The story about the hospitals shedding beds was new to me, but not surprising. Many of them today are owned by financial speculators more interested in the real estate that the buildings occupy than the nominal health care mission.
i'm from san francisco; i live in san diego. daily family discussion evolves around the deterioration of both; the blight; homeless, druggies, tents on every overpass, rcar windows displaying '"don't break in, nothing in here" signs. thousands of ring cams. daily we teeter on fleeing, trying to fix anything, or acquiescing to futility. "the Roman Empire fell slowly as a result of challenges from within and without, changing over the course of hundreds of years until its form was unrecognizable." how to stop deja vu
I hope you can find your way back to Italy, somehow. I was in the Val Masino area above Morbegno and it struck me how clean and wholesome everything is. By contrast, most beautiful areas in the U.S. seem to be ruined by homeless camps and drug use. A sad, complex situation. Thanks for posting this.
I was once three days away from living under a bridge. While that time is now thankfully long behind me, I've never forgotten the emotional and financial crisis that drove me to the brink. I'm always acutely aware that we are but one crisis away from having everything stripped from us. That could be a large existential burden to live with, but I use it to remind of where I've come from and how fleeting whatever we have in this existence is.
I'm not sufficiently well-versed in the theory of addiction to be able to address the reasons behind it, but for whatever reason(s), some people are susceptible to addictive behavior. Instead of seeing the threat it poses to society, some of us not prone to addiction look down on those who are as "less than." It's easier to judge others and finding them wanting than to try to extend a helping hand.
NYC may be an extreme example, but you can see the same thing here in Portland or in any other major city. It highlights the failure of our "I got mine, you can damned well get your own" social system.
"Fixing" the problem, if that's even the word for it, will require a multi-faceted approach, and it won't be easy, but this country has a long history with things that aren't easy. We put men on the moon. We've stopped or altered the flow of rivers. So it's not as if we don't possess the ingenuity or the resources. What we lack is the motivation, the priorities, and the valuation of human lives other than our own.
We call ourselves a Christian nation, but we object to doing the things that the teachings of Jesus Christ call for.
Back in the day, the Church was supposed to step in and help folks like these -- both Cesare, and the people you step over in the streets of NYC. The neoliberals of the 80s insisted that it was OK to dismantle the secular social safety net, because the Church would take care of the rest.
50% of homeless in the USA today are over age 50. That has risen from 37% in 2003. These are not people with mental health or substance abuse issues. Their issue is poverty. Their issue is 2 major recessions in their prime earning years so that they were unable to build even a modicum of wealth. Even with some resources senior care now averages $3000 a month. $100,000 lasts less than 3 years. After that they are downgraded to hell holes and then onto the streets.
So while I understand that the predominant homeless you see in New York are the people you describe? Half of the homeless are unseen.
I really have no answers. I dont think there are any as America seems irrevocably broken.
I was a health care worker for over 40 years. To me the whole system is so out of whack and yet it mirrors our society where the rich get richer, corporations get 40% tax breaks that ultimately doom the rest of us. Profits at the nonprofit determined the quality of health care. As an aside, I grew up in a community of 900 people in Iowa where "disabled" (for lack of a better work) were treated like the person you described in Italy. Meaning everyone knew their situation and " kind of watched out for them." Something European immigrants were a little closer to getting right. Glad to see your back in action.
Hi Stacey! I’m so glad to have received your email and to be able to enjoy your beautifully written contemplations of the neoliberal hell scape you now inhabit. As usual, your piece is poetic, amusing, profound and thought provoking. I fail to see how you are responsible in any measure for the homeless crisis in NYC. If there had been any real options in the political landscape, courageous individuals who could truly have made structural changes to the avoid the collapse you are witnessing then surely you would have voted for him or her. These homeless people are like the sores on the skin of an ill creature - The real sickness, however, is the addiction to profit at any cost. For that sickness self destruction is inevitable. Baci and keep the Cappucino flowing !
I wish you were writing from you perch above Amelia's cobbles bearing witness to other things, even if some of those things might be discomfiting, as they can be here in Italy. Rome is roasting at the moment (so is the rest of Italy, but...) and there are homeless their too, I'm sure. I may be wrong, but I do not think their lot is as bad as it would be in the canyons of Gotham. There are shaded places; a plethora of fountains; people on the lookout for the misbegotten with things they can do to relieve their grief of life.
It was wonderful to see the notice of your post appear in my inbox. As difficult a read as you gave us, it reminded of us of your skill at making things vivid - including man's inhumanity to man.
I was thinking about you and John a couple of days ago. So your post was timely. We have made friends here with a couple, Gretchen Trail is her name, Mario Fioriti is her partner's name. He plays stand up bass in jazz combos, principally in London, but when he comes here, he and local musicians gig in small clubs in our area. They just finished nights of playing in Perugia.
Our small village has a mentally challenged young man. Instead of shunning him because of his unusual look and behavior, he has been given useful jobs. He helps out with guiding kids in the preschool. And he plays an instrument in the town band. Sometimes he is given a special solo or responsibility for a unique effect to emphasize the music. He is friendly and sociable and treated well by everyone. I have never seen a prank done at his expense.
You (or I) could write a similar story about the treatment of elderly here; they are not put in retirement centers. They continue to be active members of the community. They are tended to by family or carers. They are respected.
I have had the pleasure of helping several fix some minor household problems.
How nice to see you in my inbox again! I've been wondering how how the adjustment has been going, whether you've both found enjoyable work and whether you've had some time to enjoy SOME of what NYC has to offer (when it's not so godawful hot, that is!).
The homelessness issue is indeed, truly heartbreaking here. Countless times I've offered a donation, and tried desperately not to cry, not wanting to burden the individual with MY angst (what right did I have?). So many in charge have tried, to no avail, to supply "affordable housing" (sometimes laughable what the govt. deems "affordable"). Schlerotic indeed.
This is a powerful piece. Unaware about hospitals shedding beds after Covid, but sadly, unsurprised. Seems like homelessness was a cause celebre in the 90's, it's been steadily getting worse, except arguably Fed policy for vets was helpful for that subpopulation. Off topic, if you can find it, dig Babs' autobiography entitled "I, Paid My Dues".
The story about the hospitals shedding beds was new to me, but not surprising. Many of them today are owned by financial speculators more interested in the real estate that the buildings occupy than the nominal health care mission.
i'm from san francisco; i live in san diego. daily family discussion evolves around the deterioration of both; the blight; homeless, druggies, tents on every overpass, rcar windows displaying '"don't break in, nothing in here" signs. thousands of ring cams. daily we teeter on fleeing, trying to fix anything, or acquiescing to futility. "the Roman Empire fell slowly as a result of challenges from within and without, changing over the course of hundreds of years until its form was unrecognizable." how to stop deja vu
I fuckin
I hope you can find your way back to Italy, somehow. I was in the Val Masino area above Morbegno and it struck me how clean and wholesome everything is. By contrast, most beautiful areas in the U.S. seem to be ruined by homeless camps and drug use. A sad, complex situation. Thanks for posting this.
I was once three days away from living under a bridge. While that time is now thankfully long behind me, I've never forgotten the emotional and financial crisis that drove me to the brink. I'm always acutely aware that we are but one crisis away from having everything stripped from us. That could be a large existential burden to live with, but I use it to remind of where I've come from and how fleeting whatever we have in this existence is.
I'm not sufficiently well-versed in the theory of addiction to be able to address the reasons behind it, but for whatever reason(s), some people are susceptible to addictive behavior. Instead of seeing the threat it poses to society, some of us not prone to addiction look down on those who are as "less than." It's easier to judge others and finding them wanting than to try to extend a helping hand.
NYC may be an extreme example, but you can see the same thing here in Portland or in any other major city. It highlights the failure of our "I got mine, you can damned well get your own" social system.
"Fixing" the problem, if that's even the word for it, will require a multi-faceted approach, and it won't be easy, but this country has a long history with things that aren't easy. We put men on the moon. We've stopped or altered the flow of rivers. So it's not as if we don't possess the ingenuity or the resources. What we lack is the motivation, the priorities, and the valuation of human lives other than our own.
We call ourselves a Christian nation, but we object to doing the things that the teachings of Jesus Christ call for.
It's no wonder I'm an atheist.
Back in the day, the Church was supposed to step in and help folks like these -- both Cesare, and the people you step over in the streets of NYC. The neoliberals of the 80s insisted that it was OK to dismantle the secular social safety net, because the Church would take care of the rest.
Not so much.
50% of homeless in the USA today are over age 50. That has risen from 37% in 2003. These are not people with mental health or substance abuse issues. Their issue is poverty. Their issue is 2 major recessions in their prime earning years so that they were unable to build even a modicum of wealth. Even with some resources senior care now averages $3000 a month. $100,000 lasts less than 3 years. After that they are downgraded to hell holes and then onto the streets.
So while I understand that the predominant homeless you see in New York are the people you describe? Half of the homeless are unseen.
I really have no answers. I dont think there are any as America seems irrevocably broken.
I was a health care worker for over 40 years. To me the whole system is so out of whack and yet it mirrors our society where the rich get richer, corporations get 40% tax breaks that ultimately doom the rest of us. Profits at the nonprofit determined the quality of health care. As an aside, I grew up in a community of 900 people in Iowa where "disabled" (for lack of a better work) were treated like the person you described in Italy. Meaning everyone knew their situation and " kind of watched out for them." Something European immigrants were a little closer to getting right. Glad to see your back in action.
Hi Stacey! I’m so glad to have received your email and to be able to enjoy your beautifully written contemplations of the neoliberal hell scape you now inhabit. As usual, your piece is poetic, amusing, profound and thought provoking. I fail to see how you are responsible in any measure for the homeless crisis in NYC. If there had been any real options in the political landscape, courageous individuals who could truly have made structural changes to the avoid the collapse you are witnessing then surely you would have voted for him or her. These homeless people are like the sores on the skin of an ill creature - The real sickness, however, is the addiction to profit at any cost. For that sickness self destruction is inevitable. Baci and keep the Cappucino flowing !
I wish you were writing from you perch above Amelia's cobbles bearing witness to other things, even if some of those things might be discomfiting, as they can be here in Italy. Rome is roasting at the moment (so is the rest of Italy, but...) and there are homeless their too, I'm sure. I may be wrong, but I do not think their lot is as bad as it would be in the canyons of Gotham. There are shaded places; a plethora of fountains; people on the lookout for the misbegotten with things they can do to relieve their grief of life.
It was wonderful to see the notice of your post appear in my inbox. As difficult a read as you gave us, it reminded of us of your skill at making things vivid - including man's inhumanity to man.
I was thinking about you and John a couple of days ago. So your post was timely. We have made friends here with a couple, Gretchen Trail is her name, Mario Fioriti is her partner's name. He plays stand up bass in jazz combos, principally in London, but when he comes here, he and local musicians gig in small clubs in our area. They just finished nights of playing in Perugia.
Our small village has a mentally challenged young man. Instead of shunning him because of his unusual look and behavior, he has been given useful jobs. He helps out with guiding kids in the preschool. And he plays an instrument in the town band. Sometimes he is given a special solo or responsibility for a unique effect to emphasize the music. He is friendly and sociable and treated well by everyone. I have never seen a prank done at his expense.
You (or I) could write a similar story about the treatment of elderly here; they are not put in retirement centers. They continue to be active members of the community. They are tended to by family or carers. They are respected.
I have had the pleasure of helping several fix some minor household problems.
How nice to see you in my inbox again! I've been wondering how how the adjustment has been going, whether you've both found enjoyable work and whether you've had some time to enjoy SOME of what NYC has to offer (when it's not so godawful hot, that is!).
The homelessness issue is indeed, truly heartbreaking here. Countless times I've offered a donation, and tried desperately not to cry, not wanting to burden the individual with MY angst (what right did I have?). So many in charge have tried, to no avail, to supply "affordable housing" (sometimes laughable what the govt. deems "affordable"). Schlerotic indeed.
This is a powerful piece. Unaware about hospitals shedding beds after Covid, but sadly, unsurprised. Seems like homelessness was a cause celebre in the 90's, it's been steadily getting worse, except arguably Fed policy for vets was helpful for that subpopulation. Off topic, if you can find it, dig Babs' autobiography entitled "I, Paid My Dues".