Unfiltered and Unspun

I reckon that most American's rarely look beyond the filtered and spun version of reality presented to them by the U.S. media to see how the rest of the world views us.

If they did, they might be left with more than a few doubts about whether they still live in "the greatest country on earth."

In fact, I reckon that the following report from Britain's Daily Mail, "Pictured: The Credit Crunch Tent City Which Has Returned to Haunt America," would probably leave some wondering what planet they were on.

A century and a half ago it was at the centre of the Californian gold rush, with hopeful prospectors pitching their tents along the banks of the American River.

Today, tents are once again springing up in the city of Sacramento. But this time it is for people with no hope and no prospects.

With America's economy in freefall and its housing market in crisis, California's state capital has become home to a tented city for the dispossessed.

Rich and poor: The tents and other makeshift homes have sprung up in the shadow of Sacramento's skyscrapers 

Shanty town: The tent city is already home to dozens of people, many left without jobs because of the credit crunch

Those who have lost their jobs and homes and have nowhere else to go are constructing makeshift shelters on the site, which covers several acres.

As many as 50 people a week are turning up and the authorities estimate that the tent city is now home to more than 1,200 people.

In a state more known for its fantastic wealth and the glitz and glamour of Hollywood, the images have shocked many Americans.

Conditions are primitive, with no water supply or proper sanitation.

Many residents have to walk up to three miles to buy bottled water from petrol stations or convenience stores.

Ben Cardwell, carries supplies to his tent at a homeless settlement

Tammy Day, a homeless woman, cooks potatoes on a campfire at the site

At other times, charity workers arrive to hand out free food and other supplies.

Joan Burke, who campaigns on behalf of the homeless, said the images of Americans living in tents would shock many.

'It should be an eye- opener for everybody,' she said. 'But we shouldn't just be shocked, we should take action to change things, because it's unacceptable.

'It is unacceptable that in this day and age we have gone back to a situation like we had during the Great Depression.'

Homeless: Keith and Tammy Day cook dinner

Authorities in Sacramento, where Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has his office,
admit the sight of families living in such poverty is not pretty.

But faced with their own budget crisis and a £30billion deficit, they have had little choice but to consider making the tent city a permanent fixture.

The city's mayor Kevin Johnson said: 'I can't say tent cities are the answer to the homeless population in Sacramento, but I think it's one of the many things that should be considered and looked at.'

Shanty towns sprung up during the Great Depression as people lost their jobs and homes

Migrant Mother: Dorothea Lange's famous photograph from the Great Depression features Florence Owens Thompson, 32, a mother-of-three who had just sold the family's tent to buy food

As America's most powerful state California had the same gross domestic output as Italy and Spain, but it has been among the hardest hit by the recession and housing crisis.

Foreclosure rates last year rocketed by 327 per cent, with up to 500 people a day losing their home.

Coupled with massive job cuts that have seen one in ten workers laid off, many people who once enjoyed a middle class existence are now forced into third world conditions.

Former car salesman Corvin and his wife Tena are among the newest residents of the tent city.

Tent city residents queue up to receive supplies handed out by a local charity

The couple, who are in their fifties, lost their home and jobs around the same time.

With homeless shelters full in Sacramento, they had little choice but to use what savings they had left to buy a tent.

The couple admit they have yet to tell their grown-up children about their hand-to-mouth existence.

Tena said: 'I have a 35-year-old son, and he doesn't know. I call him, about once a month and on holidays, to let him know that I'm well and healthy.

'He would love me anyway, but I don't want to worry him.'

The shame of Sacramento's tent city was given a much wider airing after it was featured on the Oprah Winfrey show which is watched by more than 40million people a week.

Many of those who have found themselves homeless worked in the building trade.

But with no new home builds and as many as 80,000 people losing their job every month, there is little chance of employment. Governor Schwarzenegger last month approved a budget to address the state's deficit, ending a three-month stalemate among lawmakers.

As well as increasing taxes, he has imposed drastic cuts in education, healthcare and services that will affect everyone living in the state.

Many of those living in the tent city are pinning their hopes on President Obama's $787billion stimulus package which is aimed at rescuing the economy and creating jobs.

The President has also announced plans to save the homes of nine million people from foreclosure by restructuring their mortgage debt.

Comments

[J. Jensen]

I demand to know what Obama is doing to save these tents from foreclosure! Forgive the second mortgages on the tents? Lower the interest rates? How many of these homeless have option ARM's on these tents? We can fix this with an infusion of a few hundred billion to AIG! The tents would turn into McMansions by end of month. Are there no poorfarms? Are there no workhouses?
Someone was right, seriously---THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Oil Rules]

There have always been tent cities and homeless in America. Go to San Fran if you want to see homeless.

This is more left wing junk to poison minds. Economy will flip up in late 2009. I fly all over this country. Everything is FINE!!

Do not listen to this blog. You will always find misery an suffering in the world. We can only prosper with open trade, open minds and open borders.

This is the world's most ignorant blog!!!!

[gibbon1]

News from San Francisco. Used to be that most of the homeless and near do wells were either crazy, alcoholics, drug addled, and or disabled. Now I'm seeing more down on their luck Mexicans and formerly middle class living on the streets. Also layoffs are starting in earnest, with layoffs of 5-15%.

\Enjoy the denial.

[Independent Accountant]

MP:
Welcome to 1780s France. I await Lloyd Antoinette Blankfein's telling us, "Let them eat cake". What a country. Hundreds of billions for the bankers and nothing for the peasants. One of the signs of a revolution is the actual or impending bankruptcy of a country. Woe is us. Ready that guillotine. It has a lot of work to do in Manhattan and Washington, DC.

[garberpog]

"Tena said: 'I have a 35-year-old son, and he doesn't know. I call him, about once a month and on holidays, to let him know that I'm well and healthy.

'He would love me anyway, but I don't want to worry him.' "

HELLO?! Their own loving son, who they brought up, won't take them in so they have NO alternative to living in a tent? As bad as it is now, they've got a long way to hit bottom! And so has this "son"!

Because they don't want to bother their own flesh and blood, Schwarnegger should hand them an apartment, food included??

[the_economist]

I would hazard to guess, that most of these people are alcoholics, drug users or have some mental disorders. Most of this story is untold.

[chrisanthemama]

It's been estimated that around a quarter of the homeless population are veterans, young and old. Considering the probably-untreated PTSD cases, plus the stress of living on the street, alcohol-and-other-drug addictions would be a coping mechanism. If I had to live in a tent as a lifestyle, I'd had a mental disorder, too.

A little compassion, people, unless you've walked in those shoes.

[H Spencer]

I totally agree with the previous poster, since I am a veteran of a 30 year US Army career. However, being in the military offers veterans plenty of options and help. If these are in fact veterans, they can contact the VA, or their veteran's service officer, the American Legion, VFW and Disabled Veterans. I realize the recent TV news stories of poor assistance to veterans, and I am sure the cracks catch a few veterans. That is why we have Congressmen. Contact them if you need help. Drugs is another thing. Once on drugs, its hard to make a life of any value again. In Iraq and Saudi Arabia, we lived in tents for months on end. I would not want to have served my country in that manner only to come home to yet another tent.
To correctly analyze this story of the homeless in the tents, we will have to go to each individual case. I feel really sorry for the folks and am willing to help them, but did they buy a McMansion they knew they could not afford, were then foreclosed on or just walked away, thereby destroying their credit, and making themselves unqualified for government subsidized housing? I am sure some are there due to Medical Bankruptcies, which is very understandable. Some are there just due to job losses, which causes home losses, not their fault. Lets look at some of the cases and then we will get the full impact of the story.

[roger]

The conventional history of the french revolution is concentrated
around the Bastille/Guillotine & the blood bath.
Real history is a little different.The french revolution not only
overthrew the french monarchy but also was the beginning of the
end of the old order across Europe.It was lead by the french
bourgeoisie in other words the social order was being replaced
by a new way to make a living,much the same happening to day
in a different context