When I first became working with the Occupy movement, I thought the movement should disassociate itself from the homeless, because the right wing would point to the scruffiness and the occasional misbehaviors of the homeless, and associate that with the Occupy movement.
But the Occupations, which are mostly gone now, were useful because it allowed those of us who can come home to nice comfy homes at night, to meet a part of our society which is pretty much kept out of sight and under wraps.
Most of us, the ones lucky enough to still have a job, or a home the banks haven't foreclosed on, think that there is something bad about the homeless so we shun them.
Isn't it interesting how we associate immorality with poverty? How we associate goodness with wealth?
Sitting in meetings and talking to people, I was impressed with how articulate and intelligent most of the people were. Sometimes I could tell someone had a few problems, but in most cases I was surprised to find that the person who had been talking to me was homeless. They were just plain folk – like me. Like people everywhere each of us have different abilities, backgrounds, and stories to tell.
One woman told me she had been kidnapped and tortured when she was 16 years old. Another woman who had set up a woman's shelter in the camp, told me that even though she had been helping women for years, she was hearing stories that horrified even her. About half of the women and children who are homeless are fleeing domestic violence.
The kids in camp seemed to be bright and intelligent. Their teachers probably had no idea that they went home to a tent at night. 39% of the homeless are children under 18. Many young adults are kicked out of their homes for being LGBT.
There seemed to be a lot of vets in the camp. Most of them had served in the Gulf wars and had various problems like PTSD, but most of the time you wouldn't notice. About 13% of the homeless are veterans.
The campers are kept safe because of rules against drugs and alcohol, and peacekeepers wander around at night to defuse or de-escalate situations. One of the peacekeepers was telling us that the previous night he had encountered a drunk that was verbally abusive. This guy was about 6'5" tall and scared the peacekeeper. Others said that he should have called the cops. Just then the individual walked in, and the peacekeeper talked to him and told him he was drunk on his axx last night. The guy turned out to be just a big teddy bear and seemed very nice. He said he had been celebrating his birthday but didn't remember being abusive. About 38% of the homeless have alcohol problems and 26% have other drug problems.
http://www.nationalhomeless.org/factshee...What strikes me the most about all of these people are that they are just regular folk, but that most of them are victims and survivors. They are all worthy of our respect. There but for the grace of God go I.
Nowadays you don't have to have problems, to have lost your home and be tossed out on the streets. A lot of people have lost their jobs, and even those who can land a minimum wage job would have to work 89 hrs. a week to afford a 2 bedroom Apartment.
About two thirds of bankruptcies and about half of foreclosures are caused by medical problems. There are about 50 million people that are uninsured.
http://www.familiesusa.org/assets/pdfs/m...The homeless are shunned as failures, but in many if not most cases, these people are not out on the streets because of any fault of their own. It is not a failure of the homeless that is such a tragedy. It is the failure of society. We tend to ostracize the victims of society and hero worship those who have benefited most.
http://newoldage.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/...The movement has pointed out to the nation the extreme income inequality in this country, and how the rich have undue influence over government and have rigged it so they reap the most of the benefits. It is also important because it has illuminated the plight of the homeless. The occupations were valuable because they treated the homeless with compassion and with the respect and dignity they deserve. It has introduced those of us who are fortunate, to those who are less fortunate. We are all alike. Now that we know some of them we will continue to fight for them.
It has also awoken the students in the country who are suffering because of high tuition and staggering student debt. They have also met the homeless and realized that there are many kindred spirits amongst them. We are all suffering to some degree, we are the 99%, but some are not suffering at all. The wealth of the 1% has increased 275%. The corporations have record profits, but both are paying the lowest taxes in 60 years.
When the occupiers are told to take a shower and get a job, they say how? That is what this is all about. There are no showers or even toilets available for the homeless. There are no jobs for them or even for the student graduates. Only those with current jobs need apply. Most of the benefits of society have been channeled to those who need the help the least.
Societies are judged by how they care for their poor, their sick, their young, and their elderly. Posterity will find us lacking.