As The Homeless Are Chased from Campground, We Keep Displacing the Problem of Poverty
The problems of poverty keep getting pushed from one place to another (literally). We have so many people out of work and losing their homes. What, exactly, are we going to do about it? Other than criminalize poverty, I mean:
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) ―A local attorney opened up his private property for homeless campers to have a place to stay, but authorities are already warning they will have to shut it down.
Attorney Mark Merin is leasing his property on 13th Street and C Street in Sacramento to about three dozen homeless men and women for one dollar a year, which is meant to give them the legal rights of lessees and property renters.
"It's a matter of human dignity, and it's life and death," said Greg Bunker, executive director of Francis House in Sacramento.
According to Sacramento police, it isn't legal to live in a tent anywhere in the city for longer than 24 hours. The department wouldn't say when, but did say that they would soon enforce the city ordinance and kick the homeless persons out of the property.
The lot is located in a mostly industrial area, with only one home backing up to the property, but the city has received complaints about the campers from nearby residents.
Me and my crew have been in a weekend long blog war with the neocons of St. Louis. I wish I could have had this video as a tool in our struggle.
Our Rep. Carnahan had a rally and Sen. McCaskill was picketed, by both sides. I am getting sick of this shit. First day of school tomorrow and I have to look over my shoulder to see if neocons are after me. LOL!
I almost hope they are!
and remind them of how people were driven to the eastern cost of northern americas - poverty was a crime punishable by imprisonment.
Some stuff you can't make up!
Debtors prisons, work houses, steal a loaf of bread and get hung for it. Oh those were the days.
And if you look at a lot of the language the right-wing uses in regards to the poor and downtrodden, that's exactly the type of society they'd be more than happy to see us return to.
You were just fired and can't get foodstamps and don't have a dime to your name, so you steal a premade sandwhich from Safeway? Immediate execution!!
Have a gaping wound and don't have a penny, so you steal a band-aid from the store? To the GALLOWS!!!
Talk about the ultimate conservative fantasy-land.
Did you hear this story of the homeless??? This does not even come close to exposing the magnitude of it..
I bet Bush , Cheney , Rumsfeld , republicans , the democrats and their family are sleeping and eating very well tonight and have no concerns about how they will survive...
So do you believe this government really has any concern when they outsource American's jobs to foreign countries ,, for Corporate profit , while given them welfare tax cuts..
The establishment bitch and demand cuts in workers wages , while taking bail out money our government freely gives them ,,to pay themselves millions of dollar in salaries and bonuses while saying the workers are asking for to much...
look at the Corporate thief and corruption to the American worker's 401 retirement plans.. By these corporate whores...
Just who side is our government on...
None
Jean Valjean.
But they didn't bail out the banking criminals in those days when they went belly up. So things are actually better for them now.
Rush Limbaugh is what a smart person thinks a stupid bigot sounds like.
as in this story here:
http://crooksandliars.com/susie-madrak/some-c...
companies getting bailed out have offshore tax shelters
by susie madrak/crooks and liars.com
but these people are just,
ordinary people who have had an unfortunate incident.
Take a human look at this, I call it my 's's
1) Safety for my workers, and all those involved
2) Sanitation, because yes, they are humans
I am thinking bodily fluids, diseases
3) Supplies, such as tents, blankets, food, clean water
for them to use as brushing their teeth, showers
4) someone with a heart to actually help these people
Do you have like an old school cafeteria, or even a military, or air base, so these people wont need to fight the elements?
This is where the national guard would be very helpful too,
as for communications, tents, food, and safety.
these are a few things to think about, and good luck to you all.
by people fleeing the criminalization of poverty. Here we go again.
Some stuff you can't make up!
my ass.
Very Christian nation. This is exactly the kind of thing that makes the world think American Christianity is just a haven for monsters and loons.
There's always free cheddar in the mousetrap, baby. - Tom Waits
Move them to real America that Palin talks about
statutes are created for one reason, and one reason only: To create an environment for the homeless that is simply so disorientingly unfair and unreasonable that they have no choice but to pack up and move on to the next city along the highway.
And who fosters these retrograde, inhumane laws? The business communities, who falsely believe that their businesses are suffering for having to tolerate presence of the filthy, unwashed masses who scare away potential customers.
These people should carry weapons. Then the right-wingers would be on their side.
and say they're all unemployed carpenters.
Already got the beard covered.
and call themselves plumbers.
Over a half million of our nation's homeless are military veterans - the people who we like to call our "heroes" yet don't do a damned thing to help when they need us.
I just did a film about this which is premiering this September (yes, that is shameless self-promotion) that I hope will do something to spread awareness of this problem.
It is sick how so many claim to "Support the Troops" yet don't give two bits about 'em once they become civilians again.
http://www.sporkproductions.com/films/pour.html
Hopefully humanity will one day learn to be humane.
I talked with a few a pro war Republicans about the homeless vets, and their assertion was that the homeless vets had mental health issues BEFORE serving, so it's their own fault where they are today...
Gotta love that 'Republican compassion'...
The right wing loves it when soldiers come home rotting inside a casket, but they step over the homeless vets in the street...
One Republican co-worker who claims to be very pro-military (yet never served) refers to the homeless as 'pieces of sh*t'
It is sad. Even in our current economy when millions are losing jobs and homes these people can't seem to wrap their tiny minds around the concept that a person returning from war is already at a disadvantage, may have physical disabilities (shrapnel in the leg, minor brain damage, etc...) that makes it harder to find work especially when they've only ever been trained in physical skills.
In the film I stayed away from being preachy or political and made it where the audience is forced to feel what it's like to live in the elements, sleep in a car and be isolated from society. Most people are deeply moved by the experience but I've already had a few who afterward say, "Well, does he really have a job or was he lying?", "Is he really a vet or was he lying?" - It's like they expect homeless people to be the scourge of the earth. And they "know" they'd never be in that situation because they've done everything right. :)
Hopefully humanity will one day learn to be humane.
Republicans are really sociopaths. I have found this to be true in nearly every wingnut I have encountered.
They cannot empathize with anyone elses situation, because they just don't give a shit about anyone else. It's a dog eat dog world out there, and if they have to step over the corpses of dead children in order to save $50 in taxes; well, that's not their problem.
Rush Limbaugh is what a smart person thinks a stupid bigot sounds like.
The GOP supports wars yet vote against $5 billion in healthcare for returning vets.
http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/1...
Summary of Key Portion of bill:
"House and Senate conferees approved this legislation providing $124.2 billion primarily for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and setting benchmarks and a timetable for the withdrawal of troops from Iraq, but President Bush vetoed the bill on May 1."
"The conference agreement on H.R. 1591 also aims to improve health care for returning soldiers and veterans. It addresses needs related to hurricane recovery for the Gulf Coast, bolsters homeland security programs and provides emergency drought relief for farmers."
"The conference report also provides $3 billion for special vehicles designed to withstand roadside bombs,"
I figured there might have been some kind of misplaced patriotism inside their souls, that their inner compassion for the troops is what keeps them going and allows them to feel good about themselves. But now, I see, I was sadly mistaken. So now we're all on the same page. It's perfectly clear that the only things left in the soul of a Republican is racism, hate, and fear of the Other. The Democrats aren't competing with a party with outdated social standards or deep corporate interests: they're competing with evil incarnate.
regarding wars
http://leadingtowar.com/
how you were led to wars..spin, rhetoric, the lies...etc.
I work for local government, and this is a real problem.
What's the solution?
Some of these homeless folks choose to be at the bottom of society's ladder. Others do not choose to be there, but have no other place to go (especially when they have kids.)
What is a city government supposed to do? We don't have money for this. What is society's answer to this? It's a serious problem and as far as I can see, there simply isn't an answer.
Thank you Presidents Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Bush and Obama. It's time for a solution.
that is the worst thing that people repeat about the poor. People are forced, in most cases by lack of opportunity, to "choose" among the least positive opportunities leaving them to achieve the least favorable results. it is the easiest thing to say they've "chosen" their lot. It's a different thing entirely to try to find a way to help them and to keep them positively involved in their own lives.
I understand the 2nd part of the paragraph, but it does not excuse the first.
Some stuff you can't make up!
It might not be 'choosing' with a clear, rational mind... but there are people everyday out there on the streets who have avenues to escape homelessness, and simply refuse to take even the most basic steps out.
The simple fact is, there is nothing to force them off the streets unless they are a threat to themselves or others, or they're committing a crime.
Ronald Reagan had ZERO sympathy for the poor- and as modern republicans regard that senile old fool as a messiah- they are simply sharing his distain for the poor..
That's a really disgusting statement there, Sparky.
There's always free cheddar in the mousetrap, baby. - Tom Waits
'Some of these homeless folks choose to be at the bottom of society's ladder' Right out of the PUKIE handbook.
The solution is bigger than any local government can solve alone.
As long as each of us must "earn" enough money to pay for food, lodging, clothing, and medical care - there will be homelessness.
Homelessness is the logical consequence of a brutal capitalistic system that makes wageslaves of every person not born into wealth.
Homelessness is also a necessary component of the wageslave system. It is the threat that forces people to become and stay "employed" .. and like any threat it must be real to be effective.
What's the solution? Democratic Socialism. Food, Shelter, Clothing, Education, Medical Care are Rights, not Commodities.
A couple of years ago homeless advocacy groups in France fought for and won a declaration by the French government that housing is a right. The advocacy groups set up 100's of tents in parts of Paris where the homeless congregated and invited Parisiens to spend a night or two camping among the homeless. Got a lot of media coverage. The City was embarassed, the State listened and declared housing a Right.
Democracy is too important to be entrusted to politicians.
Rise Up!
Protest!
Helping them at all is Socialism and we certainly can't have that. /snark
think of how you could personally help those in need?
Republican Christians despise the poor and homeless- yet their god Jesus is someone who spent his time helping the poor..go figure...
I wonder what twisted logic the right wingers use to justify their hatred of the poor- do they think jesus shared their hatred of poor people?
the bible thumpers really dig the old testament, the part where they run around killing the entire neighboring nation, down to the last child, sparing the young woman, who will be kept for mating purposes if they are virgin, else put to the sword.
Some stuff you can't make up!
As Louis Black said; "the old testament isn't even their book!"
Rush Limbaugh is what a smart person thinks a stupid bigot sounds like.
One of the so-called "invisible homeless". He spent the majority of his time as a teacher going from place to place, crashing at the houses of friends and fans. But that simple fact never seems to make the slightest impression on his supposed "followers".
There's always free cheddar in the mousetrap, baby. - Tom Waits
Maybe we should raise enough funds to buy them all guns and a sufficient supply of ammunition.
The Repug in me had this to say:
That's socialism, giving away guns they didn't earn like that! Giving guns to the needy and the homeless, all that's going to do is make them rob houses and little old ladies at gun point! The only guns they'll see are the ones pointed at them from police cruisers as they're lead to prison for being so damn lazy and poor! No, what they should be getting is a couple of bootstraps and being thrown to the curb so they can build themselves up like a Real American!
It appears Sacramento has plenty of resource to house and feed them while they are in their jails. Maybe they will throw in a shower and clean duds too.
"They pour syrup on shit and tell us it's hotcakes." Meteor Blades
I keep hearing time and time again. "The United States of America is the best country in the world." I don't see that from this side of the border. I see indentured servitude for most people that weren't born into the right social class. I also see open hostility if you don't agree, and even down right hate. I don't even want to come to your country as a tourist
odds are, rather than try to prove their case, they will instead threaten you with physical violence..
A British friend who lives here in the states tried to defend the Bristish health care system (in a debate with right wingers); and was nearlly beaten up....
Mike, just be sure to visit the liberal areas, like New England, New York and the west coast...
Boston is about a 6 hour drive from Quebec, and just about every Canadian I've met exploring my native Boston said they loved New England...So no worries, some parts of ameria are friendly....
In 1917 when an explosion destoyed the Halfax waterfront, the people of Boston sent ships and all kinds of help...Every years since- the people of halifax have sent us a giant evergreen at Christmas time...
We love Canada!
Best? Only if base that on how much money you spend on things. Spending the most on Health Care? Oh, just ignore all the uninsured and malpractice suits and such. Most spent on the Military? Ignore those dead end contracts that only serve to give campaign contributions to politicians. Most spent on a single home? Ignore those 1-2+ million homeless.
"the police were gonna come through and start arresting people.."
If they continued to insist on being poor and partially visible.
"To me, truth is not some vague, foggy notion. Truth is real. And,
at the same time, unreal. Fiction and fact and everything in between,
plus some things I can't remember, all rolled into one big "thing."
This is truth, to me. "
-Jack Handy
What a wonderful thing this man did. He is my hero!
Then, perhaps they should camp out on the lawn of the Governor's Mansion or the lawn of the State Capitol building. Let Ahnold deal with them.
Ahnold doesn't use the governor's mansion. He stays in a high class hotel.
The 'Food Not Bombs' group here in Boston provide food to anyone nearby who is hungry- they are doing what Jesus would do- feeding the hungry- yet they have been harassed, and in some cities beaten and arrested- luckily they are very active here in Boston, feeding the hungry,-But there have been many times when local politicans wanted to keep them out of view of the tourists, because as they give away food, the homless tend to gather and eat...I think Food not Bombs does a great thing...
I heard the 'Food not Bombs' workers have been harassed by the cops in other cities- for the 'crime' of feeding the homeless.
Jesus, do people regard the homeless as being as low as pigeons? they are human beings!-
It's not a crime to feed pigeons.
There's always free cheddar in the mousetrap, baby. - Tom Waits
I'd like to hear from the neighbors that called the cops. Like to see how they justify cruelty and negligence to people who need help. Pretty sure their main rationale will be "But they might be criminals, and they'll lower my property values!"
Geez, you'd think with everyone's job being so shaky, they'd have a little more sympathy for those who'd lost theirs. Apparently just having reminders of how perilous their own situation is, makes the neighbors want to remove that reminder.
to make you generous. My relatives, who all have jobs and homes, can't be bothered to even think about poor people, let alone help them. On the other hand, I've found that the poorer I am, the more likely I am to give money or food to people on the street. Being even somewhat well-off seems to make people's souls clamp up like a goddamn oyster protecting its pearl. Seems Jesus had a point about poverty putting you closer to god.
There's always free cheddar in the mousetrap, baby. - Tom Waits
"Jesus had a point about poverty putting you closer to god"
I agree- but many of the radical christians in American have reduced their 'faith' to being the worship of Jesus as a God - so they won't burn in hell. Their wporship of Jesus being the price for THEIR salvation- everyone else be damned...
So compassion for the poor doesn't enter the equation-
You'll often hear christians say you don't get to heaven through good deeds- but rather through the worship of Jesus.....
Thats why so many Christians in this country can be such selfish, heartless people...
BUT there are some Christians who 'get it', and spend their time helping the poor, and those in need- but those charitable Christains are pretty rare...
I think Jesus was a great philosopher, like Ghandi or John Lennon- but the peole who built a cult around Jesus have chosen to ignore the message and worship the messenger..
but I believe that bible quote is ". . . not by good works ALONE . . ."
They kinda forgot that last word, and kinda distorted the meaning.
My brother and his wife are very affluent- they do nothing to help the poor- they never donate to charity- they are constantly throwing away clothes or furnature when such loses their interest....I'm a broke grad student, shop at the local goodwill, and always give stuiff to goodwill, knowing that store helps the community..I know what i's like.....
And what gets me is my brother and his wife are wealthy- but at resturants, are the worst tippers I've ever met...
I know waitstaff and bar tenders bust their asses at their job, and am very generous when I tip, even if I can't afford it...I've been in their shoes..
Back in the day when I was making more money (wow, $25K/yr!) I passed by homeless people in the street. Now I'm on a much lower income and even though it's more important to stretch that dollar, I don't pass by a person begging for money. At intersections when the light is red, I pull out a few bucks. At gas stations I get approached by people, and I give them a few bucks. When that happens, if I had been planning to treat myself to a Big Mac or chinese, I go home and eat Ramen instead. Perhaps it's the simple fact that now that I realize I'm so much closer to the possibility of being that person begging for money that it has brought out the empathy. I admit that I was a greedy bitch back in the day with all my stuff. But now I realize that for SOME reason I can't understand now, that $5 meant so much to me that I couldn't give it, but it would have meant the world to that homeless person who had absolutely nothing.
..of a scene in John Carpenter's They Live when the shantytown's Nada's in gets razed.
I could see that happening, and the razing of shantytowns was rife in the 1920s and 30s....
BTW, 'They live' was a great film! Who can forget that 20 minute fistfight scene with Rowdy roddy Piper!
I trust that everyone here is actively involved with helping the homeless? OR are we too busy sitting at our keyboards bitching?
I am and have been for a long time. Each week when I grocery shop I buy what we need and then items for the local food pantry. Twice a month or so we deliver the food to the pantry. You don't have to buy much each week for it to add up. Plus I make other donations as well.
Say what you mean. Mean what you say. But don't say it mean.
homeless people. Specifically, I have a jar of change on my desk. When it gets too heavy to lift :-) I roll the coins and take it to the Community Kitchen. My last donation was $57.00.
could you tell more people
to grow up,
and show some compassion
for ordinary people?
If you're a liberal: Bushberg
If you're a consevative: Obamatown
Other ideas: Paulsontown, Geitnertown, Cramerberg...
Hope the first one sticks.
Divine Right of Kings (1600's); Divine Right of Corporations (2011)
'Goldmanville' since it looks now like Goldman owns the world, and can lie, cheat, do anything they want.................with no reprucussions!!!! GoldmanStates
I'd do the same thing Bunker did. If I had that much space and/or property, I'd help out anyway I could. These are human beings.
I'd also like to have a little chat with the people who complained and called the cops.
NOBODY 2012
Mark Merin is to be applauded. What a wonderful gesture of kindness on his part.
Sacramento is a miserable place, full of selfish right-wingers. I'm not at all surprised the policy there is to make life as awful as possible for poor people.
There's always free cheddar in the mousetrap, baby. - Tom Waits
...to deny their very existence. The facts of the matter will be derided as more un-American left-wing loonmongery from the 'liberal media'.
And then there's the DoucheMeister himself: Glenn Beck.
Republican media whores: beyond hypocrisy, beneath contempt.
Isn't there any public land left?
"On the Sabbath-day Jesus walked among these poor helpless and suffering people, who were waiting for the water to rise. Jesus looked at one man, and though no one told him, he knew that this man had been a cripple, without power to walk, for almost forty years. He said to this man, "Do you wish to be made well?"
The man did not know who Jesus was. He answered, "Sir, I cannot walk; and I have no man to carry me down to the water when it rises in the pool; but while I am trying to crawl down, others crowd in before me, and the place is full, so that I cannot reach the water and be cured."
Jesus said to the man, "Rise, take up your bed, and walk!" The cripple had never heard words like these before; but as they were spoken he felt a new power shoot through his limbs. He
rose up, took the piece of matting on which he had been lying, rolled
it up, and walked away toward his home! Some one who saw him said, "Stop; this is the Sabbath day, and it is against the law for you to carry your bed!" The man did not lay down his load. He only said, "The one who made me well said to me, 'Take up your bed and walk.' "
The Jews said, "Who was this man that told you to carry your bed on the Sabbath?"
The man who had been cured did not know who it was that had cured him; for there were many standing near, and Jesus, after healing the man, had walked away without being noticed. But after this Jesus met this man in the Temple, and said to him, "You have been made well; do not sin against God any more, or something worse than disease will come upon you."
The man went away from the Temple, and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. The Jews were very angry at Jesus because he had cured this man on the Sabbath. But Jesus said to them, "My Father works on all days to do good to men, and I work also."
These words made the Jews ready to kill Jesus, not only because, as they said, he had broken the Sabbath, but because he had spoken of God as his Father, as though he were the Son of God. He was indeed the Son of God, although they would not believe it."
When Christian republicicans act this way, they in my mind are the new Jews, the words confuse me so much and history itself, was Hitler killing the Jews for hating the poor? Is this what the Tea Baggers are getting at when they call us and Obama Nazi like? Are they afraid we will punish them for hating poor homeless people? My mind can't handle all the contradictions of words and history. I don't want to see even the haters punished or killed, I just want every one to be safe and happy. This current American system is nasty.
“Where Do You Stand?”
Problem is not homelessnes, but landlessness.
Not just the Republicans, although their mindset is front and center...others who support this mindset just murmur it so they won't be put in the same category.
It's most of those who own a business...or thinks they are 'above it all' because they have never had to worry about losing anything...would so love to get across to all of those :
Enjoy all your money, really nice homes, clothes, festivities..and great health care. In the end, it won't make any difference, because some day you and you loved ones will be rotting in a hole in the ground just like the rest of us will. Just like everyone else, you'll go from nothing to nothing.
Sorry if that's too graphic for the first thing in the morning, but that was the last thing to go through my mind when falling alseep last night.
Every metro in America needs a couple square miles of cinder block huts with outhouses in the back. You know, like Soweto. Put it out in the country and as long as there is mass transit to and from to get to jobs, the rich will be happy. Out of sight. Out of mind.
How can you keep on moving unless you migrate too
They tell ya to keep on moving but migrate you must not do
The only reason for moving and the reason why I roam
To move to a new location and find myself a home
Now if you pitch your little tent along the broad highway
The board of sanitation says, "Sorry, you can't stay"
Come on, come on, get moving it's their everlasting cry
Can't stay, can't go back, can't migrate, so where the hell am I
-- Agnes "Sis" Cunningham
................been me. I live below the 'poverty line' and have for years. No house, no boat, no mountain cabin, no seaside property :..........I got nothing, but I left the FASCIST country to live like a human being anyway. on $735!!! F**k the rich!
The fact that such a law exists in the state capital means that this state's legislators are deathly afraid of a Million Man March or a Coxey's Army descending upon their insular and ignorant government for redress of very real economic grievances. This is less an anti-homeless law than an anti-mass-protest law.
Hugs for that lawyer! I didn't know lawyers wher human.
Arm the Homeless. There are certainly too many ultra rich. You guys should simply take it all from them.
A new American Revolution with a brand new Guillotine.
'The devil crept into Heaven, God overslept on the 7th, the New World Order was born on Sept 11th.' - Immortal Technique
Whenever they found a drunk homeless person, SOP was to drive them across the river and tell them a beating waited for them if they crossed the bridge back.
Yeah...dad and I aren't close.
Should spend a week or so in the Expo shelter.
Maybe after that they will want a tent too.
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