This article is horribly depressing. But don't worry, Obama cares, and is making things better. Yep. Any minute now. Try not to get sick after reading this article. ubmitted by Michael Snyder of The Economic Collapse blog, Did you know that there are thousands upon thousands of homeless people that are living underground beneath the streets of major U.S. cities? It is happening in Las Vegas, it is happening in New York City and it is even happening in Kansas City. As the economy crumbles, poverty in the United States is absolutely exploding and so is homelessness. In addition to the thousands of "tunnel people" living under the streets of America, there are also thousands that are living in tent cities, there are tens of thousands that are living in their vehicles and there are more than a million public school children that do not have a home to go back to at night. The federal government tells us that the recession "is over" and that "things are getting better", and yet poverty and homelessness in this country continue to rise with no end in sight. So what in the world are things going to look like when the next economic crisis hits? When I heard that there were homeless people living in a network of underground tunnels beneath the streets of Kansas City, I was absolutely stunned. I have relatives that live in that area. I never thought of Kansas City as one of the more troubled cities in the United States. But according to the Daily Mail, police recently discovered a network of tunnels under the city that people had been living in... The saddest part is the fact that authorities found dirty diapers in the areas near these tunnels. That must mean that babies were being raised in that kind of an environment. Unfortunately, this kind of thing is happening all over the nation. In recent years, the tunnel people of Las Vegas have received quite a bit of publicity all over the world. It has been estimated that more than 1,000 people live in the massive network of flood tunnels under the city... Could you imagine living like that? Sadly, for an increasing number of Americans a "normal lifestyle" is no longer an option. Either they have to go to the homeless shelters or they have to try to eke out an existence on their own any way that they can. In New York City, authorities are constantly trying to root out the people that live in the tunnels under the city and yet they never seem to be able to find them all. The following is from a New York Post article about the "Mole People" that live underneath New York City... Even as the Dow hits record high after record high, poverty in New York City continues to rise at a very frightening pace. Incredibly, the number of homeless people sleeping in the homeless shelters of New York City has increased by a whopping 19 percent over the past year. In many of our major cities, the homeless shelters are already at maximum capacity and are absolutely packed night after night. Large numbers of homeless people are often left to fend for themselves. That is one reason why we have seen the rise of so many tent cities. Yes, the tent cities are still there, they just aren't getting as much attention these days because they do not fit in with the "economic recovery" narrative that the mainstream media is currently pushing. In fact, many of the tent cities are larger than ever. For example, you can check out a Reuters video about a growing tent city in New Jersey that was posted on YouTube at the end of March right here. A lot of these tent cities have now become permanent fixtures, and unfortunately they will probably become much larger when the next major economic crisis strikes. But perhaps the saddest part of all of this is the massive number of children that are suffering night after night. For the first time ever, more than a million public school children in the United States are homeless. That number has risen by 57 percent since the 2006-2007 school year. So if things are really "getting better", then why in the world do we have more than a million public school children without homes? These days a lot of families that have lost their homes have ended up living in their vehicles. The following is an excerpt from a 60 Minutes interview with one family that is living in their truck... (cont next post)
But after watching a news report or reading something on the Internet about these people we rapidly forget about them because they are not a part of "our world". Another place where a lot of poor people end up is in prison. In a previous article, I detailed how the prison population in the United States has been booming in recent years. If you can believe it, the United States now has approximately 25 percent of the entire global prison population even though it only has about 5 percent of the total global population. And these days it is not just violent criminals that get thrown into prison. If you lose your job and get behind on your bills, you could be thrown into prison as well. The following is from a recent CBS News article... If you are poor, the United States can be an incredibly cold and cruel place. Mercy and compassion are in very short supply. The middle class continues to shrink and poverty continues to grow with each passing year. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, approximately one out of every six Americans is now living in poverty. And if you throw in those that are considered to be "near poverty", that number becomes much larger. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, more than 146 million Americans are either "poor" or "low income". But even as poverty grows, it seems like the hearts of those that still do have money are getting colder. Just check out what happened recently at a grocery store that was in the process of closing down in Augusta, Georgia... Can you imagine watching that happen? But of course handouts and charity are only temporary solutions. What the poor in this country really need are jobs, and unfortunately there has not been a jobs recovery in the United States since the recession ended. In fact, the employment crisis looks like it is starting to take another turn for the worse. The number of layoffs in the month of March was 30 percent higher than the same time a year ago. Meanwhile, small businesses are indicating that hiring is about to slow down significantly. According to a recent survey by the National Federation of Independent Businesses, small businesses in the United States are extremely pessimistic right now. The following is what Goldman Sachs had to say about this survey... So why aren't our politicians doing anything to fix this? For example, why in the world don't they stop millions of our jobs from being sent out of the country? Well, the truth is that they don't think we have a problem. In fact, U.S. Senator Ron Johnson recently said that U.S. trade deficits "don't matter". He apparently does not seem alarmed that more than 56,000 manufacturing facilities have been shut down in the United States since 2001. And since the last election, the White House has seemed to have gone into permanent party mode. On Tuesday, another extravagant party will be held at the White House. It is being called "In Performance at the White House: Memphis Soul", and it is going to include some of the biggest names in the music industry... And so who will be paying for all of this? You and I will be. Even as the Obamas cry about all of the other "spending cuts" that are happening, they continue to blow millions of taxpayer dollars on wildly extravagant parties and vacations. Overall, U.S. taxpayers will spend well over a billion dollars on the Obamas this year. I wonder what the tunnel people that live under the streets of America think about that.
Too bad the rest of us don't have a vote as to what the Obama's spend on themselves, charging it all to the tax payer.
I had a homeless guy ask for change, he said he hadn't eaten in a week, I told him "I wish I had your will power"... I need to lose some weight."
I read an article about the "Mole People" in NYC, they were saying that they are all very civilized down there and don't want alcoholics or thieves down there with them. The ones interviewed basically acted like it was a normal community, just underground with its occasional issues. I believe a lot of them had jobs as well the article said. They just didn't make enough to pay rent and everything so they just chose to live down in the subway tunnels and stuff.
Too bad the msm are nothing more than butt plugs for the left. If a righty was prez, stories like this would be 10 minutes a night headlines with specials nonstop for 4 years. Now, nary a word (except perhaps by those still blaming Bush).
I've been homeless in the past: before I do that again I'm willing to stoop to becoming a politician.