Trumpian Attacks on Homelessness and California Are Utter and Total Poppycock

Trumpian Attacks on Homelessness and California Are Utter and Total Poppycock

by Pat LaMarche | December 28, 2019 - 6:33am

I've been an advocate for those experiencing homelessness for decades. I started back in the 1980's as a volunteer at a local shelter. For years, my mom purchased the food for about 40 people and my kids and I cooked a meal for the residents, one night a month. Fifteen years ago I wrote a book about homelessness as I witnessed it on the campaign trail while running for vice president in 2004. That book, read by a clergyman who ran a homeless shelter transitioned my career from observer and volunteer to full time shelter worker and case manager. For a decade since then, I’ve traveled the nation with another advocate who devotes 100 percent of her time to helping children experiencing homelessness.

Why do I tell you all this?

Because I want you to believe me when I say that what you’re hearing in the news about homelessness being on the rise—and it being California’s fault—is complete poppycock.

The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has a system for counting the homeless that is worthless: utterly worthless. With a nod to bygone days when “hobos” lived along railroad tracks, one night a year—usually the coldest at the end of January—volunteers and housing professionals wander around looking for people with nowhere to live so that they can be interviewed and labeled “homeless.”

Ask yourself a question: If you lived in a precarious situation—especially with children—would you be available for such an interview? Yeah, I didn’t think so.

Who gets counted on this one day? Those with nothing left to lose. And according to HUD, in 2019 that number of visible and utterly desperate folks is a little more than 576,000.

So yeah, people living on the street in a warm climate (like much of California has) might be a little easier to find than those who are hiding in the woods, or in an abandoned property, or those who are at work at the time of the count. (Uh, yeah, folks experiencing homelessness work. Who do you think made your cheeseburger or fried your chicken last time you got fast food? Don’t care that minimum wage workforce can’t afford to live in your community? Bon Appetite!)

Don’t get me wrong—the wildfires in California have forced many people into homelessness and I’ve interviewed a number of them for a more expansive story I’m doing later this year. But that’s not the impression the news stories out of HUD have been trying to give. No, HUD wants you to think that California is a hell hole and its permissive nature has caused it to breed homelessnes. Nothing could be further from the truth. The reality is this: the entire United States of America—both urban and rural regions—is a hell hole with poverty that breeds homelessness.

Shame on the media for not being more diligent. And it wouldn’t take much work either. There are much better numbers that lazy news organizations could be utilizing to tell this story. The U.S. Department of Education keeps a better tally than HUD. They have a different definition for homelessness, but that’s another thing that’s better about the Education Department compared to HUD, now run by Trump appointee Ben Carson. HUD’s definition is as outdated as their method of counting.

See, back in the early twenty-first century, President George W. Bush pushed through his landmark education legislation, “No Child Left Behind.” An Illinois Republican Congresswoman, Judy Biggert, attached homeless education legislation to this otherwise horrible bill and got kids experiencing homelessness the right to go to school. The McKinney-Vento law requires all barriers be cleared away from kids who need an education, even though they don’t have an address that’s paying property taxes into the school system.

The Department of Education numbers are still lower than they could be if an accurate count were kept, but according to their statistics 1.4 million school children experienced homelessness the year before last. 1.4 MILLION! But, what is every reporter from FOX News to NPR saying? They’re repeating the ludicrous statistics from HUD which state that only half a million people are homeless and it’s all California’s fault.

As a person who spends a fair amount of time trying to mitigate the suffering experienced by those without a home, I’d really like to ask the media to do their job properly. Lying about California, the numbers of persons who are homeless, and the causes of homelessness only makes our job as advocates more difficult. And it—quite literally—makes worse the lives of our neighbors on the street, in the woods, stranged in Uncle Fred’s basement, sleeping six to a bed in a fleabag motel, or in some other awful situation.

Want a number to throw around? Take the 1.4 million school kids, add in toddlers and babies, their parents, single individuals, those not enrolled in school and the elderly and you’ll be at a somewhat accurate count of about seven million. And just to be clear: seven million is approximately two percent of the U.S. population. Two percent of our neighbors who need the media to stop lying about them, so the rest of us can work together to make their lives more livable.

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Whisper to Her Gently

Whisper to Me Gently
_


In his mind, she became impossible for him to forget.

She was regally tall, beautiful, and uncommonly direct.

Her ethereal beauty and razor-sharp intellect contrasted

With her ordinary life in a 3rd Ave., 4th floor walk-up.
_


Her mother, an honest house-cleaner by trade, from

Green Hibernia had come; and her dad, rest his soul,

A tradesman, of hard, flinty Scotland’s, clan Brown.
_


From these two she got her looks but she also got

A fire in her belly that would brook no disrespect;

And a kindness and grace that endeared her to all.
_


When he thought of her, he wondered why their

Love had come undone so quickly. He had wanted

To learn by going and seeing things for himself.

But she had wanted to stay close to her environs.
_


So he went, and seldom looked back, except to

Remember those times when they were in love;

When she asked him to whisper to her gently.
_

If You Thought of the Baby Jesus This Week, Think of the Babies at the Border Now

If You Thought of the Baby Jesus This Week, Think of the Babies at the Border Now

by Jaime O'Neill | December 27, 2019 - 6:56am

Think of the children at the border, the children in for-profit detention centers, the children sleeping on concrete floors, the children who cry for mothers they may never see again, the children traumatized and damaged by a needlessly cruel policy that targets them for abuse, all of that is at the heart of the darkness that is Trumpian fascism.

Think, too, of those mothers suffering the worst crime that can be conceived of against mothers and motherhood, a crime abetted by people who profess reverence for "family values."

Think, too, of the desperate fathers who have lost their sons or daughters to a nation they had look to for refuge, had crossed deserts to reach only to find that the worst horror of all awaited them here.

As Christmas fades into memory, decency demands that we think of those kids, think of what has been done to them in the name of security for our own children. The abomination of snatching those kids, then losing track of them has made monsters of us all, defaming our nation, shaming us beyond the reach of redemption. No excuses will pardon us for allowing this to happen. Children, as innocent as the baby Jesus, are dying because their parents sought refuge from death in their own countries. Think of the tears they shed, the fears they harbor, the dangers they faced and now endure. Or don't always endure. Many are dead, and those deaths stain our flag, unravel it, along with any notions we might have of what we thought our country meant.

Think of the grief of their mothers and fathers. Think of how it might have felt when your own children were small had they been pulled from your arms by people who did not speak your native tongue, burly men in uniforms who separated you from the flesh of your flesh, who tore through the bonds of birth, of motherhood and fatherhood, defiling in the process the most elemental of human connections.

Think, too, of those scenes we've seen in movies in which Nazis separate children from their parents as they sort them at Auschwitz, Buchenwald, Treblinka, or other death camps less famous, but just as brutal and merciless. As you think of those places, try not to reassure you with the ways in which they differ from what has been happening at our border, but of the ways they are the same.

During the days of Christmas, the son of the President of the United States, Donald Trump Jr., offered his view on the subject. He said we should think of the efforts made by his dad, by Stephen Miller, by I.C.E. and other agents of fascism as being the equivalent of the barriers at the zoo that protect us from the "animals."

If that doesn't make you ashamed of your country, then there is something rotten in your soul, corrupted in your head, foul in your guts, something deeply racist, something bleak, benighted, and barren, something that would make you pitiable if you weren't so pitiless.

So, as Christmas recedes, as the celebration of the story of an imperiled child of refugee parents gets packed away for another year along with the ornaments and the artificial trees, maybe the Christians might say a prayer for the redemption of their faith, and maybe for all their brethren who support what has been done and what is being done, this affront to any decent person's idea of any deity worth worshiping.

And if you are the parent of young children, think of other people's children at the border, sleeping in cages, like "animals," without their mothers and fathers, subject to the will and whim of people who don't love them. Think of the indifferent "care" they've known since they were taken from their mothers and fathers. Think of those mothers and fathers, no different in their feelings than you are in yours. And then hang your head at the disgrace Trump has visited on us all.

Think, too, of the irreparable and unnecessary harm done to so many. Should we awaken to a moral reckoning, will we say, as so many Germans said, that we just didn't know? And if we do, can we imagine anyone believing that?

______________

I do so hope that this thoughtful article will disturb you enough so that you can try to imagine your own unspeakable despair if such inhuman miseries were committed against you and your family for the ostensible 'crime' of seeking better lives in another place because the place you came from had morphed into its own, unbearable state of misery.

Often, because the 'intelligence' services had served the interests of the 'elite class' of global capitalists, who 'needed' to destabilize elected democracies and replace them with toadies who heeled to the 'needs' of the capitaist elite who directed that they be installed as head of government as long as the (extractive) interests of the worldwide, 'elite class' were being served.

Aren't we who love freedom and honour and dignity overdue for positive changes in the world we love?

Don't our brothers and sisters deserve the right to democratically elect leaders who will, finally, serve the interests of 'all' the people?

Why are we Americans so timid, most of us struggle mightily just to survive, while our 'elite class' wallow in obscene wealth and pay proportionately far less in taxes than the average salaried worker?

If you can justify and support such obsceneties against other human beings, so that only a few can gorge on profits, I urge you to consider how devastated you or your loved ones would be, if your children were forcibly taken from you, and then, 'lost.'

Kind best wishes to each of you in 2020! ...Tao

Wretched in the Time of Faceless Clocks

Wretched in the Time of Faceless Clocks
_


The unpronounceable names of the wretched are

Legion but political nicety dictates that we must

Call them: refugees, the dispossessed, those who

Are fleeing persecution (asylum seekers all), and

A host of purblind linguistic devices to politely

Mask brutal, ever-present, frightening realities of

Their unhoused, exiled, forsaken states of being.
_


And, instead, use nicer names invented to help us

Psychologically disinvest ourselves from their often

Dire circumstances, that too, will result in a loss of

Hope that’s willfully exacerbated by overt acts of

Cruelty and the phenomenon of victim-shaming.
_


Of course, ‘homeless,’ as a descriptive adjective

Simply won’t do, because polite society won’t

Accept any of the blame for the gross, monetary

Inequalities enabled by their easy silence, and an

Appalling, amoral lack of interest or concern for

The daily suffering of the actual, valid, living and

Breathing human beings, within the world’s vast

Hordes of, sadly, marooned, displaced persons.
_


The time of faceless clocks began its nascency

Long, long ago, when the dominion of one over

Another started its evil ascent into human affairs.
_


And now we all, staged as wretches yet to be,

Wait and watch as nothing is done to quell the

Now and future depredations which, surely,

Will spell the demise of all in a future written

Small, as the wisps of our seed’s hopes turn to

A yellow-tinged poison, offering to them and

Theirs bleakly foretold dream deprived futures,

Devoid of the promise that humanity once held

In its hearts and minds, and its hands and feet.
_


We will stop looking forward when dreams no

Longer come to visit. We will all stop caring.

It will then become a time of me and only mine.

We will guard what’s ours and kill anyone who

Tries to take it. That time of fears and tears is so

Near, closer than a wretched refugee’s heartbeat.
_

Recognizing Our Precious Human Life

Recognizing Our Precious Human Life


Compassion for others builds self-confidence, as does remembering our

precious human life, its meaning, purpose, and rarity.


—H. H. the Dalai Lama and Ven. Thubten Chodron,

“The Self-Confidence of a Bodhisattva”

What Can Humility Make Room For?

What Can Humility Make Room For?


Our commitment to awakening asks us to honestly explore the ways in which conceit manifests in our lives and to find the way to its end.

The cessation of conceit allows the fruition of empathy, kindness, compassion, and awakening.


—Christina Feldman, “Long Journey to a Bow”

What Happens When You Still Your Mind

What Happens When You Still Your Mind


Our mind is analogous to a cup of muddy water.

The longer you keep a cup of muddy water still, the more the mud

settles down and the water will be seen clearly.


—Bhante Henepola Gunaratana, “Sitting Still”

Take Care (of) All

Take Care (of) All



The whys: why is it that most religionists

Are convinced that belief in an iteration of a

Popular religious dogma is, wholly by itself,

Sufficient to guarantee them an after-death

Experience of eternal salvation that they’ll

Be fully aware of after an end-of-life death of

The body and mind that gave them all of the

Poignant awarenesses they knew while they

Were busy living their lives of self-regard?
_


Do they honestly expect a reward at the end

Of their lives if they have never committed

Any efforts at cultivating the improvement of

The finer aspects of human character, such as

Selfless love, forgiveness, honesty, or loyalty?
_


Can anyone adequately describe eternity,

So that it can be held up to, and compared

With a human lifetime, which can be mere

Seconds, or the span of a century, or more?
_


And why do they feel they have earned an

Eternal place in their supposed, experiential,

Celestial, heavenly realm, without having

Turned their hearts and minds to the plight

Of those who are less fortunate, and suffer?
_


Within the context of their faith, is there no

Instruction to practice a sincere tolerance,

And kindness toward all their fellow human

Beings, regardless of the beliefs they hold?
_


The ideas: it’s a position of tolerance and

A love of freedom to respect everyone’s

Inalienable right to hold their own beliefs;
_


But that love of freedom and tolerance must

Also ensure that no one’s particular beliefs

Are owed respect above anyone else’s beliefs.
_


Taking care (of) all...please remember, a smile,

Gently given, or a kind word, softly spoken, can

Mean all the world to someone less fortunate…

Compassion, forgiveness, humility...peace.
_


Taking care (of) all…please remember, that it

Isn’t necessary to identify with any religion to

Show kindness to fellow humans, and express

Genuine gratitude for all that you have...peace.
_


Taking care (of) all...please remember that the

Aspects of holy, moral superiority ascribed to

Beliefs you hold today had, through most of

Our aeons, no meaning, whatsoever…peace.
_


Taking care (of) all…please remember that

When we first decide to sit in judgment of

Another’s lifestyle, beliefs, or lack thereof;

We then also open our own behaviors and

Beliefs to the judgment of others…peace.
_


Taking care (of) all…please remember, human

History has always been recorded with biases,

Inconsistencies, and important omissions; it can,

Therefore, be presumed that it shall also be so for

The accuracy of what is recorded of all of what

Was said to have happened in our era…peace.
_


Commentaries on morality…please remember,

The nations of Earth, regardless of their system of

Government have, generally, wasted citizen wealth

On wars, political corruption, and dynastic theft.

I believe that new, strict definitudes for classifying

Immorality must now be created. For example:
_


It is immoral to protect insurance company profits

Instead of the health and wellbeing of citizens.
_


It is immoral to allow business profits to supersede

The wellbeing of a citizen, in any circumstance.
_


It is immoral to deny free education to any citizen,

At any age, regardless of curricula or interests.
_


It is immoral to wield any form of violence toward

Another, except in defense of the weak and helpless.
_


It is immoral for a society to use accumulated money

As a cudgel designed to disadvantage those with less.
_


It is immoral to deny free medical-dental care, food,

Water, clothing, shelter, electric power, heat, cooling,

Rest, or transportation to any citizen in need of them.
_


It is immoral to wage war. Any country, tribe or

Person who wages the deadly conflicts of war

Against others must be cast out from humanity.
_


It is immoral for any religious group to force any

Citizen to comply with, or support their creed,

When that citizen holds different views.
_


It is immoral for a government to regulate the

Private behaviors of any citizen, excepting the

Prevention of violence, theft, kidnap, forced sex,

Or any form of indenture. It’s been observed that

Those who treat others with a lack of respect and

Dignity are, themselves, often lacking a sense of

Self-esteem, personal dignity and self respect.
_

If You Dare, Don’t Share (a cautionary reminder)

If You Dare, Don’t Share
(a cautionary reminder)
_


Many people in the developed nations believe

That what’s theirs is theirs because they earned it.
_


Many people in less developed nations believe

That what’s theirs is theirs because they need it.
_


Many people in poorly developed nations believe

That what’s theirs is theirs to share because it’s right.
_


All those people exist with what they have, shared,

And unshared, because they’re fortunate to have it.
_


Whether they earned it, or need it, or are fortunate

To have it; or even if they try to do what’s right

With what they have, all can be lost in an instant.
_


A flood, a fire, or any of the other countless ways

That sudden, unwelcome catastrophes happen, can

Happen to anyone, at any time, for no reason.
_


Because of the certainty of the uncertainties that

Cloud each person’s life, sharing what you have,

Now, when you’ve got it to give, is important.
_


Because, truth be told, there are no guarantees that

You, yourself, may not soon be in desperate need.

Alone or amongst others also in need, it still hurts.
_

Generosity and Greed

Generosity and Greed


“When you are practicing generosity, you should feel a little pinch when you give something away. That pinch is your stinginess protesting. If you give away your old, worn-out coat that you wouldn’t be caught dead wearing, that is not generosity. There is no pinch.

You are doing nothing to overcome your stinginess; you’re just cleaning out your closet and calling it something else.

Giving away your coat might keep someone warm, but it does not address the problem we face as spiritual practitioners: to free ourselves from self-cherishing and self-grasping.”


—Gelek Rinpoche

Beauty

Beauty



Through the senses, to the mind, there are

Many ways to imagine that one can know

It, that which cannot, in the particulars of

Its every instance, be described, no matter

The poetic means, nor the lexis used to try;
_


Some will, because of pureness of mind

And goodness of heart, come to know it

Easily; but some others, those of impure

Minds and cold, cruel hearts, can’t ever

Really know the essence of its purity;
_


And all would agree that if, at any time,

There exists a craven desire to possess it,

It will, with or without the pale shadows

Of their foolish doubts, endow the sad

And unwary with its sleights of mind,

And then lead them down, down, down

To places where facetious follies thrive.
_

Letting Your Desires Pass

Letting Your Desires Pass


The next time you have some wanting or desire in the mind, investigate what the wanting feels like and then notice how it feels when the wanting passes away.

Given the great law of impermanence, it always will.


—Joseph Goldstein, “The End of Suffering”

Sometimes We Wish

Sometimes We Wish



That clocks ran in backwards movement,

And that, muted by love’s forgiveness,

Unkind words would then be unheard.
_


That only needs were seen, and ignoble

Wants ignored. And still unspoken, ideas

Had never been, before assumptions so

Alike, forged, and hearts were broken.
_


That anger’s heat morphed into gentle

Warmth, and that brutal mental wounds,

Perforce, salved themselves with love.
_