A Mile Zero Mirror reader ponders the relationship between fear and fantasy as they play out in the day-to-day affairs of individuals inhabiting a complex urban life, and how these factors influence our perception of the world as a place of mystery, misgiving, and sometimes even profound misunderstanding.
The sky is falling! The end is near! Headlines scream:
Tent city residents of Regina Park Saanich, ordered out, but they won’t leave!
Saanich Tent City Ignites Anger!
Council clamps down on campers’ garbage! Police nab campers for shoplifting!
Tent City campers put neighbours at risk, says resident who found needle in tire.
Equally sensational headlines boast:
World’s Hottest Housing Market is Victoria, BC.
Victoria Ranks #2 in Top 20 Best Small Cities in the World.
Victoria, B.C. is Canada’s Most Romantic City.
Victoria: Best Place in Canada to be a Woman.
In stark contrast to this picture of ‘progress and prosperity,’ a small group of homeless people encamp in a nearby Saanich park.
Months away from a civic election, municipal politicians grasp at straws. Having ignored the social consequences of their unaffordable-housing growth strategy, they now consider using the full force of the law to eliminate the problem. The homeless camp? An ugly reminder of the widening gap between haves and have-nots; and, the dismal failure of Councils, to take real measures to end the poverty cycle in their communities.
That homelessness is increasing, not only in our City, but on a global scale in a time of unprecedented “progress and prosperity,” reflects the ravages of uneven economic development, and large-scale population displacement—a result of oppression, conflict, and breakdown of social supports and institutions.
The promise of homeownership to all those who work diligently, is a fateful illusion fostered by politicians, financial institutions, the development industry and the media. If working hard were the only criteria for homeownership, then those putting in 50-60 hours a week at three different jobs, would surely have secured sufficient income to acquire a home by now. However, the homeless blight reveals the true story behind the picture-perfect postcards of our Island Paradise and the glossy magazine ads for luxury living in our City.
As an aside, did you know there are more than 530 words in the English language for vagrants or vagabonds?
The media frames their stories of the homeless – their issues and their circumstances, when they portray unhoused citizens. Why is this?
At the heart of this unconscionable state of affairs is fear: if this plague is not eliminated, every member of society will be deprived of their health, wealth, and peace of mind. Such visible gaping wounds on others and their surrounding landscape, remind us that this sad humanitarian crisis is man-made. Like it or not, what’s concealed in this compelling story, is the fact that we live in a world dominated by the interests of capital, at the expense of humankind and the natural environment.
Politicians and property interests find common cause to deflect attention from their role in perpetuating the global crisis of poverty and homelessness. To show their compassionate side, elected officials allocate tax dollars to create jobs in an ever-growing ‘emergency care industry,’ while preserving the interests of both legal and illegal distributors of harmful chemicals and pharmaceutical products.
Through political partisanship, they project a wide range of social prejudices. And, in the name of ‘security, they deprive the vulnerable of their rights. How? By having already justified the intolerance of those less fortunate as the source of the problem. They fail to meet the needs of the disabled, poor, and those with health issues, having weakened social institutions and supports once capable of defending social justice and equality. Not surprisingly, in a growing climate of fear, they rely on techniques such as shunning to scapegoating the vulnerable. Not only are these practices invoked to curb the growing social dysfunction, seen as ‘natural,’ and ‘inevitable,’ but more importantly, they are seen as acceptable ways of controlling ‘bad,’ if not morally reprehensive behavior in a civil society.
The media portrays homeless members of society as diseased and dangerous, or detritus; they are lumped together as those who must be eliminated to prevent despoiling the surrounding safe, secure and pristine natural and social environment. To dehumanize certain elements of society by conveying the notion that they are akin to an infestation of pests and vermin, is the precursor to committing untold horrors, even depriving them of life; this, to justify the survival of the ‘fittest,’ most ‘intelligent’ ‘deserving’ members of society . In this zero sum global game, where players compete for scarce resources, few winners exist amidst a growing community of leftovers and losers.
Where do we go from here?
William Blake, 19th century British poet, painter and print-maker, coined the word spectre, to signify the illusory self, a shadow energy with its own appetites and desires, which is often fed by our patterns of appeasement, the fear of authority, the need to be perfect, and accepted. Blake reminds us in his poem, Each Man Is in His Spectre’s Power:
Each man is in his spectre’s power
Until the arrival of that hour
When his humanity awake
And cast his own spectre into the lake.
We have a choice: we permit the spectre to take hold of our society and blindly accept its untold consequences; or, we maintain our essential humanity in the way we treat all citizens. Question: Why should this choice be left in the hands of powerful interests—politicians, pundits, or the media in the day-to-day affairs of this City?
Further Reading:
Bernie Pauly and Katrina Barber, Island Voices/Times Colonist, 22 July 2018, Why worry about tent cities?
Derek Book, Times Colonist, 22 July 2018, Municipal leaders are being childish.
Thomas Souliere, Director of Parks, Recreation and Facilities for the City of Victoria, presented a report to Council: Overnight sheltering and supports program. This report does not identify the number of homeless people living on the streets of BC’s capital city. Yet it states the City receives 294 calls-for-service monthly and that the cost of of cleaning up refuse left by homeless individuals amounts to more than $300,000 annually. What the report fails to identify is what proportion of all calls to the city are represented by complaints associated with risks to the health and safety of those sheltering, other park users and City staff; damage to vegetation and ecosystems; impacts on the use and enjoyment of parks by other users; and impacts on neighbouring residents? Furthermore, what proportion of the city’s annual multi-million dollar parks, recreation and facilities budget is allocated to clean-up associated with the legal use of a park as an overnight shelter, if no suitable accommodation is available in the city for unhoused individuals?
Further Reading:
Myles Sauer, Victoria Buzz, 27 July 2018, Over 1,500 people are experiencing homelessness in Greater Victoria
Myles Sauer, Victoria Buzz, 2 August 2018, Sixty-six per cent of British Columbians don’t think the government does enough to address poverty
Letter to the Editor, Victoria News, 4 August 2018, Hate won’t solve homeless issue
Travis Paterson, Victoria News, 4 September 2018, Saanich student speaks out on homelessness
Mile Zero Mirror 