Tent Cities Return to America!

Andrew64

This was very much a feature of the Great Depression in the USA. Britain never had this. In fact the effect of the Depression on the UK was relatively mild - GDP fell by about 5% and recovery was rapid. Then again, Britain had it's Great Depression just after the First World War and the 20's was one long period of stagnation!

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article5898195.ece

America faces new Depression misery as financial crisis worsens

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article5898237.ece

Sacramento tent city is just one of dozens in an ailing America

thriftybabe

OMG those poor people. I hope that it does not get any worse for people here. This is the reason i was always wanting my mortgage paid. We may have no work (shortly) but at least we have a roof over our heads. It is very scary.

treliac

We may moan about the plight of the poor in this country, but we have a welfare state and we don't have the shantytowns and other substandard living conditions of the US.

I was shocked to see how some people lived, when I visited - an alleged developed country.

Graham_Devon

This was happening last year, as they are about a year ahead of us financially.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7585696.stm

Homeless people as a direct consequence of the housing crash, mostly women who sleep in cars with their posessions. They have little car park communitites. Couldn't do it here because of the weather. But they also don't have the benefits system we do!

lostinrates

Tent living never entirely disappeared in America. Tragically. I have a very good friend, for example, now living and working in UK, whose family lived in two tents near a trailer park, and her grandmother lived in the trailer park.

ETA: as education is another theme of the day I'd point out that while manyof the problems of aspiration, and perhaps more tangibly, acheivment etc are similar in impoverished US and impoverished UK, I have always had the sense they are lessor in the intangible qualities in the US. I spent some little time in US primary age education: the feeling was very much we could all do exactly what we worked hard enough to do.

Rochdale_Pioneers

Not a surprise is it? They already have a multitude living in caravans - this lot now in tents apparently aren't even rich enough to be trailer park trash.

The next time some smug merkin talks about how superior they are, point to the ocean of human detreus washed up on the shores of their cities. Americans seem to have no concept of society or of their fellow human beings - as long as they are OK then everyone else doesn't matter.

Why is it that some people on here want to emulate this in the UK?

chucky

Graham_Devon wrote: »

This was happening last year, as they are about a year ahead of us financially.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7585696.stm

Homeless people as a direct consequence of the housing crash, mostly women who sleep in cars with their posessions. They have little car park communitites. Couldn't do it here because of the weather. But they also don't have the benefits system we do!

very true - it was already happening last year.

are you insinuating that we are going to get tent cities in the UK?

before you answer look at the volume of sub-prime mortgages in the US that lead to reposessions or keys handed back by owners compared to the UK - that should tell you why it would be unlikely to happen in the UK.

Graham_Devon

chucky wrote: »

are you insinuating that we are going to get tent cities in the UK?

No, I was merely stating it happened in America last year.

How you get to I'm insinuating that it will happen here from that!? LOL. Would never happen here because of the benefits system.

However, without that benefits system, can you imagine the amount of tent citites we would have right now!?

chucky

Graham_Devon wrote: »

No, I was merely stating it happened in America last year.

How you get to I'm insinuating that it will happen here from that!? LOL. Would never happen here because of the benefits system.

However, without that benefits system, can you imagine the amount of tent citites we would have right now!?

yep - it would be carnage without the benefits system.

i understood it from your comment "This was happening last year, as they are about a year ahead of us financially." but obviously my mis-interpretation, but i was expecting you to tell me the Northern Rock stats vs US Sub Prime that you mentioned to Really2 on the other thread.

the benefits system (as long as it continues to be funded and will be due to QE) avoid most of the domesday scenarios fortunately.

StevieJ

Graham_Devon wrote: »

No, I was merely stating it happened in America last year.

How you get to I'm insinuating that it will happen here from that!? LOL. Would never happen here because of the benefits system.

However, without that benefits system, can you imagine the amount of tent citites we would have right now!?

Same impression here, from this

This was happening last year, as they are about a year ahead of us financially.

Graham_Devon

Chaps, I'm not responsible for your impressions

I merely meant it was happening there a year back as they are about a year before us in terms of the downturn, it's not just started happening.