It’s reminiscent of the Hoovervilles of the Great Depression and as our current depression worsens, and Americans lose the ability to pay their mortgages or buy food, we’re going to see more of this. Fittingly, this story comes to us from President Obama’s reported birth state of Hawaii:
image: Bruce Asato / [email protected]
The strip of land is bounded by Waipahu High School on one side and the calming waters of Pearl Harbor’s Middle Loch on the other, where the Navy’s mothball fleet sits idle. It’s the most visible portion of an enormous homeless encampment that stretches five miles over approximately 50 acres of city, Navy and state land that serpentines around Waipio Point Access Road, the Ted Makalena Golf Course and the city’s Waipio Soccer Complex and back down to Pearl City in the opposite direction…
…
Doran J. Porter, executive director of the Affordable Housing and Homeless Alliance, believes more and more homeless encampments like the one behind Waipahu High School are springing up on Oahu as Honolulu police and city officials continue to push Oahu’s homeless off of beaches and out of city parks.
“I don’t know why it would surprise anyone that they’ve found these places,” Porter said. “You get kicked out of one place, you have to find somewhere else to survive the night. … And now their desperation is starting to show.”
This isn’t the first tent city we’ve seen pop up in the United States. They’re becoming more common as the reality of the greatest depression takes hold:
California Tent City:
Las Vegas – Off Main Street:
In 2008, MSNBC reported that tent cities were popping up all over the country:
From Seattle to Athens, Ga., homeless advocacy groups and city agencies are reporting the most visible rise in homeless encampments in a generation.
Nearly 61 percent of local and state homeless coalitions say they’ve experienced a rise in homelessness since the foreclosure crisis began in 2007, according to a report by the National Coalition for the Homeless. The group says the problem has worsened since the report’s release in April, with foreclosures mounting, gas and food prices rising and the job market tightening.
“It’s clear that poverty and homelessness have increased,” said Michael Stoops, acting executive director of the coalition. “The economy is in chaos, we’re in an unofficial recession and Americans are worried, from the homeless to the middle class, about their future.”
A full two years later, we’re nowhere near being out of this mess. In fact, we can expect to see this trend grow.
It’s very easy to understand what’s happening here and why the problem will only get bigger. When you lose your job bad things happen. Sure, the government will provide you with unemployment assistance for 6 – 8 months, including food stamps and even state run health care for the kids, but the so-called support net will most certainly fall short of providing you with the comforts you came to enjoy during the boom times of the 80’s, 90’s and early 2000’s. Once the assistance stops – and eventually it does – if you haven’t found a job, you’re choices become very limited.
It’s hard to imagine that after billions of dollars have been spent to fight homelessness and hunger in America, we’re actually seeing an increase in homeless and hungry people. As government spent billions to “save” and “create” jobs, we’re losing more of our workforce every month.
While too-big-to-fail banks, bond holders, unions and sovereign governments receive bailouts, the too-small-to-save American working and middle classes are transformed into welfare recipients and the poverty stricken.
That’s the plan, to make everyone dependent on government.
Impossible, homeless only exist during republican administrations. They get lots of coverage when there is an R by the president’s name, but none when there is a D by the president’s name so that must mean that there are no homeless when democrats are in power.
“It’s hard to imagine that after billions of dollars have been spent to fight homelessness and hunger in America, we’re actually seeing an increase in homeless and hungry people. As government spent billions to “save†and “create†jobs, we’re losing more of our workforce every month”
How is it possible for there to be more poverty now, than before our government started the “war on poverty”?
No need to answer….just saying
Back in 1982, my husband was without a job..we had to relocate out of state and there was no internet then.  He got retrained and worked up to retirement.  We are not college grads either. He was in HVAC and I had a small biz. Both my bro’s relocated, one out of state. Pe0ple today are slackers and want everything handed to them. There is no work ethic.
Sheesh champ, have you not seen the majority of us being nickel and dimed by Landlords?? Everybody has to give, chip in, suffer, sacrifice — except for the idle rich who just cash checks for a living?? Maybe being a “slacker” is just the slaves are sick of being slaves. The poor and middle-class are being ground-down in the meat grinder called Corporate Capitalism run by the banks and their tools in the whitehouse. All this as peak oil and the “fed” money-printing inflation is causing our cost of living to skyrocket. Scum rises to the top where the top 1% owns about HALF of the wealth and the bottom 80% make under $50,000 a year. Slackers? The elite rich are that if they can just sit back and luxuriate as the poor suffer.
You sound like you are advocating “equal distribution of poverty”?
Well ,I very well know about the picture(2nd one) is from Fresno,California . The truth is there ahs always been a hidden homeless population here.Its getting media coverage because now its becoming more visable because the numbers are so big now. In fact there are more homelss people on the streets with signs than i have ever seen before .Fresno has its share of Gangproblems, Drugs,Illegal aliens, prostitutuion and of cource we also have our Fresno Police Department with its famous video on you tube were the police beat the hell out of a homeless man .
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pN0ovm4kCbYÂ
Fresno Unemployment rate is really high as well so between massive layoffs of local companies and no new jobs coming to Fresno its goingt o be a very bleak future .Since its also very hot here in the summer , Crime most always rises and shootings every week is the norm.  Things are going to get a lot worse here not only because of the obvious but also because of city budget cuts and service cuts to the people .Â
Here is what happens when your homeless in Fresno if you stand up:http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2007/08/18/18441458.php
Shanty:
crude shack: a crudely built shack or hut
Some I’ve seen are built real well by craftsmen, much better than most new homes, quality-wise, only the government condems them when they’re “found”.
What’s the value of a homeless American Helot?
There’s lots of value, it’s just not easy to see. So many get and maintain their positions of power and money due to them,… that’s why things can never change?
Hi Mac you forgot the big new HUGE one that popped up!
http://beforeitsnews.com/news/87/391/Huge_tent_city_takes_root_homeless_camps_cover_50_acres_Hooverville_is_now_Obamaville.html
think it’s bad now…wiat till the coast starts to evac. Probably won’t even be an offciial announcment either. People will just up and leave when they can’t take it anymore. They grab what they can, get the car and drive. Money will run our quick and they will end up in tent cities…cause they will leave without an offical evac coming. So orgs like the red cross will not help them…no evac issued.
the homeless problem will get far worse in the next year.
Comments…..I had been thinking about this a couple days ago. I noticed that since Obama was elected there was no further coverage of tent cities or the homeless. The news just did not report on rising homelessness. I guess they thought all those people who lost their homes to foreclosure just went to a hotel or just disappeared?? How do we work togeather if we can’t trust the media to inform us?
Comments….. i lay the economic environment that foster tent cities at the feet of our corporate representatives; namely, the republican party.
I don’t remember hearing about the homeless AT ALL when Bush was president. All we heard about was war and rising job loss a little and a lot of Anna Nicole. Made me really miss the days when the worst things on the news were Monica and OJ.
Comments..If this gets any worse, I,am going to start takeing what i want FTW. Dam goverment and there corruption. Death to America, And i am an American.
What is really ironic is the fact those states where folks are suffering the most all voted for Obama.
When government fails to provide for those whom it has made dependant, the dependants will turn on their master. So forth comes
the unavoidable truth, the problem with socialism is…. you eventually run out of other peoples money to spend. Mr. Obama, sorry your party has turned out so badly. Your friends are talking their balls and going home, leaving you with few to play with. The sad misfuture for you is, at night when you try to escape your experiment gone wrong by closing your eyes, sleep will not come for you. The nations pain is on your hands.
Sorry folks…Obama inherited this mess from Bush and those before him, and there has been only so much that he can do in the time that he has been given so far. We as the people of this country need to realize that we need to be responsible for taking back this country ourselves not as a member of one political party or another but as Americans.
You want to start cleaning up this mess? Get rid of the cancer called the Federal Reserve. Fractional reserve banking has never been good for any country. This bank creates nothing of value out of thin air, blesses it as debt, then loans it to everyone at interest. They are stealing from us in payments called interest, and lining the pockets of the Fed stockholders. Those who can’t repay lose their property. It’s time we stop accepting this horrible theft from the people and start using something for money besides interest-bearing debt.
Comments…..This is unacceptable in the United States of America, the richest country in the nation. This is Obama’s fault.
Thanks for the insight. Since when did a country and a nation become two separate entities. Geez, you can’t even leave an ignorant slandering comment without screwing it up.
This didn’t just happen overnight. You good-for-nothing two-tongued morons:
http://mises.org/daily/1544
So let me get this straight… Bush brought back the economic policies of the 1920’s that gave us the Great Depression, and these tent cities are “Obamavilles”? Riiight.
“Those that cannot remember history are condemned to repeat it”
Please join the Economic Solutions group on Facebook. Let’s share solutions. This is a “brainstorming” group and not a debate forum. Please refrain from criticisms. Build upon existing ideas or contribute new ones.
http://es.nodes.org
I got my high school diploma but knew it wouldn’t be enough. So I went straight to college. Worked hard and got my BA. I boldly entered the world with the promise that a plethora of jobs would open before me. After more than 2000 applications… I got a job as a maid in a motel. I went back to school and worked very hard, spent more than 60,000 (on top of the 50,000+ that I already owed). I got my masters degree in spec education. I landed my dream job and thought I would be set for life, however my take home was less than 25k a year… as a gove employee I still was below the poverty line and I qualified for food stamps and didn’t make enough to pay rent. Rather than go further in debt I lived on my friends couch until their siblings lost their homes due to foreclosure. 12 people (including 7 children + 4 dogs_ living in a double wide…. Then the budget cut backs hit my district hard. They started laying off people in order of last-hired-first-fired. This happened at the same time as the grocery store that my friend worked at closed. While we searched for work we hoped her sister could bring home enough for rent, but then the restaurant she worked at closed. We got evicted and they managed to get a place to stay at an emergency shelter but because I didn’t have children no one would help me. I was out of work again and homeless. I found myself once again living out of my car for the second time in my life. I have tried for more than 4 years to get a decent job but they just aren’t there. You would think with a masters in special education I would find a job easily right? WRONG. Districts just don’t have the money to pay regular teacher pay, let alone for expensive special education programs and thus…. they aren’t hiring. Also… due to “no child left behind” (HA HA HA!!!!) I would have to once again go back to school and get RE-CERTIFIED all over again to teach ‘mainstream’ kids. And whose going to pay for that?! Not me!! I can’t even put a roof over my own head! I write this from a couch that doesn’t belong to me and I worry where I will go now that my car has been repo’ed. Tent city.. here I come… again. Maybe I can trade my diplomas for food stamps…..
There is a goal with the government that everyone seems to be ignoring and that is “globalization” or more aptly put “One World Government”. In order for all countries to fit in, there must be an equalizing of wages; it just happens in the US we are above the average of 3rd world countries and our backs have to be broken. Watch for the following event: QE3 to drive down the value of the dollar and implement electronic money. When the dollar is devalued, watch the IMF implement a new currency called “Bancor”. With the advent of Bancor, the dollar will be worthless.
Have you tried Seattle area? The pay is decent here and there tends to be more jobs. Theres tons of special needs kids here, the Autism rate is soaring (which includes my ao.) And they need alot of para educators. Starts between $15-16 an hour. They need alot of para educators and people with the right degrees to work on early intervention programs.
Hey, don’t believe I’m seeing this rubbish here, thought you guys might know about the top one tenth of one percent owning 87percent of Americas wealth. That’s one one person earning 518 million dollars per year, roughly about 10 million per week, the same as 19 million ordinary workers. Collectively they have savings of approximately 50trillion dollars plus another 10 trillion offshore, see, its not disappeared, the winners have, mostly financiers.
U guys r all idiots you really think just 1 person is to blame.we were in a crisis before he got was brought in he may not have helped any but blaming someone else is not going to help we as americans need to do something to fix the problem our self and quit bitching.
The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act was the first—and remains the only—major federal legislative response to homelessness. President Ronald Reagan signed the act into law in 1987.
This basically means that either you are just too young to remember or too out of touch or like the “newly awakened tea partiers” way too misguided and bigoted to acknowledge the simple fact that the homeless problem in the U.S. didn’t begin when President Obama took office.
The correct title of this article should be “American greed…the machine that keeps on tickin.”
Finger pointing is what got us here. Watch as the politicians claim to have an answer for our current problems but never elaborate. And when they fail they will continue the blame game.
I agree the dollar will soon lose some of its value and this is our real problem. I don’t see an answer for those of us already hit by the “not really a recession” recession but I don’t expect the media or politicians to figure this one out or warn us before it’s too late.
What do we do now? Hell, who are we anyway? Help me find an answer. Stop the cycle of blame and let’s focus on solutions. It’s time to take responsibility for our lives and realize the divisions we’ve created keep us fighting each other instead of moving out of this age of absolute greed.
the simple answer is micro economy. basically buy and sell from and to your neighbors. when our currency is devalued and we have none or very little we will barter and thus survive. when the new currency emerges we buy and sell to neighboring communities. I believe this is our only real and feasable solution for the “not rich” get a skill.
I agree chickaboom! Though pointing our fingers at Government seems like a way to vent our frustration and fear, it does not help solve the problem. We are all in this together. Education is the answer. We all need to educate ourselves and our families as to how to be responsible with the few funds we have – Learn how to cook healthy food, teach our children how to help by reducing waste, recycling and re-purposing what we do have, learn how to sew, how to stay healthy instead of waiting til we are sick then worrying about how you can afford to go to the doctor. If we all work together, barter our skills, watch out for those who are in need and remember the skills our ancestors used to survive we can get through this. There is no doubt in my mind that we will have to learn to be happy with a lot less, but if we band together like we did after 9/11 we can be the answer. Those who are already homeless and living in these Shanty towns need all the help we can give them – Those of you who still stop for a coffee on the way to work – count your blessings, make your own coffee and send the savings to help the shanty town’s – you won’t go without yet you will help much!
Idk about you guyss but immmm getting the fuck out of here and starting a life in Amsterdam
Mac Slavo wrote:
“It’s hard to imagine that after billions of dollars have been spent to fight homelessness and hunger in America, we’re actually seeing an increase in homeless and hungry people. As government spent billions to “save” and “create” jobs, we’re losing more of our workforce every month.”
No… It’s not the billions of dollars spent that (alone) affects the homelessness. People who try to live beyond their income (borrowing what they call “free” money, on items like credit cards; or applying for loans which they can never repay, while already living on the edge and encountering a disaster) are chiefly responsible for their OWN homelessness. The other major contributing factor is loss of income (jobs).
Your simple statement does not accurately portray the issues… Half-truths are not TRUTH, they are LIES – read up on your Boolean AND logic tables!