"We ought to be doing that with decent standard housing but if we have people who are absolutely on the streets in this case, I think it makes sense that tent cities are preferred to not having tent cities"
About this Quote
Lowry’s line is the sound of a politician reaching for moral triage in public, choosing the least-bad option while admitting it’s a sign of deeper failure. The first clause points to the policy ideal - “decent standard housing” - a phrase that signals competence and dignity without committing to a specific mechanism or price tag. Then comes the pivot: “but if we have people who are absolutely on the streets.” That “if” isn’t really conditional; it’s an acknowledgement that the system already broke and everyone can see it. The sentence quietly moves responsibility from decision-makers to circumstance itself.
The subtext is a defense against a predictable attack. Endorsing tent cities can sound like normalizing homelessness, and Lowry tries to preempt that by framing tents as a preference only relative to “not having tent cities” - meaning, relative to unsheltered chaos, exposure, and preventable death. It’s a utilitarian argument dressed in compassionate language: harm reduction, not celebration.
Context matters because “tent cities” aren’t just shelter; they’re political theater in urban America. They visualize inequality, spark backlash, and trigger questions about public space, policing, and whose comfort counts. Lowry’s phrasing tries to hold two audiences at once: voters who want the sidewalks cleared and advocates who want people kept alive and treated humanely. The line works because it refuses the fantasy that you can solve homelessness by wishing it out of sight, while also confessing - almost inadvertently - how low the bar has fallen when tents become the “sensible” choice.
The subtext is a defense against a predictable attack. Endorsing tent cities can sound like normalizing homelessness, and Lowry tries to preempt that by framing tents as a preference only relative to “not having tent cities” - meaning, relative to unsheltered chaos, exposure, and preventable death. It’s a utilitarian argument dressed in compassionate language: harm reduction, not celebration.
Context matters because “tent cities” aren’t just shelter; they’re political theater in urban America. They visualize inequality, spark backlash, and trigger questions about public space, policing, and whose comfort counts. Lowry’s phrasing tries to hold two audiences at once: voters who want the sidewalks cleared and advocates who want people kept alive and treated humanely. The line works because it refuses the fantasy that you can solve homelessness by wishing it out of sight, while also confessing - almost inadvertently - how low the bar has fallen when tents become the “sensible” choice.
Quote Details
| Topic | Human Rights |
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