PHOTO/MARIAH CASTANEDA
In Berkeley, CA, a plan to put homeless people into a camp that resembles a refugee or prison camp, with fence and guard shack, has outraged the homeless and others there. They have called it a concentration camp and see this as a plan to round up people and step up the harassment against anyone who refuses to go there. In response, homeless people are creating self-run tent communities where cooperation and sharing is practiced. The whole of society can be organized in this communal way, with decent housing and everything we need. There is more than enough for all of us. The demand for housing is a demand for a transformed world. The government must represent us and guarantee these necessities.
The People’s Tribune has long been campaigning around homelessness. We emphasize stories on these pages from the leaders of the homeless movement themselves, and we will continue to indict a system based on profit as the cause of this senseless human catastrophe. We are calling on people active around homelessness to write, send photos, give your feedback. Call 800-691-6888 or email info@peoplestribune.org.
I wish people knew how cheap city and county building departments sell demolition permits to demolish perfectly good houses. The price varies between $200 and $350–to demolish houses whose mortgages have been paid off, and that would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to replace.
It is easy to find out what building departmwnts charge–just call them on the phone!–but no one ever does that.