I read a very thought provoking, if not sad article today. It’s about the great ‘American dream’ falling apart. There seems to be nowhere to run, nowhere to hide and nowhere to sleep thanks to the mismanagement of those who ran the economy aground.
This is about Santa Barbara, with posh multi-million dollar homes nestled between the Santa Ynez mountains and the serene beaches of the Pacific Ocean. But for many here, the great American dream has turned sour and now seems a distant mirage.
Here’s an excerpt from the article written in the Hindu that describes the pain the American middle class is going through today.
In a car park across the street from luxury mansions, the evening brings a strange sight. A few cars arrive and take up spaces in different corners. In each car, a woman, perhaps a few pets, bags of possessions and bedding. Across the street from homes with bedrooms to spare, these are Santa Barbara’s car sleepers. Homeless within the last year, they are a direct consequence of America’s housing market collapse.
In this woman-only parking lot, Bonnee, who gives only her first name wears a smart blue dress and has a business-like demeanor. A year ago, she was making a healthy living as, ironically, a real estate agent. But when people stopped buying houses, her commission-based income dried up, and, like many clients, she too was unable to pay her mortgage. Soon she found herself with nowhere to live but her 4x4.
Piles of blankets are in the back of the vehicle. Personal documents are stuffed into seat pockets. Books litter the back seat. A make-up bag and gym membership card (she washes at the gym) are in the front. With her constantly, are photos of her former life. She can’t quite believe her situation. "My God, America’s heart is bleeding," she tells me. Tears fill her eyes. "I know it’ll get better. But it feels sad. I really fought hard."
A medium-sized 4x4 pulls into the parking lot and 66-year-old Barbara Harvey gets out. She opens the back door and two large Golden Retrievers jump out. Barbara begins her nightly routine. She moves a few bags from the boot to the front seat and takes out pajamas and a carton of yogurt (her dinner). She then arranges blankets in the back of the car.
Since April, she and her dogs, Ranger and Phoebe, have spent every night in her car. It’s cramped, but she says if they sleep diagonally they can all fit. The car park lets the car sleepers enter from 7 p.m., local public toilets close at dusk. As a result, Barbara says she doesn’t drink any liquids after she arrives. In the mornings, she showers at a friend’s house.
"Being poor is like this cancer, and now this cancer is filtering up to the middle-class," she says. "I don’t care how strong you are, it’s a breakdown of the human psyche when you start to lose everything you have. These people have worked their whole lives to have a house and now it’s crumbling and it’s in ashes and how devastating is that?" she says. "It’s not an American dream, it’s an American nightmare."
hindu.com
It’s sad, but there’s always light at the end of the tunnel. The question is, how long before they get to see the light again?
Shouldn’t those CEO's who’ve grounded the economy with their greed and
their non taxable multi-million dollar pay checks be sleeping here instead?
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Yes a real change of pace is going to happen to alot of people. Alot of people are going to get a taste of what its like for those who have lived this way for a long time.
Maybe this will help others have a little empathy for those with less.
Perhaps the blood that spills from the heart of America will show those that have had so much, take a good look at those who have always had less.
Why bail out these people who are already so rich, they could live well within reason, and still have a great quality of life!
Why not bail out the American people for a change? Its our money!
We worked for it!
I think anyone who has payed in at least 10k a year in taxes should get that money back! Just 10,000$ dollars to help with the pain! That's not asking for much back, when they expect each of us who work our jobs to pay them, and bail them out.
If they where really concerned with us, they would propose a plan like that or something along those lines.
But those of us who have been bleeding all our lives will keep on trucking.
We will get by.. We always have. Its never been easy, and its not going to get any easier.
You see when I was young I grew up in a middle class home. My parents separated, and my mom took us kids to Florida.
We lived in a Van for 2 years of that time.. No AC, barely enough food to eat.. And never did go "school shopping". I got a job when I was 13 to help pay the bills and helping my mother get a home.. Which she still lives in to this day. And now I am back living at that home.. 31 years old, and I am forced to go back home, because I can not make it on my own.
I think we all have our bleeding heart tales of woe and sadness.
But I want to make a point with this.
There's a lot of people out here with nothing else to lose.
If everything comes crashing down.. Those with nothing, lose nothing. As they already lost it all a while back.
Its those middle class families, and those families on the brink of being poor that are going to hurt the most.. While the rich fence themselves off from the blood filled streets.
Will they care enough to Bail us the people out when we need it?
Or will they just let us bleed to death?