By DUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZThe Paz Files
AUSTIN, Texas - It is no longer hard to even imagine it: The U.S. can now throw images of both a First World and a Third World country at you. Right here, anywhere in this once-great land. Take your pick. Drive into this progressive city to join the Occupy Austin people camped outside City Hall downtown and get a glimpse of ambulatory poverty in America. They look like winos, like characters from the grubby Bukowski novel Barfly, hundreds of them panhandling for their supper on just about every busy intersection.
Some look gone, aged and used. It is the others, the younger ones, that throw an industrial wrench full-blast into your brain, to that part that says no, this cannot be happening in the greatest country in the world. That scene is for Egypt, for Bangladesh, for Mexico.
But there they are, part of a growing population of Americans unable to feed, clothe or house themselves. They used to be called the "homeless," only these people are even more abandoned and dispossessed than that lovely little word could ever convey. Scraggly-haired women in their late-40s and 50s, bearing signs that say "Any change is okay" do battle with haggard men after the same coins. They all wear the faces of old and lingering pain, of visible starvation, of some sort of walking death.
And it's not just Austin. Similar scenes can be found in most of the nation's urban centers. In the rural towns, such as those to be found around Austin, the scenes are not as prominent, but, perhaps, is due to the fact that more people in the city avails a greater opportunity for begging.
Begging. Begging in America?
That used to be the face of a host of other foreign lands. Begging, as in please give me something, anything. That is the New America. People without jobs, without hope, without homes.
In a report prepared by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), approximately 15 percent of U.S. households in 2009 had difficulty feeding one or more members of their households at some point due to a lack of financial resources. That equates to 17.4 million households total, or roughly 45 million people.
It is an astonishing indictment on this thing we used to know as the American Dream. Some land of opportunity. Some greatest country in the world. Some noble experiment. Some fall from grace.
The heartless hourglass moves its sand. Time has a nasty habit of worsening the hunger, the idea that trying one more thing to better yourself is to be desired. Life has lost its shine for these people. They find no comfort or charm in living in their vehicles. At schools from coast to coast, more and more children are arriving hungry. It is no longer just the traditional poor, or the oppressed, so-called minorities. The entire national mural is ragged and in need of attention.
Third World? Well, hell-o...
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11 comments:
Paz-Martinez, what a good, and honest write up. I was in Austin this last week. I saw many people sleeping under bridges, and asking for handouts.
I was at the C. Plaza Hotel, nice place, but the Hi-land mall was pretty deserted.
The US is suffering, financially and physically, frankly, I don't think anyone knows how to fix the problem, even the people on 6th st. looked raunchy.
Oh well, the stock market is doing great today.
The last time I was in Houston, there were so many people selling newspapers at inter-sections. I was appalled, man there is so much unemployment it is pitiful.
EL BUTTINSKII:...Auistin has a built-in hipness that brings out the crazy dressers. That's one thing, and you can see it readily, but the panhandling army is alive and on the march in the capital city... - Editor
Sam L. the economy is bad period. Harlingen has over 12% unemployment. The word on the streets is to suit someone. Even some illegal immigrants are getting on the bandwagon.
A local eaterie dismissed 5 people out of the night crew.
But you are right, the US is in deep do-do.
MR. Editor, when is Junior Bonner going to write another article, his writings are crappy, but then so is Bonner.
Man, anyone who thinks things are well, is dreaming. The economy sucks, and there are hardly any jobs.
When is the Fleece himself, Junior Bonner going to give us an opinion on the Brownsville Mayor.
He was playing at the Music Fest not to long ago.
Please Mr. Editor, don't tell me, Junior Bonner kisses butt to politicos.
Mr. Editor, don't let Bonner and Cylantra go to Austin, they will fit right into the landscape of homeless.
Hey, how about having Junior Bonner date a woman politician in the valley and writing about it. Will he score? ha ha ha
I would like to address Gail Moore’s campaign announcement for district 1 in Harlingen. The announcement alludes to her experience as an elected official as an asset she would bring to the Harlingen City commission. The write up looks good, but let us take a closer look.
Parkway Village, Kentucky, is a Sixth Class city. Kentucky has six classes of cities based on population. A Sixth Class city must have a population of at least 300 to incorporate and may not exceed 999. By statute Fifth and Sixth Class cities are limited in scope and authority compared to larger cities.
Parkway Village is a very small suburb of Louisville, KY. It is about 1,000 feet wide, 1,600 feet long and is a little less than 1/10 of a square mile. Within the city are fourteen businesses. It has a current population of about 770, plus or minus a few. The few are minorities. Recent census figures show there are three Blacks, two Hispanics, two Asians and three persons reporting mixed racial heritage, the rest are white - mostly of German and Irish heritage.
Parkway Village does not have its own police department and relies on a fire department made up of mostly volunteers from a neighboring community. It does not have its own water or sewer service, or sanitation department. Most of these services come from either the greater metro area or are contracted out. The city has a public park, but it is maintained by a contractor. Last year’s general fund budget was a little over $94,000. Parkway Village receives separate funding from the State of Kentucky to maintain its streets and sidewalks but contracts out the actual work - which includes snow removal from its 5,000 linier feet of streets and deicing its few intersections. The Commissioners Board of Parkway Village meets once a month on the fourth Thursday. For several years it met in neighboring Audubon Park’s City Hall.
From reading the Parkway Village’s web page, and the commission minutes going back several years, it appears the principal services offered are, a quarterly newsletter, banners at the entrances to the city, and a Citation Officer. The Citation officer’s duties include making sure residents properly trim trees on their property that overhang the right of way, see that they keep their trash cans properly covered and taken back in after the once a week collection by the contractor, and insure people are not improperly parking on the street and are not parking on the grass in their own yards.
Basically, Parkway Village is a neighborhood association with the authority to levy property, business and insurance premium taxes. So when Moore claims she brings her “experience as commissioner of taxes, public works, parks and police” while serving the City of Parkway Village she is being less than honest about her actual experiences and qualifications.
Gail Moore is a fake and a phony, just like J.J.Gonzalez, and Dan Castillo.
I saw Dan with some of Ruiz campaign people. Huhu!!! They were drinking coffee in a Rest. on Morgan Blvd.
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