Same place they send the mentally ill they don’t want to deal with. Nimby.
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Can you dig it?
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Brutalism don’t masquerade.
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ô_Ô:question:
Warriors… come out to play!
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I think that’s a fun new (to me) internet thing.
Like last week on the FB some a-hole using pictures of Woodstock with captions suggesting it was a picture of the pipeline protests, or the short video of the tsunami that hit Japan with a caption suggesting it was Haiti.
The Internet ™, why just shit your own pants?
How would someone confuse Woodstock with the pipeline protests? Two totally separate events nearly 50 years apart. Do people totally deactivate their bullshit detectors when they go on the Book Of Face?
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Wow, never heard of that. I’m gonna check that out!
Gracias 
ETA: I think I can dig it!
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I’m pretty sure we don’t actually need to build more houses. There are about 130 million housing units in the US. With a population of about 300 million, that’s fewer than 2 people per housing unit. We just need 40 year old, 900 sq.ft. 2 bed, 1 bath homes to not cost half a million dollars or more.
Edit: It was late last night when I wrote this, and apparently the math center in my brain had already clocked out for the day. Obviously, that’s just over 2 people per unit, not less. Wow. I promise I’m not actually that dumb.
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There’s housing, and there’s affordable housing - yes. I agree.
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That statistic was quoted a lot, but is a bit dodgy- it only counts “housing” as the area actually covered by a house, ignoring things like gardens and driveways.
I honestly think it comes down to one truly terrible dichotomy:
The programmed apathy of the populace versus the will to live.
I’ve never seen so many panhandlers as I see in Austin. I imagine I’m not alone in thinking that I want to help, but handing money to them isn’t going to solve any problem. I give food (fresh fruit) sometimes. All I can think of is … don’t you have a brother? Sister? Friend? Cousin? Anyone who can let you use their spare bedroom? But I know it’s way more complicated than that.
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Probably not. If they do, maybe these people won’t let them stay with them.
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TBH, I haven’t seen the whole film, just clips and stills. I first heard the quote in a song
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“That city over there” where a one bedroom apartment doesn’t rent for three grand a month. I can’t afford even the cheapest rentals in Beverly Hills. Does that give me the right to pitch a tent and live on the sidewalk of my choice?
I’m not sure you understand how people become homeless or why they end up on the street. It’s rarely a choice.
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It would be a helpful reminder to society that it needs to get its properties straight.
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Find an organization doing community organizing. Before you invest too much time research them to find out if they have any power. Look for the number of members (and not bullshit ones like Acorn would put up, we’re talking bodies showing up to put the heat on officials). Things to think about are what kind of track record they have, any policies they have gotten pushed through, especially if there was resistance to it? Will they be working on issues that affect you? Are their goals achievable?
Fighting poverty is a great tagline, but look for more detailed goals like getting x dollar amount committed to affordable housing; getting a line item in the jail’s budget for substance abuse counseling; expanding shelters by x number of beds within y timeframe. Getting together to sing kumbaya feels good but you need an organization that can bring tension to local government.
My personal bias is towards direct action based on the Alinsky model. This is not a endorsement as I don’t know Austin, but you could start here and see where it takes you:
http://www.industrialareasfoundation.org/topics/community-organizing-austin
Direct service helps today, but direct action gets the goods.
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