July, 2006

The City of Fresno, California's Attack Against the Homeless

PHOTO/MIKE RHODES

The attack against the homeless in Fresno, California reached a new level June 22 when city workers threw one shopping cart after another into a garbage truck, crushing them. Homeless people were stunned as they watched their few possessions being destroyed. A police officer said, "The homeless here are the luckiest in Fresno. They have maid service. We come out and clean up for them." This inhuman statement stands in stark contrast to the actions of homeless supporters who put their bodies between the homeless and the trucks to save tents and grocery carts full of items. (In a previous attack, one supporter saved a homeless man sleeping in a tent from being crushed by a bulldozer.) Why are the homeless under attack? Capitalism has no use for workers it cannot exploit. Jobs are being eliminated as new electronic technology permanently replaces workers. Homelessness today is an indictment of the capitalist system. If an economic system cannot or won't provide for its people, it ought to be and will be changed. It's time for America to take a stand.

Mike Rhodes contributed the information for this story.

PHOTO/MIKE RHODES

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