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In this Discussion
- 1234 March 2012
- Clever_girl March 2012
- freddy March 2012
- Leland March 2012
- Lucy March 2012
- Matthew March 2012
- MirandaJuly March 2012
- swamp_knobbler_mahan March 2012
- the_owls March 2012
- UncleBoatShoes2011 March 2012
- YoursTruly March 2012
Comments
I find the backlash against this WAYY worse than the actual "stunt."
It's the "Street Roots" model updated to include a product that people are actually interested in.
The interview with the "houseless" dude who is participating in the project made it seem like a positive thing.
Those who are turned off by it, why is it worse than Street Roots?
Hotspots, on the other hand, turn homeless people into infrastructure. We are literally treating these people like parts or furniture. They are like cell towers or something.
No matter how hard I try, I can't think of this as anything other than gross.
Literally objectifying human beings
Turning homelessness into something positive, in a weird way? "Shit, I can't find a homeless person ANYWHERE"
Drunk rich young people benefiting from the fact of homelessness
Like what's next, corporations paying homeless people to wear advertising around?
Using homeless people as real estate
just picturing a bunch of kids laughing about something on Twitter, standing next to a homeless dude who's just standing there. "Are you finished using my body, young master?"
What if in the wifi scenario you got the code or whatever and it takes you to a splash page that was Street Roots?
The language of "i am a wifi hotspot" is weird and also "homeless hotspots" is maybe not the best title but other than the wording it feels less degrading to me than somewhere wearing a huge cooler backpack filled with iced tea handing out samples in Pio Square or somewhere wearing a Statue of Liberty costume and twirling a sign.
The company didn't just find people on the streets they went through a non profit.
YT, your scenario isn't realistic application of this at all. It's not the drunken music part of SXSW its the tech conference part. The dudes are all in a zone outside of the convention center where data is notoriously terrible during the conference. They talk to the dude, they paypal the dude money and get a code. They go in the convention center and use the internet during the panels or whatever.
It's a product with demand. The people are getting money they wouldn't have. It has promoted a dialogue between people who would've normally ignored these homeless folks. The wording is dumb, but this backlash seems like it will certainly hinder people in the future from trying to be creative about ways to include the homeless in any projects that could bring them any money.
'Being' a hotspot isn't 'doing' anything.
If the shirts had said, "Ask me for a 4G connection" Or even, "4G Here" I think there would have been much less of a negative reaction.
On the philosophical other hand, it disturbs me to my very core. It is literally turning people into actual physical cogs in the techno-capitalist machine, and other marxist ramblings. Tech dudes using actual human beings' BODIES as technology aids...I can't go there.
I think the biggest canard in the history of political discussion is the idea that because something's done voluntarily it means it is ideologically un-problematic. See: sex work, boxing, that guy who allowed the other guy to kill and eat him, etc. The voluntariness of a given issue is part of the conversation, sure, but it can't be all that matters. If I were homeless I'd voluntarily do pretty much anything if it meant I could get some money. Like "Bumfights" or when Paris Hilton's boyfriend paid the homeless dude $5 to pour a coke on his head. This WiFi thing isn't as demonstrably demeaning but that doesn't mean the examples don't resonate with one another.
I also however agree that the language of it is part of what is so disturbing. I don't know.
I agree "ask me for a 4G connection" is better. The language was problematic, but I don't think the main problem here is branding. It's treating humans as non-human objects.
And BoatShoes, you're right, it's no less degrading than those other completely degrading jobs.
Here's a nice thoughtful npr piece about it.
http://www.npr.org/2012/03/13/148528071/homeless-hotspots-exploitation-or-innovation
YT, your problem with it turning peoples' physical bodies into technological aids seems to me to be a language issue. It's not like the homeless guys had to swallow a 4G hotspot and that it lives in their body. They have a thing in a backpack. The language turns it into a physical issue. In reality them carrying a 4G hotspot and selling access is exactly like anywhere carrying product with them and selling it (girl scout cookies, hot dog vendors, food carts).
If i could swallow a wifi hotspot and always have the internet with me (and possibly sell access) I think I would.
That's the part that bothers me- it doesn't give these people a voice or anything to DO- just sit and wear a hotspot t-shirt? It sounds utterly depressing, but then again we are all extrapolating what types of feelings these people may or may not have.
It rubs me the wrong way that someone saw homeless people and said, "how can these people be put to use? I know, turn them into walking telephone poles!" There's no reason why you'd use people for this besides the fact that they're there and they're mobile.
Also, what happens at SXSW is usually experimental. This isn't a model they are planning on rolling out nationwide. It's just a gimmick.
It came from a marketing company. It's not "real".
And that to me makes it more gross. Because now it's not even an a way to employ the homeless, it's just using them so that people think you are abusing them to get attention so you can sell another idea to a big company.
Also, how much will this promote other shameless exploitation?
How do you think those involved in the program now would take that?
"Educated people decided this isn't good for you."
It's not a program. It's a publicity stunt. It ends when SXSW interactive ends.
I think they did make some responsible gestures. They worked with a homeless advocacy group, basically a Street Roots-type non-profit in Austin. The participants were paid a $20 cash advance per day plus they kept their 'tips', and I think there were some other conditions that provided that they would make minimum wage ($7.25/hr in Texas). I believe the program/stunt ended today as originally planned. Also, if what Steve said is true, and folks are dispensing access codes and therefore having some degree of interaction as a sort of 'host' it is essentially a real job and not just turning somebody into furniture for promotion/amusement's sake. Again, I think the copy on the shirt helped conjure a lot of assumptions about this being totally degrading and exploitive. Either the ad agency was very tone-deaf or they thought the 'notorious' attention would be awesome. It is worth noting that they are one of the biggest agencies in the country, definitely not a scrappy start-up.
[RANT ALERT]
There are so many shitty jobs. I think it is criminal that we run shit this way. That's my marxist talking. It seems kind of crazy trying to fit homeless people back into the market when so little of what the market produces has any redeeming social value. Take any of the people that wore a 4G shirt for the last week, and I'll bet almost all of the jobs that they've had in the last few years are equally as furtive and pointless as this one.
Cheap labor is a crime. Housing, medical care, mental health services, the things homeless people need should be a right for all citizens. Providing for and protecting these basic services should be why we have a government.
What's the number? Is it 25 states in which the biggest employer is Wal-Mart? Wal-Mart associates average $8.84/hr to sell stuff made by people in China for $1/hr. Keeps people busy, burning resources, stocking the shelves with doodads. The six principal heirs of the founding Walton Family now have a net worth equal to the poorest 100 MILLION Americans!
In this system, almost everyone is wearing a stupid t-shirt for work and being laughed at by the upper caste.
Interview with one of the "hotspots."
http://www.marketplace.org/topics/tech/homeless-hotspots-ground-level
?!?
UGH!