First in The Independent: Mark Aaron Gatz, 65, is facing prison time in what one U.S. Forest Service officer described as ‘possibly one of the worst residential cases he has seen’
It is unclear if Gatz was living in the national forest because he was experiencing homelessness.
…Yeah, I think we can safely assume that, yes.
In 2023, the National Homelessness Law Center called on the feds to stop arresting people for living on public lands and shift to a housing- and services-only approach, after undercover Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management police officers shot a disabled man in the back during a removal operation and left (him) paralyzed from the waist down.
He and his family had been living in the Payette National Forest near Boise, Idah, after their landlord reportedly evicted them from their home and they were unable to find space in area shelters.
So, it’s a choice we’re making. Allowing homelessness, and abject poverty to exist, as a cudgel to those who would otherwise seek to drop out of the rat race.
I don’t disagree with you that $20 billion is a drop in the federal bucket that would be returned tenfold in improved societal shifts and increases in economic output. I also don’t love farm subsidies, but in terms of places to pull $20 billion from, I’d rather start with investments in foreign countries committing genocide and then work our way over to the military budget if that doesn’t cover the entire bill.
…Yeah, I think we can safely assume that, yes.
Just a big reminder that we could end homelessness in America for about $20 billion per year.
That’s about the same amount the federal government pays every year to give farmers super cheap crop insurance.
So, it’s a choice we’re making. Allowing homelessness, and abject poverty to exist, as a cudgel to those who would otherwise seek to drop out of the rat race.
I don’t disagree with you that $20 billion is a drop in the federal bucket that would be returned tenfold in improved societal shifts and increases in economic output. I also don’t love farm subsidies, but in terms of places to pull $20 billion from, I’d rather start with investments in foreign countries committing genocide and then work our way over to the military budget if that doesn’t cover the entire bill.
Under capitalism, homelessness is a feature. The spectacle of it keeps those with homes scared of being without.
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You seem pleasant
If having a data backed stance on homelessness makes one retarded, you must be fucking brain dead.
What the fuck does that make you, with opinions like that?
What do you mean?