This is a very interesting article by John Clegg. It is from the radical perspectives website. It is a case report on homelessness in Sacramento. It seems like homelessness has become normalized in the U.S.
The demographics for the U.S. showed that there are 6,600 new evictions every day; one occurs every 13 seconds.[4] At the end of 2008, over 19,000,000 housing units stood vacant [5] with the numbers still climbing. In 2007 it was estimated that in the course of a year over 3,500,000 people are homeless, 1,350,000 of them being children,[6] which is obviously much greater today. So it becomes clear that there are easily more than five empty homes for every homeless individual or family.
We are currently facing a severe financial crisis and homelessness is just a pay check away. Today homelessness is not only limited to people who have serious additions with drugs, alcohol or gambling. Or to people with mental illness. We are all prone to becoming homeless.
Sacramento area ……unemployment rate was 10.4%.[1] In 2007 and 2008 there had been 33,500 foreclosures in the eight-county Sacramento metropolitan area.[2] In a report in October, 2008 Sacramento was #10 in the U.S. for the number of foreclosures.
These statistics are alarming and it indicates that Sacramento is experiencing severe economic turmoil. The living conditions of people who were recently paying their mortgages and once considered “middle class” or “working class” Americans is horrible. Their lives have been transformed. They are living in squalid conditions in cramps. It is like these people are refugees of their homeland. Many of these people were leading normal lives before their misfortunes. Cleggs describes a resident below
He was articulate and said until the crisis he was working in construction and going to college. And he repeatedly made it clear that he wanted to stop living there and get back in housing as soon as possible.
This is clearly someone who had some sense of direction in life like many others who live in the camp. These people were once employed, responsible citizens who were living the American dream. Most of them worked in the once booming construction industry and since the bubble burst they are out of a job. Therefore they were unable to pay their mortgage or rent.
A surprising thing in the article is the way in which these people are being treated by their local government. The Mayor suggested that a better alternative for the cramps would be to put the people in an Arena. This is so familiar it just reminds me of the aftermath of Katrina and how people got locked in the Superdome in New Orleans which the author mentions of course. It is like these people are an eye sore to society and it is better to lock them away.
It is just sad to see that people are being punished for their misfortunes and living in squalor because they were not able to pay their mortgages. Since they are unemployed because the bubble burst in the industry that they worked in. While the CEO’S of companies are receiving bailouts. People may argue that the modification of mortgage plan that Obama has passed is helping homeowners. I totally agree but it is only helping a limited few. It is helping those who still have their houses and also their jobs. It is not helping the unemployed who are close to being homeless or those who are already homeless.
It is clear that America is currently experiencing a depression it is just that the main stream media is not reporting it.
