FACE OF AN ECONOMY: Housing in U.S. city

A Journal of People Report

Housing for the common citizens is a chronic problem in capitalist economy. This is a widely discussed and researched issue. Yet the economy fails. In one sense, it is not the economy’s failure. Rather it is one of the characters of the economy.

The following reports from the U.S. tell about the housing reality. This is a face of the economy with huge resources.  

A Hailey, Idaho datelined report by The New York Times (“A Town’s Housing Crisis Exposes a ‘House of Cards’”, July 31, 2022) said:

‘Near the private jets that shuttle billionaires to their opulent Sun Valley getaways, Ana Ramon Bartolome and her family have spent this summer living in the only place available to them: behind a blue tarp in a sweltering two-car garage.

U.S.: When Thousands Are Evicted Each Day in A Land of Fabled Riches

Bharat Dogra

Countercurrents | January 02, 2022

Recently on December 15 Eli Saslow wrote a very important feature in The Washington Post on the daily routine life of an elderly police constable Lennie who has been charged with the responsibility of evicting those families or persons from their homes who have not been able to pay their rent.

Essentially his daily duty during the last two decades has been to go from house to house, based on a list of those households who have lagged behind in rent payment, carrying a gun as well as handcuffs, and evict them. Astonishingly, this single police constable has evicted 20,000 Arizonans from their homes over a period of 2 decades, or 1000 per year, or about 3 per day.

FACE OF AN ECONOMY: U.S.: Corporate landlords helped drive the evictions crisis

FACE OF AN ECONOMY 

A Journal of People report

“Millions of Americans are at risk of being evicted from their homes in 2021. Research shows that evictions often result in a myriad of bad public health outcomes, including an increased spread of COVID-19.” (Kat Eschner, “In 2021, a new wave of evictions could also fuel a rise in COVID cases”, Popular Science, January 4, 2021,https://www.popsci.com/story/health/housing-eviction-covid-19-pandemic-spread/)

Kat Eschner said: “Earlier this year, Popular Science reported that more than 20 million Americans potentially faced homelessness when the federally-imposed moratorium on evictions lifted in late September. Fortunately, that outcome has yet to happen, as the moratorium has been extended — at press time, until January 31, 2021. But thousands of evictions have still taken place this year, and the crisis that has kept people from paying rent still holds sway.”

Christopher Doughty wrote on January 6, 2021:

FACE OF AN ECONOMY: U.S.: Millions of People Face Evictions and Possible Power Cuts

FACE OF AN ECONOMY 

A Journal of People report

In the United States, many people have lost jobs on the pretext of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many of them now face evictions from their homes, and possible power cuts. tens of millions may be affected. 

A Time report – “A ‘Tidal Wave’ of Power Cuts May Be Coming as Electric Companies Resume Shutoffs” – said on August 31, 2020:

“For people who lost jobs or income during the pandemic, life has been a series of terrifying deadlines. There was July 24, the end of a federal eviction moratorium from government-backed housing, which had protected about one-third of renters. There was July 30, when a program providing an extra $600 in weekly unemployment benefits expired, reducing the incomes of tens of millions of Americans.

Video: Venezuela’s Great Housing Mission [Exclusive]

by Gloria La Riva

As a part of La Gran Misión Vivienda Venezuela (GMVV) – The Great Venezuela Housing Mission, the Venezuelan government has built 2.6 million homes, and millions more are planned to house the people of Venezuela. Started by Hugo Chávez GMVV  has been continued by President Nicolás Maduro.

U.S: Millions Lack Food, Housing, and Healthcare, But 38 Democrats Just Joined GOP to Spend $716 Billion on Endless War and Empire

by Jake Johnson, staff writer

Common Dreams | June 19, 2018

Democrats and Republicans decided to join hands once more late Monday—in an overwhelming 85-10 vote—to affirm that militarism and massive handouts to defense contractors top education, healthcare, and anti-hunger programs on the list of congressional priorities. (Image: ACLU)

 

In a vote that further “entrenches endless war and bloated Pentagon spending” and places greater nuclear capacity in the hands of President Donald Trump, 38 Democrats and Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) joined nearly every Senate Republican on Monday to pass a $716 billion defense bill that boosts military spending by over $80 billion and authorizes another $21.6 billion for nuclear weapons programs.

Corbyn Is Right To Call For Empty Homes To Be Occupied Or Requisitioned. And The Consequences Could Be Huge

A Morning Star Editorial | June 18, 2017

JEREMY CORBYN’S determination to see victims of the corporate manslaughter at Grenfell Tower properly rehoused is a contrast to the total absence of leadership shown both by the government and Kensington & Chelsea Council.

Even in the face of the appalling human tragedy of last week, and despite Conservative MPs now lining up to condemn their Prime Minister’s cowardly response to the disaster, residents are still being let down.

Desperate women and men trying to find information on missing relatives have complained of a glaring absence of information, without local authorities taking responsibility to assist people or explain who to apply to for information. Rumours of lists of people who died compiled by doctors spread through the community without being verifiable.