homeless

JP Sears says…

Eric Zuesse
Nationwide in the U.S. on July 28th, the “Estimation of households experiencing rental shortfall and potentially facing eviction” is 43.12%, according to Stout Risius Ross, LLC, “Based on Household Pulse Survey data” (from the U.S. Census Bureau).

I’m not from DC, but I live here. I’m now a part of this living, breathing being that is a city. This city. It helps me to think of cities that way, even ones that I don’t fully feel at home in – like a body. And I’m like a blood transfusion. I know this isn’t my city, my body, but it’s where my life flows now, and so I best flow with it. This body holds me – it is my literal and figurative structure. I am one of the millions of cells rushing through the veins of this place, and although I’m a relative newcomer, I can feel that this body is not well.

As the number of cases of COVID-19 in the tri-state area rises to over 150, Governor Andrew Cuomo has declared a state of emergency across New York State. Local universities like Hofstra, Columbia and Yeshiva have shut their doors on students today.

In Britain, homelessness used to be a problem almost exclusively for older people and for those with what are euphemistically termed mental health issues. True, there was the 1966 dramatisation Cathy Come Home which highlighted a wider issue, but generally speaking, after the Second World War, homelessness was not that big a deal for ordinary people.

Our weekly documentary film curated by the editorial team at 21WIRE.

While millions of Americans celebrate Christmas this year with loved ones, carving turkey and sharing gifts, others are not so fortunate. According to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, over half a million of us will spend Christmas on the streets. The government agency estimates that on any given day, around 553,000 Americans are homeless.

Our weekly documentary film curated by the editorial team at 21WIRE.

One member of Portland's planning and sustainability commission confirmed that the goal is to benefit homeless people. Inviting the homeless to rest is inviting them to squat. Once squatting takes place, claims to ownership will follow, based on long-held norms that property is possession.

The fruit of welfare always is need for more welfare. Both cities have created this growing need and now are fighting over who is going to pay for it. Neither one can afford it.