The prospective POTUS is promising to end the ‘scourge of homelessness.” Evidently we homeless are “drug-addicted, violent and dangerously deranged,” who leave “piles of needles and waste” in our wakes, thus imposing on “hardworking and law-abiding citizens.” But help is on the way, in the form of “treatment, services and rehabilitation,” the refusal of which will result in arrest. Fortunately once we’ve been relocated to tent cities or mental institutions our cities will suddenly become beautiful (“once again”).
At least homelessness has been recognized as a problem, and the US government is going to fix it. The two countries to have been successful at this are modern-day Finland, where the approach has been compassionate and effective, and Nazi Germany, where it was merely effective.
To whom is homelessness a “scourge,” exactly? Those angelic Sunday drivers and pickle-ballers out only to picnic and stay fit, when their vision is offended by the sight of the less fortunate? Oh, the humanity! Or are the scourged those who sleep out in the cold and eat (food-bank supplied) Pop-Tarts for dinner, whose skin ulcerates beneath unwashed clothing? I think it’s important to know who is who in this conversation.
I myself am not “drug-addicted, violent or dangerously deranged,” nor are the homeless persons I know personally (admittedly, very few). But I’ve no doubt that some are. I’ve no doubt some are also unsung or forgotten heroes, loving and gentle persons and artists. I do seriously doubt the homeless represent the “drug-addicted, violent or dangerously deranged” to a greater degree than professional athletes, say, or rock musicians or even politicians; we’re just more visible and vulnerable to groundless accusation.
Needles and waste. What are we talking about here? I can’t speak from experience, as it isn’t a big problem here as far as I can see, but I can make suggestions. Clean it up, for example. Sharps containers, trash cans, portapotties, supervision. You’re welcome.
As for the “hardworking and law-abiding,” studies show that around half of thehomeless are just that. Employed, that is to say, and the only law they’re breaking is the one that says they have no right to exist because they are without residence.
Apparently, at least according to our original thesis, we, the homeless, are what’s wrong with our “once beautiful” cities, and when we are gone the former glories of such places will be restored. It seems poverty, overpopulation, automobile traffic, air pollution, litter, robbery, rape, murder, corporate exploitation and corrupt government don’t leave marks.
I know, he’s not talking about Prescott. He’s talking about big cities, of which we are but a microcosm. But it’s good to start addressing this issue immediately, while the numbers may still be manageable, because it’s about to get worse. According to a study done by Harvard researchers there were 653,000 homeless Americans in 2023 — a 12% increase from 2022, and a 48% increase from 2015. Anybody notice a trend, here? With the next wave of inflation, which 16 Nobel Prizewinning economists predict will follow the imposition of tariffs, tax cuts for the wealthy, the deportation of cheap agricultural labor and other factors that will skyrocket inflation, more people will become homeless. Better order more tents!
Or hey, maybe here’s an idea: stop treating the homeless like criminals. Try treating them as what many of them are, after all: victims of global inflation and their own government’s ineptitude. Instead of disdain, accusation and heavy-handedness, a little respect and compassion might be useful tools toward eliminating this “scourge.”
A riddle: What is a tent city surrounded by concertina wire? Answer: An internment camp. One can’t help but be wary, given the promised roundup and expulsion of illegal immigrants. Or maybe the homeless will be sent to pick peaches and weed soybeans. Maybe I should shut up before I give somebody an idea. Except I’m sure it’s already being considered. Since we’ll be subject to arrest if we resist relocation and reeducation, and the mental institutions can only hold so many of us, a future of convict labor doesn’t seem too improbable.
It’s cold out here and time for this outlaw to climb in the back of his car for a few hours of criminal sleep, ever alert for the sound of marching boots.
