If you lost everything you would
call your insurance agent. He doesn’t have one. He didn’t own the land where he lived and he didn’t pay
rent. Basically, Steve has NO RIGHTS. He was not warned of his
eviction. He was not offered any help or social services for his loss.
I heard a homeless service administrator
say on a news interview that the people living on the streets have it too
good. Perhaps they should even
outlaw feeding them in public too. They have done so in other cities. She said that maybe if life became a
little harder for them they would decide not to be homeless anymore.
In Steve’s case, he is a chronic
alcoholic. If he doesn’t have alcohol he goes into withdraw. At this point the
alcohol is killing him but he needs it. So he drinks. He stays out of
trouble. The only person he ever hurts
is himself. Now the only
structure he did have is gone. Nothing remains but a mud puddle. If
he thought he had nothing before now he will truly know what it is like to not
have anything.
If a person is down and out and
living on the edge in the United States they have no civil rights. They can be arrested and jailed for silly
reasons. Federal courts have ruled that harassment of the homeless is
unconstitutional and yet this goes on daily. Sweeping away the homeless to
deter their presence is a common strategy to end homelessness in every city.
For the record, it doesn’t end it, it only make life harder for people who are
already struggling.
I wonder what it would take to shift the consciousness of how our society
deals with this epidemic? Presently what they are doing does not resolve the issue.
I wonder if the person who ordered the destruction of Steve’s home would have
done so if they ever met and spoke to him? I bet they have no idea who he
is. All they know is that he has
no legal right to reside there and they have the right to sweep him away and
they did.
Steve still lives there in the same
spot. He still drinks. He just
doesn’t own anything anymore, no bed, no pillow, no roof to protect him from the elements. Steve is a sweet, kind and polite man
who has no ability to cope with his disease. Even after loosing everything he owns, I doubt he is going
to choose to stop being homeless.
