No, not me – or anyone I know personally but I wonder how many people watched the Channel Four programme ‘Unreported World’ last night.
It had to compete with the World Cup and Wimbledon and so the audience would have been small but it really deserved a prime time spot.
Why isn’t the media full of these stories of middleclass Americans made homeless by the recent shenannigans in the banking world?
Some of them still have a job but can’t afford a home.
One man spends a large proportion of his wage on a gym subscription so that he can have a daily shower and look smart for work.
The ‘homeless shelters’ are over subscribed and the ‘lucky’ ones who get a place are given 120 nights to find somewhere to live.
But, for the vast majority, there is nowhere else and they end up in ‘tent cities’.
There are food parcels for the very poorest but many people who are still working cannot afford to feed their families so charitable institutions have set up food distribution centres which are now finding it difficult to cope with the demand.
It wasn’t easy for the reporter to find people willing to talk on camera because many were too ashamed to admit their hardship and hadn’t even told their friends and families about their predicament.
One couple bravely allowed the cameras in to take a look around their lovely home which they soon had to leave with nowhere to go.
The authorities must be aware of this situation but why are they ignoring it – pretending it isn’t happening?
Most importantly, why aren’t they doing something to help?
There are streets full of boarded up houses. In this kind of an emergency why can’t they allow people to live in them – rent free – until things improve.
Why can’t they force the banks to stop foreclosing on homes and businesses that can’t pay when it’s all down to bankers’ greed and incompetence in the first place? Theses are serious, hardworking people out on the street through no fault of their own.
Is it really beyond the capabilities of politicians to come up with a few ideas to alleviate the suffering of these people?
Or don’t they care?
I’ve just found this interesting video explaining the banking system. It’s long but well worth watching. It seems that the present system relies on lending ‘virtual money’ which is paid back by the workers in real money. At first the banks were only allowed to lend 2 or 3 times more money than they could cover but now the sky’s the limit thanks to corruption and bribery in high places.
So, if the money they lend is non-existent why should people have to pay it back?