[Ayoob]

Sounds like it's a good time to set up a new American colony. How about one in Iraq, one in Afghanistan, one in Venezuela, one in Zimbabwe, and another one in South Africa.

The homeless, anyone doing life in prison, drug addicts, the homeless, the poor, the handicapped, the feebleminded, and the Jews. With a mere handful of Jews in the mix I would imagine any colony would be wildly successful in a very short period of time. Those would be your "seed" Jews, with more to join as the financial opportunities arose.

Anyway.

Let the colonists ("immigrants") know that they won't be prosecuted for anything they do to clear the land for American expansion. Once we have new farms going, new energy resources to harness, and a little more liebensraum to spread ourselves around in, things should be good.

Would anyone like more organic bananas?

[Ludi]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('The_Toecutter', '
')IMO, the least expensive way to address this(on part of the taxpayer) would be to not bail out the banks at all, forcibly get rid of property tax collection(so that people can afford a place to live even with no job), outlaw states and municipals from passing anti-vagrancy laws(with plenty of statements from the U.S. constitution to back it up), and whatever homes are foreclosed on and owned by a bank that in such a scenario would be out of business should be given away to people who are homeless, for free, preferably to the person who previously occupied it. There's more than enough viable homes to go around for everyone who doesn't have one and which wants or needs one.

[Aaron]

Sounds good

[Grautr]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Plantagenet', 'A') lot of the "homeless" in tent cities are alchoholics, drug addicts, and the mentally ill. They set up their "tent cities" near cities because they want to score drugs, panhandle, and get free food and other services from governmental and religious social service agencies-----they couldn't do that as easily at remote highway rest stops.

[Grautr]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('The_Toecutter', 'P')eople who live in their cars are often wrongfully searched and/or harassed by law enforcement or told to move elsewhere(where the cycle will be repeated). People who live in tents(as they are in these tent cities) are repeatedly removed by force because many communities don't want them nearby. People who squat in abandoned buildings are often forcibly removed by law enforcement for "trespassing". The U.S. also has many anti-vagrancy laws that effictively make homelessness a jailable offense. I suppose they could stay in shelters where they will likely have most of their possessions stolen and don't even have a garauntee of a bed(many are only given a chair to sit in).

IMO, the least expensive way to address this(on part of the taxpayer) would be to not bail out the banks at all, forcibly get rid of property tax collection(so that people can afford a place to live even with no job), outlaw states and municipals from passing anti-vagrancy laws(with plenty of statements from the U.S. constitution to back it up), and whatever homes are foreclosed on and owned by a bank that in such a scenario would be out of business should be given away to people who are homeless, for free, preferably to the person who previously occupied it. There's more than enough viable homes to go around for everyone who doesn't have one and which wants or needs one.

[Jack]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Dreamtwister', '
')Yes, I think that's a fantastic idea, but not at the rest stops. It would be too difficult to administer to all of those places...I guess we could call them "camps" if they are all spread out like that. They should be all in one or two places...concentrated, if you will. You know, to make it easier to manage.

[Aaron]

[Ludi]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Grautr', 'I') would think it would also be an insentive for some to stop paying their own mortgage and see if they can get some cheap accomodation as well.

[Novus]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Aaron', '[')img]http://img41.imageshack.us/img41/5738/jackss.jpg[/img]

[Ludi]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Novus', '
')
I am pretty sure the homeless in tent cities will in end up in FEMA camps before too much longer. They are just waiting for the public to turn blind eye to it and look the other way.

[Sixstrings]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('RonMN', 'T')his isn't the first thread on the homeless & tent cities, but a thought popped into my mellon...Why not let the homeless set up camp at rest-stops along the highway?

Rest stops have bathrooms, showers, & drinking water. They have alot of land to pitch tents & most even have a place to "walk" your pet. They're away from large population centers. Big empty parking lots incase you're sleeping in your car as opposed to a tent. We could even add a few inexpensive fire rings for camp fires.

Even if this prevented most people from stopping at a rest stop, it would be a small price to pay in order to give these homeless people a place to set-up & not be hasseled & "moved on".

Good idea? Bad idea? Discuss...

[Plantagenet]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Sixstrings', ' ')we'll still have folks sleeping on streets while in Britian they get a council house.

[Sixstrings]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Plantagenet', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Sixstrings', ' ')we'll still have folks sleeping on streets while in Britian they get a council house.

[Plantagenet]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Sixstrings', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Plantagenet', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Sixstrings', ' ')we'll still have folks sleeping on streets while in Britian they get a council house.

[Plantagenet]

Here is a YouTube interview with a homeless nurse in London who is living on the streets.

homeless nurse living on the streets of London

Surely an actual interview with a homeless person in Britain is sufficient to demonstrate that there are obviously ARE homeless people in Britain?

If not, there are interviews with lots of other homeless british people on the same youtube page the link brings you to.

[Sixstrings]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Plantagenet', 'H')ere is a YouTube interview with a homeless nurse in London who is living on the streets.

homeless nurse living on the streets of London

Surely an actual interview with a homeless person in Britain is sufficient to demonstrate that there are obviously ARE homeless people in Britain?

If not, there are interviews with lots of other homeless british people on the same youtube page the link brings you to.

[Plantagenet]

The Homeless Front UK ([b]HFUK) is a collective of homeless Londoners who seek to create a tent city [/b]as a sanctuary for themselves and for other Londoners without shelter. The ‘tent city’ they envisage will be drug and alcohol free; a safe and secure place where homeless people can live while they seek work and make the transition to more permanent housing. This model provides the dispossessed with the sense that they have a home, which the common urban practice of government- or charity-provided overnight shelter for the homeless does not.
In the UK there are an estimated 400,000 ‘hidden homeless’ without a roof over their heads[2]. In December 2006 the Homeless Front UK initiated its Out of the Doorways Campaign to empower and house some of these. As of December 15, 2006, the nascent HFUK has so far housed 11 of London’s ‘rough sleepers’.
By spearheading the creation of Dignity Village between 2000 and 2004, Jack Tafari pioneered the concept of the sanctioned tent city in Portland, Oregon. Now Tafari and his group want to “replicate dignity” in London, creating a flagship, eco-friendly tent city as a model for other UK cities where homelessness is a problem.

Brit homeless wish they could duplicated tent cities for homeless found in the USA

The HFUK knows rather more about the homeless issue in the UK then either of us, I suspect. The HFUK is rather sure that there are homeless people in the UK.
-------------


Bottomline---Its silly to pretend that the UK doesn't have any homeless people. Not only does the UK have homeless people, but homeless activists like those in the HFUK would like to see tent cities established in the UK similar to those in the USA as they think the tent provides a sense of "home" for the homeless person that is missing in the government and charity shelters.

[Sixstrings]

From your link.. that's a pic of Jack Tafari, rastafarian, homeless activist, and leader of the Homeless Front of the UK.

I'm sorry Plant, every one of these Brit examples you bring out really strike me as enjoying street life just a BIT too much. It's like it's a lifestyle choice with these people. I know the economy is in the tank, but honestly.. if you've got the energy to start a world-wide activist movement, then you've got the energy to get a haircut and find a paying job *somewhere*.

Let's not forget that in Europe there's a whole segment of people who are "squatters," and are more like anarchists than the kind of homeless we have in the US.

Anyway, I congratulate you Plant on countering every point I make. But we're still both just singing in the wind here from the other side of a big pond. It would be good to hear from some of our Brit posters.. from their viewpoint, actually living in Britain, what's their assessment of real street-living homelessness in their country?

[Prince]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Sixstrings', 'N')ow, I admit that if the Great Financial Crash happens, then neither Europe nor the US will be able to afford such services. But if things get THAT bad, then it's game over on a lot of stuff anyway.

[Prince]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('The_Toecutter', 'P')eople who live in their cars are often wrongfully searched and/or harassed by law enforcement or told to move elsewhere(where the cycle will be repeated). People who live in tents(as they are in these tent cities) are repeatedly removed by force because many communities don't want them nearby. People who squat in abandoned buildings are often forcibly removed by law enforcement for "trespassing".