If a homeless person falls in the woods, does anyone hear them?

One can’t help but to think about that old tree falling question as we watch the disaster that is the US housing sector. For over 25 years, many have called for a serious re-examination of our Federal policies and priorities regarding housing—not just for the poorest people but for everyone in this country.

As one segment of people (the poorest) started losing the ability to keep a roof over their heads due to a massive reduction in funding and a reprioritization in housing programs at the Federal level, it should have served as a warning that the shift to a Reaganomics approach to governance was going to have a negative effect for others down the road.

It would appear we are now down that road.

Has either presidential candidate called for a restoration of housing funding for all? Has either addressed the criminalization of poor people rampant in towns and cities across the country?

Hell, no. In fact, neither has mentioned homelessness. The only thing they do seem to agree on in response to thousands upon thousands of housing foreclosures is a bail out for the banks and mortgage companies.

With so much at stake in this election, and such dramatic differences between McBush and Obama on so many social issues, why is it that homelessness and poverty are once again ignored on the national stage?

One reason and one reason only: Because we let them!

When we demand respect, when we demand access to healthcare, housing, and livable incomes, we will get them. But not until then. Alone, we’ll continue to be pitted against each other for the crumbs off their dinner table. Together, we will force them to open the kitchen doors and we’ll feed ourselves.

Join the Coalition or any of the other groups working for social justice and equality. Join, and then encourage that group to join with others. 25 years of homelessness, six presidential campaigns has confirmed one fact for sure:

The Federal government will only respond when local communities make the transfer from hundreds of thousands of “I”s to a united “We”… As in we ain’t going to take this anymore.

The canary is dead, the air is toxic: It’s time for US to make a change.

WRAP

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 1st, 2008 at 12:17 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.