Back in the early 1930’s, President Herbert Hoover was labeled with a phenomenon that carries over even today… the rise of shanty towns of homeless people that were known as Hoovervilles. And it was these homeless communities that in part led to the end of the Republican Party in the White House for the next 20 years.
And despite the continuing mantra by President Barack Obama, the Federal Reserve, and the mainstream media that the economy is doing well, and that the first African-American Commander-in-Chief brought America out of the Great Recession just as FDR is ‘recorded’ to have done during the 1930’s, history may be saying otherwise as a new era of homeless communities are cropping up around the country, making this the 21st century version of Obamavilles.
Just like during the last economic crisis, homeless encampments are popping up all over the nation as poverty grows at a very alarming rate. According to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, more than half a million people are homeless in America right now, but that figure is increasing by the day. And it isn’t just adults that we are talking about. It has been reported that that the number of homeless children in this country has risen by 60 percent since the last recession, and Poverty USA says that a total of 1.6 million children slept either in a homeless shelter or in some other form of emergency housing at some point last year. Yes, the stock market may have been experiencing a temporary boom for the last couple of years, but for those on the low end of the economic scale things have just continued to deteriorate.
Tonight, countless numbers of homeless people will try to make it through another chilly night in large tent cities that have been established in the heart of major cities such as Seattle, Washington, D.C. and St. Louis. Homelessness has gotten so bad in California that the L.A. City Council has formally asked Governor Jerry Brown to officially declare a state of emergency. And in Portland the city has extended their “homeless emergency” for yet another year, and city officials are really struggling with how to deal with the booming tent cities that have sprung up… - The Economic Collapse Blog
According to a CBS poll, homeless students have shot up nearly 39% since 2010, and this doesn’t count the number of homeless veterans who have been unable to transition back to civilian life following years on the front lines in Iraq and Afghanistan. And more people are now on welfare than at any time in history, with even those working unable to afford the rising costs of rents that were propagated by zero interest rate policies in the newest housing bubble.
There is a reason why organizations such as Occupy Wall Street, the Tea Party, the Ron Paul Revolution, and now the Bernie Sanders/Donald Trump phenomenon have occurred… because the reality of America’s economic situation today is nowhere near the propaganda being pushed by the media and the establishment.
Kenneth Schortgen Jr is a writer for Secretsofthefed.com, Examiner.com,Roguemoney.net, and To the Death Media, and hosts the popular web blog, The Daily Economist. Ken can also be heard Wednesday afternoons giving an weekly economic report on the Angel Clark radio show.
