Readers please write in with your views on life’s predicaments with people who can’t afford to buy this newspaper. The administration has changed the rules for food stamps. The new rules require twenty hours of work per week. For the most part I agree with the change but many of those people aren’t employable and those that are will be the first to go when the economy dips. Then what?
The Boise, Idaho law regarding making homelessness a crime was overturned and the Supreme Court wouldn’t hear it. It is tough enough to get a job when you are homeless without getting a criminal record for living on the street. Boise has around 700 with most in shelters in winter, but a couple hundred are in tents. Not all are adult men, many are women, and some are children. Boise’s city fathers probably were only interested in getting them to go elsewhere and not their welfare. Many California cities have a larger problem. They have some tens of thousands living in tent cities and some Silcon Valley Coders live in cars, campers, and RVs. They can’t afford to buy or even rent. They must move weekly or get their vehicle towed. Tents must be moved weekly, too.
Homelessness used to be associated with drunks, insanity, and criminals. Today’s homeless people are just unable to pay for rent, food, and the necessities of life, so they live in cars, tents, or if lucky, a warm shelter for a night.
Some cities are starting to build affordable housing for those who need it. They aren’t big rooms but much larger than the more expensive jail cells we have been putting them in. They pay rent or pay for a jail cell. Which makes more sense? What’s your thoughts?
Commentary About the Blue Marble 