TWO ISSUES THAT NEITHER PARTY ADDRESSES
By Schuyler ThorpeAuthor and Political Activist
Over the last three decades, I’ve noticed a curious thing about our society.
We often bitch and complain about our material needs, the national deficit, high energy prices, food prices, wars, conflicts, the Cold War, social injustices, AIDS, women’s rights, abortion, gun rights, government corruption, infringement of personal rights, the environment, global warming, gay marriage, cronyism, corruption within our own government, the draft, military readiness, the war on terrorism, global warming, government incompetence, negative attack ads, our patriotism, values, a lack of morals, religion, God, the Bible, our stance in the world community, science, technology, warrantless spying, lack of affordable healthcare, universal healthcare, pensions, living wages, minimum wages, education, a lack of good education, college tuition, national security, borders, illegal immigration, school shootings, the right to live, the right to die, assisted suicide, free speech, dissenting opinion, the Constitution, racial intolerance, racial bigotry, xenophobia, terrorists, Muslims, Roe v. Wade, and so on.
Literally, the list is endless on how much we focus our attention on everything but two outstanding problems which has been a mainstay in this country of ours: Poverty and homelessness.
Why hasn’t our nation devoted more of its attention and resources to these two problems than just go about acting like the above list is more important while constantly condemning millions of Americans to a life of both?
Whatever happened to compassion and caring in this great nation of ours?
Certainly, there could be more done to address these glaring issues by ourselves. But neither the government, nor the two-party system has shown that much willingness to buckle down and really start addressing and fixing the problems which cause both poverty and homelessness.
If we are the richest nation in the world, why do we still have these problems? Why do millions of Americans constantly live in the throes of abject poverty and in the grips of being homeless every day?
Why does the majority of Americans spend their waking moments living from paycheck to paycheck, while others spend yet another year out on the streets of the United States?
Can anyone answer me these questions?
Our two-party system cannot. None of our candidates won't. They are too busy beating each other over the head--then addressing the real core problems our country has endured for a generation or more.
One of the things that the foreclosure and credit card meltdown had created was a glut of people seeking a place to live until this hellish mess that the current administration had created blows over.
But in the process, it started jacking rents up so obscenely that not many people have been able to escape the nightmare that was once considered the American Dream: Living in your own place.
What was once considered reasonable rent has now left millions of Americans struggling to make the monthly rent on such stagnant incomes.
And every year for the past 4 years now, rents have skyrocketed to levels not seen in recent memory.
What is our government’s response to this problem? Nothing.
The Bush administration and Congress had no plan for renters getting caught up in this catastrophic mess. But they did have an answer to mortgage lenders and roughly 400,000 struggling homeowners though: By bailing them out to the tune of $25 billion dollars or more.
What about a renter’s rescue package–hmm? How about diverting some money to the rental industry so that some financial pressure can be taken off people like myself; whom is facing the all too real nightmare of being homeless in the next six weeks?
Why do we constantly keep diverting billions of our own dollars to rescue financial institutions whom create these fucking messes in the first place? All it’s doing is giving these big business conglomerates more incentive to do more of the same damned thing over again–years down the road!
But not surprisingly enough, neither party really cares about the little guy. People like myself–whom is in the process of packing and wondering where the hell my wife and I are going to go next: Into a smaller bedroom unit or will we be spending the next several years out on the streets because we lack the money and resources to find affordable housing?
No…
Both the Democrats and the Republicans have both shown considerable indifference towards the poor, the homeless, and the impoverished by continuing to bail out Corporate America at the expense of the taxpayer–and leaving us all to fend for ourselves the best we can.
Because this is America, right?
This is what it means to aspire for our own American Dream? To live in constant poverty or be homeless–because our system of government favors the rich and wealthy than it does the concerned welfare of its lower-caste citizens?
Schuyler Thorpe is an author, a political activist, and a frequent letter writer to The Everett Herald of Snohomish County. He can be reached at: starchildalpha1 at yahoo.com
Labels: Democrats, government, homelessness, issues, poor, poverty, Republicans, resources, society
posted by Schuyler Thorpe @ 3:56 PM
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