Week 7

ARCH bases itself around the motto is that “everyone deserves the dignity of having a safe place to call home.” I believe that one’s home is symbolic in this case as a place where an individual can go and feel safe and call their . Having a home is something we all take for granted. I am in the process of investigating the value of having a home and why ARCH’s central motto focuses on the importance of an individual have a safe home. Emmanuel Levians has a philosophy that gears toward the possibility of responsibility and hospitality. As described by Levinas, hospitality operates in two distinct realms, the ethical and the political. In the ethical realm, the self is morally compelled to welcome the individual stranger into the private space of the home. In the public realm, the self is politically obligated to welcome the whole of humanity into the public space of the homeland. He emphasizes that an ethical humanity is an universal responsibility. He goes on to say that an inflection toward humanity is fragile, because it is continually absorbed by the rhetoric of political institutions (“History of Political Thought”). Levians philosophy can be applied to ARCH’s motto on the importance of an individual to have a safe place to call home. According to Levians, it is ethically and politically important that one has a home and remains hospitable.

Week 6

While trying to figure out the central focus for my final paper on ARCH, I struggled with which aspect I wanted to focus on. I am currently also enrolled in Communication Ethics, which has led to me analyze the work of ARCH through different theorists we have discussed in class. These include Aristotle and Kant. Cutler's reading from earlier this semester highlighted Kant and Aristotle's views on giving charity. Aristotle's central argument is that it is our moral duty to give to others and look out for others interests. Kant's argument centered around the idea that all persons deserve respect. One of ARCH's central ideas is that all people deserve help and recognition. This will empower these individuals and hopefully motivate them to do more with their life. Curtler also mentions the technique social change groups use of altering self worth and self esteem. ARCH does a good job on empowering individuals and raising their self worth and self esteem. Altering self worth and self esteem are is the main focus of ARCH. ARCH believes that bringing these homeless individuals back to reality is the first step towards ending homelessness. By empowering these individuals and alleviating them from the title of social deviants, we are progressing towards ending and homelessness. 

Week 5

I have been observing ARCH throughout SXSW and it has been very interesting. ARCH is located directly in the center of all the SXSW action, on 7th St. Thousands of individuals from all over have walked across ARCH. As the music festivities have carried on, individuals who reside at ARCH have carried on with their normal lives. I was walking down 7th street, when a friend of mine (from Miami) was stopped by a homeless individual across the street from ARCH and was asked for money. He stopped and told the homeless individual that he didn't have any money. Another friend of mine (from Austin) said he should have just walked past the individual and not said anything. I appreciate the time my friend from Miami took to atleast acknowledge the homeless individual. Throughout all the craziness of SXSW, I feel as if many individuals have walked right past ARCH without a second thought of the individuals utilizing this building. As the festivities continue, I am going to make an effort to talk to homeless individuals who utilize ARCH to see their reaction on the hectic SXSW and absurd influx of individuals who have entered Austin. I am also curious to see if any event has been hosted to gather money for the ARCH facility.