Photos: The 2013 Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress
This morning I was in what could be considered an
affluent community in the San Francisco East Bay. I was walking across a local shopping center's parking lot and a woman that had the appearance of being homeless approached me asking me if I would buy something... I wasn't sure what she was referring to, but I noticed she was holding what appeared to be a colorful coffee mug with some small flowers in it. Although I always try to give homeless people something if I have a few bucks or change in my pocket, today I just didn't have any money on me, so I told her and moved on.
However, a couple of things stayed with me as I walked away. I remember noticing her face (which had some blemishes), her eyes, and the small floral arrangement she was offering to sell. It also struck me that I've never seen homeless people in this particular place. The reason I mention her face and eyes is because I could sense a quite desperation, suffering, hope (that I may buy what she was offering or give her some money), and disappointment that I didn't. And so, the whole experience became indelible (for the day). It stayed with me, and now you are reading about it...
A few hours later... My wife and I are singing to a karaoke track at a family and friends holiday get-together. It was a very happy time. A couple of toddlers playing, and dancing; a few kids taking turns singing; the adults enjoying cocktails, playing pool, munching on appetizers. As all this was going on, on a few occasions I thought about my encounter with the homeless woman in the parking lot, and about her sad eyes.
And so, since that was in my mind, another thing I started really paying attention to were the lyrics of the many songs people were singing, as they scrolled down on a large monitor... There were lyrics for rock and roll, R&B, hip-hop, ballads, blues, and country songs. And as I payed attention to the lyrics, I noticed their humanity; they talk about love, heartbreak, family, standing up to "the man," love affairs, and I even noticed the word "revolution" in a few of them. And as I thought about what I knew about the diverse background of our group when it comes to ethnicity, income and education levels, I saw the relationship between some of the lyrics and the actual lives of many of us there, and about how people have a natural tendency to want to connect with others, to sing, to dance, to enjoy the little things in life.
What I know for a fact is that nobody in our little group is thinking about how to accumulate as many millions and millions (or billions) of dollars as possible by exploiting other people, driven by unquenchable greed.
My take is that yes, people want to have basic economic security, have a job, maybe own a home, a car, be able to eventually retire... People want to work and get pay a livable wage; people also want to be able to enjoy life, connect with others, have a little time to reflect on things, to have some sort of balance.
And so again, I remember the look in the woman's eyes; a sad look; a look of desperation. And I see us all (the family) having a little down-time, relaxing, and drinking (a little), and singing, and dancing. And then I "see" the tiny group of uber-wealthy individuals doing everything possible to deny us the opportunity to have those little moments, even if they only happen once or twice a year.
Their monstrous greed and indifference to the suffering of others would have us all living in terror; terror of losing our jobs and livelihoods; terror of missing a mortgage or rent payment; terror of becoming destitute and homeless. And I think about the look in the woman's eyes, and I realize that that's what I'm seeing: terror.
Because they are not content with having rigged the system (by buying off the debased political establishment) in order to extract the maximum amount of wealth from our labor, they are also using their power to push policies specifically designed to gut the social safety net. They are monsters, and they must be stopped!
Eventually we got home... By then the look in the woman's eyes had receded from my consciousness (a bit). At about 10:00 P.M. I decided to make myself some tea, and as I was waiting for the water to boil, I picked up the Bay area (local) section of today's (Saturday, December 7th, 2013) San Francisco Chronicle, which I hadn't read, and I notice this headline: Cold snap is blamed in at least 4 deaths.
Four homeless people in Santa Clara County have died from hypothermia brought on by this week's record-setting cold snap, authorities said Friday, underscoring the danger the weather poses to the most vulnerable populations.
The victims have been found since Monday in separate locations--three on the street in San Jose, including one under an overpass, and a fourth in an open garage in Saratoga, said Bob Dolci, Homeless Concerns Coordinator for the county. He said a fifth death may be linked to the weather...
~Snip~
Temperatures in San Jose dropped below freezing to 30 degrees Friday morning, beating out the previous record low of 32 degrees set Dec. 6, 1931, according to the National Weather Service.
And so, once again, I remembered the woman in the parking lot...
And I think about the average 600,000-plus homeless people on any given night, 20-plus percent of whom are children.
What does it feel to die in the streets of hypothermia under an overpass?
Most importantly, what type of individual, having access to obscene levels of wealth, would go out of his way to use it to push for policies specifically designed to spread economic insecurity among the population, to cause poverty, and to tear down the social safety net? A monster? A "vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity?"
And also important... How is it possible for a tiny group of individuals (numbering in the thousands) to so completely manipulate and control an entire population of hundreds of millions of people? How can their propaganda be so powerful and effective? What would it take for a large-enough segment of the population to rise in peaceful revolution (opposition, resistance) to this increasingly brutal status quo, and defeat it? What do you think it will take?
The temperature outside is 35 degrees as I finish writing this... How many more homeless people will die tonight?
Countdown to Revolution
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