streets are ill. They suffer from a wide variety of mental health issues, from schizophrenia to depression, chemical addiction, ptsd, and other various diagnosis’s. Now, these people, wander the streets looking for a place to hide away from the world. Sometimes looking for a place to sit, even if it is only to rest.

As if the New York area or Manhattan subways are known for being safe, New Yorkers replaced benches with these, so even at night, a homeless person couldn’t possibly lay down and rest their challenged minds. And we wonder how it got to the point a homeless person in New York suddenly attacks someone, or commits an act so scary, that they end up being taken out by a service member or someone capable. Does that story not ring a bell.

Ever been up for days on end? During a particularly trying time, the fifth day saw yours truly fall apart, as the pain in my head from a recent head trauma caused insomnia. Imagine, had there been no support system in my life, what might have happened.

Make sure you don’t want to sit for a spell at this location in Dublin Ireland. The art on display aside, you might not want to take the bead where the sun don’t shine, and realistically, that’s not going to massage your back. But, like in America, the Irish also have a problem with people loitering.

Now, that also means, if you’re on vacation and your tired from all that sight seeing. The gradual changes in the architecture have forgotten passersby as a reality. That’s those people who are looking for new things to explore while they’re in town.

As a species, things have devolved to the point of mistrust, and a general disliking of humans, by humans. And that’s what we all have in common. So, these architectural designs aimed at forcing us to continue to move, or to keep us from feeling comfortable in different places, are the trick to giving the elite what they want. But, is it right?

The Cost of Anti-Homeless/Aggressive Architecture

The National Homeless Council estimates that hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent on this newer idea of changing the world and making it less hospitable for homeless people. And yes, that could be spent on tackling homelessness and mental illness.

Portland, Oregon, a city known for being liberal and progressive, in 2021 spent nearly half a million on changing the benches in one park, in order to keep people from lying down on them at night. Essentially, homelessness is bing criminalized, and the leadership of our “great” country believes that billions spent on making homeless people move to a more out of sight out of mind area, that’s not been made less hospitable, is the way to go.

Takeaways

It’s very apparent that this is a huge problem, and as homelessness rises to the point even smaller areas see those suffering it more frequently than ever before, there’s a feeling one should get from seeing these aggressive or hostile architectural designs.

It’s a design against humanity. Instead of someone sleeping on a bench, after you’ve spent hundreds of millions adding aftermarket railings in the middle, now, they’re forced to sleep on the ground. Watch where you sit, at different aftermarket spikes are added, some looking painful if you imagine them poking into you.

This isn’t the America, or world, that most of us grew up in, and yet, it almost feels like this is what people want. Some cities spend tens of millions on things like community theater, only for it to be out of reach for all but the elites. And others would rather heard people around like cattle, rather than helping them get to a more functional state of existence.

Consider this scenario. Your child is missing, and the months turn into years. You’ve worked your entire life, and paid taxes. In each person you see on the street, you’re examining their faces to see if it’s your son, daughter, or even a parent that’s gone missing. Where do you want your tax dollars, spent?