And then they came for…

Last week Donald Trump’s Council on Economic Affairs released a report on homelessness that, like brings to mind his and his administration’s mindless rants about immigrants before last fall’s elections. The report at times reads more like invasion of the walking dead instead of how to address the needs of human beings. I’m not going to get into all the details about the report, but it’s the same egotistical, self serving, dehumanizing BS that has been a cornerstone of this game show host’s act ever since he got into the White House. 

What bothers me even more is Trump’s own vague suggestions that he may support gathering up homeless people and placing them in federal camps. There is also talk of deregulating housing markets which you may think is a good thing, right? More low income housing for the homeless right? Well sure, if you like living in rat and roach infested sinkholes. I will, however, agree with the report that some major cities are responsible for the massive increase in homelessness, because face the facts, they are, and that doesn’t have anything to do with party affiliation. It has to do with the system that people like Trump is a part of – a system that created this mess to begin with. 

High rent, low wages, a lack of affordable health care – the list is endless. A system that treats us as less than human. Methadone Mile in Boston, Skid Row in Los Angeles, homeless encampments in Salinas, Sacramento, Yuba City California, New York City and Washington DC, just to name a few. These are the creations of the capitalist system, not the homeless, who are portrayed as drug fueled zombies by mainstream media. That is the kind of mindless rhetoric, along with Trump’s bombastic lies, that gets people killed. We are already hearing reports of homeless encampments being set on fire and homeless people being stabbed, beaten up or threatened. 

Yes, that was going on long before Trump, but you don’t throw gas on a smoldering fire. There are also reports that these so called homeless federal camps will make people work as part of their “housing.” Can anyone say slave plantation? As much as anyone wants to blame Trump for this, the reality is he’s just a puppet. There are others behind the curtain pulling the strings, and as soon as we all wake up and realize that, the better off we will be.