Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Wealthy London Neighborhood Installs Metal Spikes To Keep The Homeless Away

A block of privately-owned apartments in a tony area of London has installed metal studson the ground to keep homeless people from sleeping there.
Similar to the window spikes many buildings use to deter pigeons from roosting, the studs reportedly appeared last month and have inspired outrage on Twitter.

Some residents said they had seen people sleeping in the corner a few weeks before the spikes were installed. Studs have been spotted in other parts of the city as well.
Over the past three years, the city has seen a 75 percent rise in “rough sleeping,” in part due to the economic downturn and cuts in housing benefits, Katharine Sacks-Jones of homeless advocacy group Crisis told the Guardian.
In the United States, many local and state governments have found new ways to criminalize the homeless. One popular tactic is to make sitting or lying down on sidewalks a criminal offense. Some cities allow police to seize property homeless people keep on the streets. Even living in a car is now illegal in some parts of the U.S.
Original Article
Source: thinkprogress.org/
Author:  BY AVIVA SHEN

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