I know homelessness has always been a problem in America. Numbers went up dramatically during the Reagan years, for sure, but didn't abate much during the Clinton Admin. and Rudy Guliani in NYC years, despite the different tactics to dealing with it. I've volunteered in homeless shelters both in Minneapolis and Washington, D.C. and from those experiences know that in the last couple decades most of our homeless have been mentally ill and/or chemically dependent, usually both, and way, way too many of them are un-cared for U.S. Veterans (a travesty!). Certainly the closing of state-run institutions for the MI/CD population contributed to rising numbers of homeless, even as the "police state" of most of our cities has made them invisible.
But now we have a whole different beast, as they say. Now we have the "working poor" and the newly poor middle class (I wonder when we'll have a catchy name for them/us) who are losing their homes left and right. We have a crisis, that's for sure, but still it hits me hard that there are tent cities and modern-day "Hoovervilles" going up in our cities.
The Seattle Times had this piece a few days ago: "Homeless to Build Own Nickelville", and you can find videos of the Los Angeles tent cities on Youtube. The ironic thing is, the YouTube video is by the BBC. What does the rest of the world think of America now?
As I've said before, every day I wake up and am so thankful that I have a beautiful home, food, hot water, and all that I need. It strikes me that "there but for the grace of God, go I," all the time.
But now we have a whole different beast, as they say. Now we have the "working poor" and the newly poor middle class (I wonder when we'll have a catchy name for them/us) who are losing their homes left and right. We have a crisis, that's for sure, but still it hits me hard that there are tent cities and modern-day "Hoovervilles" going up in our cities.
The Seattle Times had this piece a few days ago: "Homeless to Build Own Nickelville", and you can find videos of the Los Angeles tent cities on Youtube. The ironic thing is, the YouTube video is by the BBC. What does the rest of the world think of America now?
As I've said before, every day I wake up and am so thankful that I have a beautiful home, food, hot water, and all that I need. It strikes me that "there but for the grace of God, go I," all the time.
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