$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('ReverseEngineer', 'W')ith all our discussions of Doomsteads and analysis of the Real Estate crash, there hasn't been much talk here about the growing problem of Homelessness as the Greatest Depression begins to take hold. Here is a brief sampling of articles from around the country for the last month or so
California
Hawaii
West Virginia
Massachusetts
Indiana
Georgia
Texas
The sad thing I see so far is how utterly unrealistic some folks are in their expectations and how they are currently dealing with what is obviously a growing emergency
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '&')quot;Unfortunately I think we are going to see it get worse before it gets better, said McCall. "I'm hopeful by the end of the year maybe we'll see some relief from the situation.
PeakOil is You
THE Homeless Thread (merged)
Re: The Homeless Thread
by simplelife » Fri 13 Mar 2009, 10:26:59
Now, who here thinks we will see relief from this problem by the end of the year? Way more likely is that by the end of the year the problem we have now will have doubled or tripled in size. The amorphous collection of agencies and church groups and the Salvation Army that traditionally have handled this problem are of course sorely underfunded, and woefuly short of facilities that can accomodate homeless FAMILIES, as opposed to your typical image of the Homeless Bag Lady or Wino.
People are of course taking the problem into their own hands and putting up Tent Cities, but these of course go hand in hand with Sanitation problems and Crime. So you have your city Cops and Legislators busying themselves closing down parks at night and supposedly directing the Homeless camped out there to appropriate shelters, which of course either don't exist or are filled past capacity.
So the question I am posing to the group members is just what kind of policies we need to take towards the increasing Homeless population both in the short term and in the long term? I'll pitch out a few ideas to start.
Sanitation is probably the biggest problem, lack of bathrooms in many of these Tent Cities. To resolve that problem inthe short term, I think we need to build many more Public Bathrooms, which would give work to unemployed construction workers to start, and then employment for Janitors and Maintenance staff for said public bathrooms. Tracts of empty land can be designated as Tent Sites that are within walking distance of these public bath houses.
Since many people who are put out of their homes by foreclosure still own a Car, large Parking lots both Public and Private should be designated as Carstead Sites. All over the country there are closed Truckstops which could be converted to Carstead Communities.
Of course we also have all those Foreclosed McMansions as well, in a foreclosed on McMansion a family could be assigned one of the bedrooms, and you house 4-6 families per McMansion, and try to put together people who are related or at least know each other somewhat. Obviously you will have problems with this, but at least the people will have a roof over their heads. Its just plain stupid to have empty houses and people without houses at the same time.
Another good question for the group is just how BIG the Homeless population needs to get before we really see serious social repurcussions from it. Right now, these Tent Cities in most of the locations I Googled up seem to be in the neighborhood of around 300-500 people in towns and cities in the 100,000 or more range, a small enough percentage that they still can be swept under the rug to an extent by the local Gestapo. My guess would be when we start to see 1000 or more people in such Obamavilles that the crime and violence will increase to the point we can't ignore it any longer. How long before we arrive at that point?
Finally, the most controversial question of all, what about those FEMA Camps? Will the homeless be moved in that direction, and WHEN? Clearly, the population that we can effectively house is as much a limiting factor to our overall carrying capacity as how many we can feed. Shelter is a fundamental human need right up there with Food as basic to survival. With the collapse of the monetary system and the ownership system of property, its a significant problem to resolve in how to shelter those who have been disenfranchised from the system through no fault of their own as their jobs are cut and the economic system spins down out of control. Is merely being rendered homeless because you lost your job enough to send you to a FEMA Camp, or to the Human Waste Reprocessing Facility in San Antonio?
Reverse Engineer
No specific answers from me. But, I would say there needs to be some balance between helping those in need, and avoiding a self perpetuating system of complacant poverty and sedentary lifestyles.
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Re: The Homeless Thread
by vision-master » Fri 13 Mar 2009, 11:07:16
Re: The Homeless Thread - Homeless ppl don't pst here.
- vision-master
Re: The Homeless Thread
by Ludi » Fri 13 Mar 2009, 15:38:29
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('timmac', ' ')say I put my RV next to your property and lived there for free and dump my black waste towards your property and threw trash about,:
Why would you do those things?
- Ludi
Re: The Homeless Thread
by Pops » Fri 13 Mar 2009, 16:06:38
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('ReverseEngineer', 'S')o the question I am posing to the group members is just what kind of policies we need to take towards the increasing Homeless population both in the short term and in the long term?
I know it's a fuzzy wuzzy answer but I'm thinking the deal is individuals will resume taking care of their own instead of sticking old folks in a home and moving to Palm Springs once the kids are gone.
Third and forth bedrooms may become bedrooms again instead of "Dens", "Sewing rooms", etc.
Come on, it could happen...
The legitimate object of government, is to do for a community of people, whatever they need to have done, but can not do, at all, or can not, so well do, for themselves -- in their separate, and individual capacities.
-- Abraham Lincoln, Fragment on Government (July 1, 1854)
-- Abraham Lincoln, Fragment on Government (July 1, 1854)
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