Some months ago, I had an opportunity to have dinner with a homeless man. His story was one of having his own modest business, a house, two cars, and then losing it along with pretty much everything else when his marriage fell apart. His drifting brought him to San Francisco. As a veteran, he has access to resources at the VA, and he told me about his perception of some other veterans in similarly difficult situations who were having more trouble coping. He spoke of about veterans whose mental or physical health circumstances took away options. He told me of his own struggle to come to terms with what he had lost, as well as being grateful for his health and the fact that it gave him the opportunity to recover.
I come to reflect on this dinner because of some recent news on homelessness related to our financial crisis.
The New York Times has an article about the surge in homelessness because of the economy: "Cities Deal With a Surge in Shantytowns" I haven't yet had a chance to read the article, but had it highlighted for me by a blog post by Hilzoy in the Washington Monthly blog Political Animal. These aren't the first references to new homelessness I've read or heard about in our current economic crisis. Within the last month or so, I've read about a tent community in Sacramento via McClatchy, which came to attention when it was featured on Oprah.
At the President's press conference on Tuesday, MSNBC's Chuck Todd awkwardly asked a question about why President Obama hasn't asked the American public to make some specific sacrifices. On Talking Points Memo, Josh Marshall writes about the "Social Contract Under Strain". These two things bring something into relief for me. Since the '80's, it seems the burdens of American society have been shifted more and more onto the shoulders of those least economically able to bear them. Those at the top of the scale have been told that they have less and less responsibility within the social contract, other than doing whatever they can to make themselves richer. Former Vice-President, former President George H.W. Bush once derided Reagan's economic policies as trickle-down economics, yet over thirty years, they've become the norm anyway. For thirty years, it's been popular to believe that government is not the solution, but is instead the problem. We've been pulled further and further from the belief that we had any responsibility to a social contract aside from vague appeals to patriotism.
Tax revolts have led us to invest less and less in education such that in California and across the country, thousands of teachers are getting laid off (over 20,000 in southern California districts alone, if I recall correctly). College tuition rates even in state universities and community colleges are going up as school funding declines. When was the last time we made a concerted effort to invest in infrastructure including roads and bridges? We've allowed antitrust laws and financial regulations to fall aside so that AT&T, Verizon, Comcast have inordinate leverage over our means of communication and our financial institutions have brought our economy to its knees. It is long past time to fight over tax cuts or tax hikes. It's time to talk about using tax policy to support our social contract, and act on the priorities agreed on by the American people as expressed through their votes in our elections. It's time to have a real discussion of who has been shouldering our tax burdens, who has been gaming the system, and how to establish a more equitable balance.
I've been encouraged by how President Obama has been handling the crises he's inherited. I'm confident our country is moving in a better direction. But there are still too many politicians and segments of the public who want to engage in hyperbole rather than serious policy discussion. Some who worship at the alter of moderation and bipartisanship insist on a 60 vote threshold for every proposal that goes through the senate, while conservative extremists have grown more extreme as moderate conservatives have lost ground in the Republican party. On the Democratic side, I hope the so-called moderates don't derail the process toward long-overdue structural changes. On the Republican side, I hope there will be some to rise who believe in the virtues of government and responsible governance in actualizing our greatest hopes in our social contract.
And here I'll end my rant. Thanks for your indulgence. ;)
Crossposted from my Facebook profile and my blog, Quixotic Perspectives