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The wildfire is an instructive tale of America’s second Gilded Age, a time when the kinds of excesses and extremes that once seemed to have been consigned to U.S. history have come roaring back.
In this Gilded Age, like the one at the end of the 19th Century, the gap between rich and poor is widening; monopolies have more power over business, business has more power over politics and politics are close-fought and hyper-partisan. The pace of change — technological, cultural, social — is dizzying.
In his presidential campaign, Donald Trump simultaneously evoked two Gilded Age types, the plutocrat and the populist. “Trump is the perfect figure for the new Gilded Age. He’s like something out of Mark Twain’’ (who coined the term “Gilded Age’’ in 1873), says David Nasaw, a biographer of Gilded Age industrialist Andrew Carnegie. “Exaggeration is his essence.’’
The most striking feature shared by the two Gilded Ages is growing economic inequality. In the 19th Century, the juxtaposition of squalor and splendor shocked a rural nation that was moving to the city; today, it haunts a nation that can remember the relative equality of the Depression, World War II and the long post-war period. One of several homes destroyed in the Skirball Fire One of several homes destroyed in the Skirball Fire that raged through the exclusive Bel Air section of Los Angeles. It was later determined the fire was started in a nearby homeless encampment. (Photo: Robert Hanashiro, USA TODAY) Nowhere is this inequality more apparent than Los Angeles, where hundreds of encampments have sprung up on beaches, in riverbeds and in canyons as the homeless population has exploded and expanded beyond its old boundaries.
originally posted by: Edumakated
The homeless encampments would be there regardless because these people are homeless because of mental and addiction issues.
For women in particular, domestic violence is a leading cause of homelessness. the country report that top causes of homelessness among families were: (1) lack of affordable housing, (2) unemployment, (3) poverty, and (4) low wages, in that order.
the fact is that more than half the homeless are families with children. The vast majority of these have been thrust into homelessness by a life altering event or series of events that were unexpected and unplanned for.
Since homelessness is largely about poverty, therefore, we can attribute some of its structural causes to this late twentieth century, capitalist economic predicament. But what are the specific economic reasons for the rise in homelessness within the framework of these general contemporary conditions of poverty? And what additional structural problems account for homelessness in America today?
In particular, structural changes within the American economy over the last twenty years have had a profound impact on the economic landscape of the "bottom" segment of American society. The transformation can be characterized by a general move in America towards a more "post-industrialized" and global economy. Domestically, that implies a shift "away from relatively well-paying manufacturing jobs to minimum wage service jobs and temporary or part-time positions."10
originally posted by: Kharron
originally posted by: Edumakated
The homeless encampments would be there regardless because these people are homeless because of mental and addiction issues.
You should get more edumakated.
For women in particular, domestic violence is a leading cause of homelessness. the country report that top causes of homelessness among families were: (1) lack of affordable housing, (2) unemployment, (3) poverty, and (4) low wages, in that order.
NLCHP
the fact is that more than half the homeless are families with children. The vast majority of these have been thrust into homelessness by a life altering event or series of events that were unexpected and unplanned for.
HomeAid
Since homelessness is largely about poverty, therefore, we can attribute some of its structural causes to this late twentieth century, capitalist economic predicament. But what are the specific economic reasons for the rise in homelessness within the framework of these general contemporary conditions of poverty? And what additional structural problems account for homelessness in America today?
In particular, structural changes within the American economy over the last twenty years have had a profound impact on the economic landscape of the "bottom" segment of American society. The transformation can be characterized by a general move in America towards a more "post-industrialized" and global economy. Domestically, that implies a shift "away from relatively well-paying manufacturing jobs to minimum wage service jobs and temporary or part-time positions."10
Stanford Study
Boy, does your handle make more sense every time I see you post...
originally posted by: Edumakated
originally posted by: Kharron
originally posted by: Edumakated
The homeless encampments would be there regardless because these people are homeless because of mental and addiction issues.
You should get more edumakated.
For women in particular, domestic violence is a leading cause of homelessness. the country report that top causes of homelessness among families were: (1) lack of affordable housing, (2) unemployment, (3) poverty, and (4) low wages, in that order.
NLCHP
the fact is that more than half the homeless are families with children. The vast majority of these have been thrust into homelessness by a life altering event or series of events that were unexpected and unplanned for.
HomeAid
Since homelessness is largely about poverty, therefore, we can attribute some of its structural causes to this late twentieth century, capitalist economic predicament. But what are the specific economic reasons for the rise in homelessness within the framework of these general contemporary conditions of poverty? And what additional structural problems account for homelessness in America today?
In particular, structural changes within the American economy over the last twenty years have had a profound impact on the economic landscape of the "bottom" segment of American society. The transformation can be characterized by a general move in America towards a more "post-industrialized" and global economy. Domestically, that implies a shift "away from relatively well-paying manufacturing jobs to minimum wage service jobs and temporary or part-time positions."10
Stanford Study
Boy, does your handle make more sense every time I see you post...
You are confusing temporary homelessness with chronic homelessness...
The chronic homeless are those living in tent encampments or under bridges and the vast majority of them are in fact drug addicts or a small fry short of a happy meal. There is absolutely zilch anyone can do to get them off the street other than forcibly jailing them or putting them into looney hospitals.
A woman who gets kicked out by an abusive boyfriend and sleeps in a car for a night or two or at a women's shelter is not remotely the same thing.
My point, which flew entirely over your head, is that some Hollywood exec living in Bel Aire has absolutely nothing to do with some drugged out heroin addict living in a tent. The person living in the tent is there because they are a drug addict and cannot function in society. They aren't there because the movie exec charges too much for movies.
Yes, the juxtaposition of extreme wealth and extreme poverty in major cities like LA is jarring but the two are completely unrelated for the most part.
The homeless’ ranks have been swelled by military veterans, young people emerging from foster homes, refugees from domestic abuse and inmates released under an initiative that made it easier to parole non-violent offenders. About three in 10 homeless people are mentally ill, and two in 10 are addicts.
originally posted by: Kharron
originally posted by: Edumakated
originally posted by: Kharron
originally posted by: Edumakated
The homeless encampments would be there regardless because these people are homeless because of mental and addiction issues.
You should get more edumakated.
For women in particular, domestic violence is a leading cause of homelessness. the country report that top causes of homelessness among families were: (1) lack of affordable housing, (2) unemployment, (3) poverty, and (4) low wages, in that order.
NLCHP
the fact is that more than half the homeless are families with children. The vast majority of these have been thrust into homelessness by a life altering event or series of events that were unexpected and unplanned for.
HomeAid
Since homelessness is largely about poverty, therefore, we can attribute some of its structural causes to this late twentieth century, capitalist economic predicament. But what are the specific economic reasons for the rise in homelessness within the framework of these general contemporary conditions of poverty? And what additional structural problems account for homelessness in America today?
In particular, structural changes within the American economy over the last twenty years have had a profound impact on the economic landscape of the "bottom" segment of American society. The transformation can be characterized by a general move in America towards a more "post-industrialized" and global economy. Domestically, that implies a shift "away from relatively well-paying manufacturing jobs to minimum wage service jobs and temporary or part-time positions."10
Stanford Study
Boy, does your handle make more sense every time I see you post...
You are confusing temporary homelessness with chronic homelessness...
The chronic homeless are those living in tent encampments or under bridges and the vast majority of them are in fact drug addicts or a small fry short of a happy meal. There is absolutely zilch anyone can do to get them off the street other than forcibly jailing them or putting them into looney hospitals.
A woman who gets kicked out by an abusive boyfriend and sleeps in a car for a night or two or at a women's shelter is not remotely the same thing.
My point, which flew entirely over your head, is that some Hollywood exec living in Bel Aire has absolutely nothing to do with some drugged out heroin addict living in a tent. The person living in the tent is there because they are a drug addict and cannot function in society. They aren't there because the movie exec charges too much for movies.
Yes, the juxtaposition of extreme wealth and extreme poverty in major cities like LA is jarring but the two are completely unrelated for the most part.
First, you're assuming that I don't know the difference, but that wasn't the topic was it? Nor was it the topic of the OP, was it?
Please point out where in the OP it says that these encampments are filled with temporary OR chronic homeless people? Does it make that distinction? Do we even know? Does it talk about drugs at all or drug related problems?
Edumakated, it's a poor attempt to lead the conversation away. I pointed out you were wrong about your preconceptions about the homeless, gave you some examples, and in turn you talked about something unrelated and made assumptions. Keep it up buddy, I can call BS out all day.
Nowhere is this inequality more apparent than Los Angeles, where hundreds of encampments have sprung up on beaches, in riverbeds and in canyons as the homeless population has exploded and expanded beyond its old boundaries.
originally posted by: Edumakated
I think it is a bit of a stretch to compare homeless encampments to the rich. The homeless encampments would be there regardless because these people are homeless because of mental and addiction issues. It is an extreme that has zilch to do with the other extreme of wealth.
With that said, technology and an economy that favors service industries and a high skill / high education workforce is making it harder for people who are below average or makes mistakes taking them off certain career tracks. It used to be that as long as you were willing to work hard, you could find a decent job at a plant to afford a house, car and boat. Any high school screw up could still make a life for themselves.
It isn't like that anymore. Those jobs have all been shipped overseas (ironically creating a middle class and lifing people out of poverty in those countries). The best jobs are reserved for the best students. It is hard to break into the trades on the other end. As a result, you have a lot people who are average who have a hard time making it, especially in urban centers which attract a lot of highly competitive people.
The center of our country's economy has been hollowed out in the name of low prices and shareholder returns...
So tell the class what a strung out heroin addict living in a tent has to do with a movie exec living in a Bel Aire Mansion