The Rich Aim to Ban People From Sleeping in Cars Because It Disturbs Their Delicate Sensibilities

There are some truly insensitive morons in the United States and the government is pandering to them, as usual. Take places like Silicon Valley, where a great majority of homeless people have no shelter to speak of. Recently, in a trend that’s spreading all over the States, the city of Palo Alto passed a “quality of life” law making it illegal to sleep in your car.

One really has to feel sorry for members of the 1 percent now that poverty and destitution are threatening to damage their view. It’s terrible of homeless people to make them uncomfortable about the growing wealth disparity that is plaguing one of the most affluent countries in the world. Really, it’s just plain inconsiderate.

AlterNet:

Americans sleeping in their own cars literally have nowhere to go.

Indeed, nearly all homelessness in the US begins with a loss of income and an eviction for nonpayment of rent – a rent set entirely by market forces. The waiting lists are years long for the tiny fraction of housing with government subsidies. And rents have risen dramatically in the past two years, in part because long-time tenants must now compete with the millions of former homeowners who lost their homes in the Great Recession.

The paths from eviction to homelessness follow familiar patterns. For the completely destitute without family or friends able to help, that path leads more or less directly to the streets. For those slightly better off, unemployment and the exhaustion of meager savings – along with the good graces of family and friends – eventually leaves people with only two alternatives: a shelter cot or their old automobile.

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—Posted by Natasha Hakimi Zapata