what does it really mean? does the report break down the costs so we know how much goes to buildings & overhead, how much to salaries, how much to police? what percentage of those hundreds of billions of dollars is poured into infrastructure that serves all of us, like the health care system (though those of us who prefer alternative healing, preventative medicine, are hooped as far as subsidies go), and how much of it goes to those who directly serve the homeless - the social workers, the service providers, the shelter staff, the office workers, the people who clean the offices? in victoria, the mayor's task force on homelessness has a $400,000 a year budget. they've been around for a year and have recently found enough money to set up an office. some folks are optimistic that, with all that money, they'll no doubt be successful finding housing for people. i guess they believe that if you throw money at something it's bound to end up good. like the bailout of the banks, that's gonna solve everything.
i'm willing to bet that very little of those hundreds of millions of dollars spent on 'homelessness' actually ends up in the hands of the homeless. and i'll wager that none of it ever will. poverty is an industry - it employs people, lots of people. because of it they're able to feed and house themselves and their families, to drive cars and contribute to the global climate crisis, maybe even send their kids to university. if hundreds of millions of dollars were diverted from that cash stream lots of people would be out of work, some of those would likely end up homeless themselves.
unless there's a massive restructuring of the way we think about poverty, the way our economy works, the priorities that our elected officials determine, nothing's gonna change. it's like a friend of mine says ... we don't need affordable housing, we need people who can afford housing. and we need to stop allowing the poor and homeless to be treated as crazy people or criminals.
today i met a woman who was arrested and institutionalized last week because she lives in a van. i don't know the exact circumstances around the arrest. she's a colourful and vibrant woman, definitely not a conformist, some might say she's a bit whacky now and then. but that's what makes her interesting - she's not like everyone else, she's her own person, and whatever she was doing at the time of arrest i can't imagine she was hurting anyone. it's not like she blew up a school and killed a bunch of refugees, for example .... and even that'd be okay if she was israeli and her excuse was thinking there were terrorists inside.
i saw her at the eric martin pavilion today (victoria's 'nut house') when i was dropping off some extra street newzes. it always makes me a bit nervous going there, because of that time almost ten years ago when they did their damndest to pin a label on me and, for all intents and purposes, kill me. i've seen their book of labels - there's something for everyone. no matter what you're feeling, or how you're behaving, they can find a label to fit. and, wouldn't you know it, they have a big pharma drug or two that they'd love to get you hooked on - to 'fix' whatever's ailing you (and pop up a few side effects that need drugs to fix those, too).
the emp is a very difficult place to get out of - they don't like to admit they've made a mistake, and why should they when there's a label for everyone - but there is an appeal process where you present yourself to a panel of 'experts' (including a representative from the community) and they can over-ride the doctor's decision. that's how i got out. the doctors had offered me an opportunity to admit i had whatever problem they wanted to pin on me (bi-polar, i believe is what they suggested) and then i could leave and live on a disability pension - paid by the provincial government. the catch, aside from letting them win, is that i'd have to take their drugs in order to be eligible for the 700 or so dollars a month. but i refused to comply ... so they drugged me to the max, and stuck me in front of a computer to complete some skill testing questions (which i aced, despite the foggy head they'd induced) and presented myself to their panel. i got a copy of the report they kept on me -- it was full of lies. truly. i was drugged but i'm quite sure i did not dance a pirouette for the doctor, and i most certainly did not say i want to go to america and buy a gun (i'm a peace activist for chrissake!), but it's forever on my record and i have a recurring nightmare about being old and institutionalized and drugged to death because of who they want me to be. they hate to lose.
i told my hospitalized friend, when i saw her today, about how i'd been stuck in a room when i was admitted, given pajamas to wear instead of my clothes, and told to wait for the doctor. there were no windows in the room, there was only a bed. after a while i decided to try and sleep and was awoken in the middle of the night by some young doctor dude who sat on the edge of the bed and wanted to chat about my 'condition'. to this day i don't know why i didn't call a lawyer when i got out of there. i think i was just so happy to be free i didn't want to rock that particular boat again .... once they've got you it's very easy to get you again.
my friend said they didn't take her to the emp directly, she actually spent christmas eve at the police station where they played a tape with sounds of women being tortured. WHAT?!?? yup, she said, male voices were calling women the c word, other derogatory things, and then of course there were the womens' tortured responses. she didn't want to elaborate, it was obviously awful, she just said it sounded like something you'd hear at willie pickton's farm. she had to listen to it for two hours. TWO HOURS!!! WHY?!!?? you know about the new police chief, she said, and left it at that. she had to get back upstairs - they only let them leave on the hour for 10 minutes for a cigarette break, and they have to sign themselves out and back in again. they had her in the locked up section of emp so she has to get buzzed in and out and they keep a close eye. they're forcing her to stay there for another week, she said, for whatever reason. it's just another way of keeping the women down. god bless the patriarchy.
i remember hearing, when i was in there all those years ago, that it was costing something like $30,000 a week to keep me there. salaries, building costs, that sort of thing. you think those employees are going to get on the bandwagon to end poverty and homelessness? not a chance, not when the police are paid to round us up like animals, abuse us (so we really are crazy by the time we get there), and then throw us out on the street again until the next time. they'll talk about how they want to end homelessness, but they don't, not really. they'd be stupid if they did - it'd mean they'd be out of a job! and i'll bet there's a diagnosis for wanting something crazy like that.
p.s. - to that teacher in junior high who we made crazy .... i'm really sorry for being part of that.
