PHOTO/KYLE COOPER
SANTA CRUZ, CA — Millions of America’s 140 million poor are already living without housing and many of us are a medical crisis, layoff or car repair away from joining the ranks our country’s unhoused. Cities across America are increasing their sweeps of camps, discarding people’s tents, blankets, and other survival property. At the same time, economists are warning that there could be a global recession as a result of issues including the trade wars, tax breaks for the super-wealthy, and student loan debt. There is a potential catastrophic increase in the number of Americans forced to live on our streets.
This impending crisis could be one reason for the new attacks against those living outside. There is an ideological war that attempts to paint the homeless as mentally ill drug addicts beyond help or redemption, and is driving a wave of Recall Campaigns against political leaders who have attempted to introduce humane solutions for the growing homeless crisis.
Trump’s favorite TV stations are participating in the dehumanization of those without housing now that it has successfully sowed fear of the refugee to millions of Americans. Are those frightening pictures of standing room only fenced in immigration detention centers a means to get people to accept camps for the millions evicted onto our streets?
Fox’s Jesse Watters comments on the increase in those living outside in Los Angeles saying, “You only have one solution. You bulldoze the 50-block radius, and you institutionalize everybody and detoxify them, and then you let them out.”
The Trump interview with Tucker Carlson (Fox News) adds a frightening voice to the war on America’s homeless. “Police officers are getting sick just by walking the beat,” Trump claimed. “We cannot ruin our cities. And you have people that work in those cities. They work in office buildings and to get into the building, they have to walk through a scene that nobody would have believed possible three years ago. . . .When we have leaders of the world coming in to see the President of the United States and they’re riding down a highway, they can’t be looking at that,” he said. “They can’t be looking at scenes like you see in Los Angeles and San Francisco. So we’re looking at it very seriously. We may intercede. We may do something to get that whole thing cleaned up. . . ”
If the history of past dehumanization campaigns against those without housing is any indication, the framing of the crisis facing millions of Americans as “An Addiction Crisis Disguised as a Housing Crisis” and the use of the recall to stop political leaders from advancing realistic and humane solutions suggests a dramatic increase in the passage and enforcement of harsher laws, destruction of people’s survival property and the possibly of internment as is already the case with people fleeing the chaos and violence caused by decades of US wars in Central America.
The phrase “life unworthy of life” or “Lebensunwertes Leben” in German was a Nazi designation for the segments of the community which, according to Hitler’s regime of the time, had no right to live. We cannot let this happen here. We are homeless not helpless.
Editor’s note: This is a shortened version of Keith McHenry’s article, which can be found in its entirety at peoplestribune.org and at http://blog.foodnotbombs.net/the-new-war-against-americas-homeless
Keith McHenry is co-founder of Food Not Bombs.
Mr Trump with all due respect I was homeless for a summer to winter 6 months we couldn’t find shelter because on one income ssi you can’t afford a apartment because rents to high. I honestly think wait what was I going to say oh yeah I don’t think you know what it’s like to not be able to afford housing because all your stuff is paid for. Look at all our unhoused people many don’t do drugs nor drink they can’t afford anything. Their are inadequate shelters available making a camp locking them up killing them being a Hitler is not ok here’s a suggestion why not turn a portion of your Trump towers for temporary housing your rich why don’t you build more shelters and housing. Stop trying to be part of the problem be part of the solution. Trump when it comes to having a heart you have no heart oh let’s criminalize the unhoused that’s not the answer what the answer is is to help them get on their feet ones who are unhoused with no income give them help.