While asleep in his tent a man living under a freeway in West Oakland, Calif., was hit and dragged by a city bulldozer. The city said it was “removing garbage” from a homeless encampment. If the bulldozer had approached from the other side, the man’s head would have been struck.
A similar incident occurred in 2015, when a woman sleeping in a San Jose encampment was bulldozed, suffering a broken pelvis.
These examples show that the poor have no value to a corporate profit-driven economic system. Homelessness is spreading by leaps and bounds – particularly among the working homeless who are living in shelters, tents, or cars.
Sleeping on a park bench myself makes me wonder if I will be the next victim of a bulldozing incident. I may be homeless but I am not dumb.
It is urgent that we demand the governments of wealthy nations provide housing for everyone, simply because it’s a right and as human beings we need shelter.
