Reaction to: *“Wall Street’s Barons Are Causing Homelessness for Profit,” by Thom Hartman, The Hartman Report, Truthout, October 14, 2021.
Thom Hartman does a thorough job of tracing the fall of home ownership starting just a few decades ago to where we are now. Though there are many other contributors to the loss of housing hopes, Wall Street and the banks have been very much involved in the dashing of people’s hopes to own a home.
Wall Street is one of the main culprits for creating the huge numbers of homeless persons in our nation.
An economy out of control, with the fuel shortage and price gouging of the 70s, followed by the over-purchase of small foreign autos, followed by the Great Recession taking us out of the 2000s and into the throes of COVID-19 are other strong foes in the fight to buy a house.
This article focuses only on Wall Street, however. It makes the clear case that investors have driven up the costs of houses such that families have to rent instead of buying. Then, because of demand, investors can raise the price of the rent, and in turn the renters after struggling with the costs of that game wind up living in a tent.
With various doors being slammed in their faces, family members find a welcoming home indeed: the streets. Tents, blankets, sleeping bags, and cardboard boxes replace the three-bedroom, bath-and-a-half mansions with hot water, microwave, locking garage door, and at least one refrigerator for keeping leftovers that the people living on the street can only dream of.
Readers wishing to know more about the descent many home dwellers have made should read the book Someplace Like America: Tales from the New Great Depression, by Dale Maharidge (Author), and Michael S. Williamson (Photographer), 2013, revised edition. In this book, the author and photographer go back to find the families first profiled in the 1980 edition in which they traveled across the nation to find people in distress and tried to learn about their struggles. In this updated version, they find some of the families to report on. Of the other people they first interviewed, there is no trace of them remaining.
Readers will want to google and pursue some sources related to the role of Wall Street and other investment engines in putting American citizens into tents, on the sidewalk, year round. Thom Hartmann has given us a clear and concise summary of the involvement of those who would rather have our neighbors live in a tent that live in a dwelling.
The reader may ask, “How did this happen in a place like America?”
*See the full text at: Wall Street's Barons Are Causing Homelessness for Profit (truthout.org)
What is frustrating is the author Thomas Hartmann is in on the gig. He pontificated why we had to vote for Obama over the Republican while Obama faithfully served Wall Street and bailed them out while people were evicted. Sad indeed!