America, We Have a Problem: Homelessness is Out of Control

The poor have been with us since there was an “us.” And, as much as I would like to see zero poverty in the United States, a country that spends trillions on its domestic and international security apparatuses, I know that the political will for such policies is just not there today. This, despite the efforts of thousands of people just like me all over the country to alleviate the unnecessary suffering of the poor in the US. Instead, it has become clear from the rhetoric of the 2016 Presidential campaigns, that it is easier to preen oneself by boasting of increasing such security spending, and almost never to decrease it. Not even Democratic Party presidential candidate Bernie Sanders discusses cutting back on military spending and cutting weapons systems. Thus, we can have a presidential election and not one word is uttered about the criminalization of the poor and now the crisis of homelessness that afflicts a growing number of cities on the west coast of the US.

It is hard to estimate the number of homeless people in the US, but one indicator is the number of school children who do not have an address. According to the Child Trends Databank, at the start of the 2013 – 2014 academic year, there were approximately 1.4 million children in the United States who reported to school and did not have an address to give to school authorities. Child Trends asserts that while reporting has improved and can provide some background for the increased numbers, the sad fact is that the instance of homelessness among children is increasing.

So, the most vulnerable population in the US, that would normally be counted on to provide a quality of life for the country’s inhabitants for generations to come, are not being equipped by their country to serve their country. Of course, the distribution of this pain is not shared: Black and Latino children are disproportionately represented in the country’s homeless children population, with Blacks taking the larger share. Also, all of the insecurities associated with growing up under such circumstances are heaped upon these children, making survival and thriving extremely difficult for them.

From the predatory nature of neoliberalism, which is a kind of capitalism (with all of its inherent deficiencies) on steroids, this situation, while dire for all concerned, is not surprising. Thomas Piketty provides the clearest example yet of the long-term effects of capitalism: growing inequality. Now, add to that, the neoliberal philosophy that the state has no business trying to protect the interests of its citizens, yet exists to extend the hegemony of those with wealth and power over more and more segments of the population in more and more facets of their lives.

Thus, in the neoliberal state, allowing the child-teacher relationship to become mediated by the local Chamber of Commerce is alright. The same goes for the doctor-patient relationship that is now mediated in the US by powerful insurance companies who determine whether their customers live or die by the premium they’ve purchased and paid for. The student-teacher relationship is now mediated by banks so that the learner’s ability to even function as a student depends on the credit worthiness of the learner rather than his or her eagerness to learn and become an important component in the functioning of American society.

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