Homelessness
| Homelessness link (enemy image) | |
|---|---|
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| Those without a home. Often scapegoated by those keen to promote capitalism. |
Homelessness is not having a home. Homeless people, like the financially poor, are often scapegoated by those keen to promote capitalism.
Worldwide estimates
In 2005 the United Nations estimated that as much as 100 million people worldwide are homeless and more than 1 billion are inadequately housed.[1][2]
USA
Various places in the US have declared it illegal to feed homeless people. McDonalds has tried playing music 24/7 in an effort to deter homeless people from sleeping near their outlets.[3]
- In 2014, Fort Lauderdale passed a law against camping, panhandling, food sharing and engaging in other "life sustaining activities".[4]
- In 2017 Atlanta police handed out "flyers across the city telling people that a permit is needed to give food to the homeless."[5]
- As of October 2018, over 500,000 US citizens were homeless (of whom around 25% had a paid job).[6]
- As of 2019, homelessness was growing in the USA[7] and the LA Times reported that 16,000 people in Los Angeles were living in cars, vans and RVs.[8] Virginia passed ordinance which made it illegal to sleep in ones car, on the grounds that the practice: “can have a negative effect on neighborhood aesthetics.”[9]
- In 2026 the “Streets to Success Act” was passed in Louisiana which de facto criminalised homelessness (notwithstanding Debbie Villio's Orwellian insistence that the bill "does not criminalize homelessness" but was intended to "create opportunities". [10]
Criminalization
Many US cities have taken steps to criminalize homelessness, and/or criminalize those who give food to the homeless.[11] Other US cities charge for the right to give food to homeless people.[12][13]
UN Concerns
- Full article: United Nations
- Full article: United Nations
A UN report into human rights singled out the U.S. saying that the criminalization of homelessness in the U.S. “raises concerns of discrimination and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.”[14]
Videos
References
- ↑ https://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Housing/Pages/AnnualReports.aspx
- ↑ https://daccess-ods.un.org/TMP/1776398.8673687.html
- ↑ https://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2020/01/03/bagpipes-blasting-broadway-mcdonalds/
- ↑ https://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/man-90-arrested-week-feeding-homeless-article-1.2002790
- ↑ http://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/group-handing-out-food-to-homeless-receives-ticket-for-not-having-permit/652313678
- ↑ http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/more-than-half-a-million-people-americas-homelessness-crisis-is-rapidly-exploding-on-both-coasts
- ↑ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7095533/Pictures-downtown-LA-capture-problem-faces-trash-tries-rodents.html
- ↑ https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-homeless-safe-parking-los-angeles-20190610-story.html
- ↑ https://rutherford.org/publications_resources/on_the_front_lines/napping_not_allowed_ban_on_sleeping_in_cars_could_allow_police_to_seize_car_occupants_vehicles_and_carry_out_warrantless_searches
- ↑ https://www.activistpost.com/war-against-the-homeless-continues-as-louisiana-cruelly-criminalizes-the-unhoused/
- ↑ http://libertyblitzkrieg.com/2014/06/12/in-33-u-s-cities-feeding-the-homeless-has-been-criminalized/
- ↑ http://libertyblitzkrieg.com/2014/02/24/south-carolina-city-implements-law-that-requires-a-120-permit-to-feed-homeless-people/
- ↑ http://libertyblitzkrieg.com/2014/11/05/90-year-old-ww2-veteran-and-two-clergymen-face-60-days-in-jail-for-feeding-the-homeless-in-florida/
- ↑ http://www.nlchp.org/INT_CCPR_COC_USA_16838_E.pdf