Link to MSNBC Slideshow - Yup, this is happening in America and will soon be prevalent throughout the country.
Sacramento Tent Cities - pictures
Additionally, here is a video of St Petersburg police eradicating a homeless tent-city by cutting up their tents - the only shelter they have.
Even Oprah is aware of the growing problem:
6 comments:
Randy,
I see these tents every day on the outskirts of Sacramento from the AMTRAK commuter train. They do seem to be increasing in number lately, and there are more homeless people on the streets downtown, asking for money. I think it's criminal the way the police treat these folks, although I wish they would clean up around themselves better. When they move on, they leave huge piles of garbage. - Jim A., formerly of Henderson, NV
I think the cutting up of the tents and the ransacking of the belongings is unconscionable. The mayor of St Petersburg should be forced to defend that aspect of the evictions, as well as wake the heck up and realize that they better allocate and designate land for these impromptu communities. They aren't going away, and the "official" resources are woefully inadequate. I think the taxpayers would rather fund portajohn and dumpster contracts than have garbage strewn about throughout the cities.
If you let people maintain a semblance of dignity then there is a much better chance of these communities being largely self-policing.
Aaron said...
Seattle has had a number of homeless camps for years (tent cities). This one has been in news pretty frequently:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29523382/
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008205360_webhomeless26m.html
http://www.king5.com/localnews/stories/NW_092208WAB_nickelsville_homeless_camp_LJ.a04c1daa.html
http://www.nickelsvilleseattle.org/
I notice the difference between the 1936 pictures and today is that today the people look like true down and outers that never could get it together. Note the tattoos and other signs. Talk about dignity? Where's the self dignity? In 36' they were fleeing the midwest and other parts to get work and make a better life.
And then you got Oprah up there? Her boy Obama is just making it worse. She needs to get off her sorry fat ass and do some real work, but since Obama cut the incentives for giving to charity, she'll just go on producing her crapping TV show(s)
I'm investing in tents and camping gear.
I get that the city has to somewhat control these "tent cities" before they get out of hand. I also understand that there are places where the homeless cannot be.
However there are ways to go about handling these situations. Cutting up tents and engaging in this kind of dehumanizing is not it.
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