Will "Tent Cities" Become the Norm for Some?

After the housing bubble burst, businesses began to layoff workers who found it increasingly difficult to find work as time went on. Some of these people began to live in tents in parks and forests around the country, and the World as the economic collapse afffected their own countries as well.

Tent cities have been around for ages, in one form or another, and are one of the last options for the poor. News organizations rarely highlight the issue, as it is disturbing to viewers who are comfortable in their cozy homes, but it has become more pronounced and more difficult to ignore the plight of the poor as their numbers grow.

Some of these poor are former middle-class people who, through various circumstances... most not of their own doing... have found themselves sleeping under tarps in the forest. Survival is their main goal now. With the cold of Winter here, they have few choices left but to brace for it as best they can.

The main point of this thread is to bring awareness to the realities most people want to ignore, that even here in America we have people fighting for survival, much as humanity has done throughout history. After all, it wasn't that long ago, maybe two to three hundred years ago, where just about everyone on Earth lived like this. Our country is far richer and robust now though, and we can do better than to let people die in a tent in a forest... we have the means, we have the ability, all we need now is the compassion for the well-being of people.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tent_city

 

After world war I soldiers who were promised benifits but were never given said benifits, google it for details, made a tent city in Washington DC. The government-could have been democrats then=sic the US standing army against them. Never trust the govenment and never allow the government to think it is above the people when it is suppose to represent the people and work for them. This is pretty much what our founding fathers preached.

 

Don't forget the shanty towns, called "Hoovervilles" that sprung up during the Depression. If "tent cities" spring up nationwide, it wouldn't be the first time that our government forced Americans out of their homes (through ineptitude or through misadventure) and onto the streets.

 

Isn't it a shame that in the richest country in the world, we have others that are homeless and starving. Not by choice, as some choose, but because of circumstances. And some of us help other countries. Take care of home first, or you will have no home. We need to concentrate a little more on your own country before we start fighting other countries battles. I know others are in bad shape or even worse shape then we are, but should you fix your house first so you can help those others with their house? They may actually have to live with you for awhile so you can fix there home. And if you home is not ready, neither of you will have a place to live.

 

That's one reason I have a greater respect for Jimmy Carter than most here. I like his compassion towards the less fortunate.

 

And yet, no one's lot improved during his presidency. I know that I'm not the only one who remembers the dollar being referred to as the "JC Penny."

 

If money is what your interested in, you are not alone. Most people crave it. Me too, it's just far lower on my list than other people's lists. Health and general well-being is my big one... mine, as well as my family's. Money comes into play there, we don't make enough to satisfy that want/need. I'm hoping the new Health Law allows me a chance to achieve it though, since I have been unable to achieve it myself.

 

Tent cities exist because we allow them to be. If we wanted to end them, or feed our hungry children and so on and so on we would. We just don't care enough. Many people can't afford the tents as well.

 

K Dawson, have you ever heard of "pop squatters?"

 

No, not really, but I'm sure you can enlighten me.

 

Yes, I can. When I lived in NOLA, I knew a number of the tarot card readers from Jackson Square. While many of them shared apartments or shotgun houses with each other, many others were homeless. Some of them camped in the park, some of them slept on benches in shifts--in Jackson Square or in other areas of the city (the city put up benches with "arm rests" at the midpoint to prevent this behavior). Others would find buildings that were locked--typically abandoned, but not always--and "pop" the lock. They would move from building to building as they were discovered or in danger of being discovered. They were known as "pop squatters."

Interestingly, there were several churches that thought they were doing a good thing by feeding the homeless people that worked/hung out in Jackson Square. With free food and a place to sleep, however, the people who chose to live that lifestyle had no desire to move on or to work.

 

This is another right wing, Christian myth. Repeated studies have indicated that homeless people don't like being homeless, people on welfare want to get jobs. If you want to give this credence or not is up to you. Are there hardcore do nothings? Of course, but then I believe this is more of judging everyone by the acts of a minority. For example when riots strike a city and a couple hundred people rampage in the street, many scream about the end of civilization and destruction of order without ever mentioning the millions of people in the same city who are at home minding their own business and wishing everyone well.

 

I lived within walking distance of Jackson Square, in the Marigny on Royal Street. I had occasion to talk to the readers every day. If they had no homes they were happy to get enough money to eat and to drink another day. They had few problems to deal with, outside of the weather and I think I know that particular group as they existed at that time just a tad better than you. I also remember what the looting was like after Katrina. I lived in a relatively peaceful neighborhood with relatively little crime. After Katrina, the looting was terrible and we heard gunshots several times a day. My area had not had a murder for three years and post-Katrina we had three murders in two months. I was actually grateful for the presence of the MPs and the National Guard. The effect of rioting and looting has a terrible negative and dehumanizing effect on the neighborhoods in which it takes place. It might not be the end of civilization, but the destruction of order is very present.

 

After any disaster like Katrina there'll be more homeless, desperate people fighting to survive. Some of those people living in abandoned buildings and cardboard boxes may have once been highly respected members in their communities ...though most have enough money to flee in time. Good for them. Some stayed behind to protect their valuable property. That's their choice, and they have the right to make it. The less fortunate don't have as many options though, and a lot of them have little choice but to stay put. So, some turned to theft, and even murder, in order to survive. Some of us understand that, some of us don't. With luck, none of us, rich or poor, will be in the kind of situation where we have to make those kinds of choices.