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, November 12, 2014

California City Bans Homeless From Sleeping Outside: If They Leave, ‘Then That’s Their Choice’

Last week, the city council of Manteca, CA unanimously passed two ordinances aimed at clearing out the homeless population.
One will ban people from sleeping or setting up encampments on any public or private property as of December 4, although the homeless won’t be jailed or fined. It will, however, allow the police to tear down any homeless sleeping areas as soon as they appear without having to be invited by the property owner, as was the case previously.

Explaining why the ordinance is necessary, Police Chief Nick Obligacion said, “The goal is actually to correct the wrong. So, if the correction is them leaving Manteca, then that’s their choice.” He also opposes any sort of shelter for the homeless.
The other ordinance bans public urination and defecation, but also comes after the city temporarily closed public restrooms in a park, a location often used by the homeless to relieve themselves in private.
Manteca is only the latest American city to respond to the problem of mass homelessness by criminalizing it. In 187 cities across the country, there has been an uptick in every kind of ordinance aimed at making it illegal to be homeless, such asbanning people from lying down or having possessions with them as in Fort Lauderdale, FL; prohibiting people from sitting or lying down on sidewalks, such as in Honolulu, HI; or making it illegal to sleep in public, such as in Palo Alto, CA. Manteca’s ban on encampments is widespread, as 34 percent of cities have bans on camping in public, a 60 percent increase from 2011.
Some have even made it illegal to help the homeless: 13 cities have restricted where people can give them food, and one 90-year-old man in Fort Lauderdale has beenarrested for doing just that. And others look as if they are trying to simply ship the homeless elsewhere, as in Waikiki, HI, where 120 homeless people will be given one-way plane tickets to the mainland, or San Diego, CA, which considered giving them one-way bus tickets.
But cities that have actually ended homelessness take a very different approach.Phoenix, AZ and Salt Lake City, UT have both ended chronic homelessness among veterans using a “housing first” approach that aims to get the homeless into a home before addressing other issues like mental illness, addiction, or job training. In fact, if the country either gave everyone who needed it adequate rental assistance and/or built enough affordable housing to fill the 5.5 million unit shortage, it could effectively end homelessness once and for all.
Original Article
Source: thinkprogress.org/
Author: BY BRYCE COVERT

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