by Michael Snyder, The Economic Collapse Blog:
If you have plenty of money and you are able to shield yourself from what is happening to the tens of millions of people that are wallowing in poverty, life in America is still good in 2024. Stock prices have been hovering near record highs, and companies that cater to the rich and famous have been raking in the cash. But for most of the rest of the country, things are not going so well. Homelessness has been rising at the fastest rate we have ever seen, crime is out of control all over the nation, and large companies are laying off workers at a very frightening pace.
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If you live in the version of America that is still living the high life, good for you.
But if you live in the version of America that the rest of us live in, conditions are rapidly deteriorating.
Earlier today, I came across an article in the San Francisco Standard that detailed what life is like in Oakland, California these days…
A Prius hanging out of a dumpster. Stripped-down cars. Burning trash cans. These are some of the East Oakland sights set to a new catchphrase that’s blowing up on social media: “Oakland, California, … donde la vida no vale nada.”
Even cops, government officials, firefighters and kids are repeating the catchphrase on social media and on the streets of the Town.
That catchphrase was created by a man named Gregorio Ramon.
He has posted hundreds of videos on social media that document what is happening to the city where he has his home…
It’s all because of Gregorio Ramon, who coined the saying in videos on his Instagram @oakland_california_2023 and TikTok @gregorio1976 accounts documenting crime and mayhem in the East Bay city. Since mid-2022, Ramon has been capturing footage of everything from police chases to cars on fire and the boarded-up Denny’s that closed last month due to public safety concerns.
In every video, he says, “Oakland, California, … donde la vida no vale nada, donde la cuidad nos tiene abandonados.” The phrase translates to English as, “Oakland, California, … where life is worthless, where the city has abandoned us.”
Of course the same thing could be said about our nation as a whole.
While the elite are swimming in money, homelessness in the U.S. has reached “the highest level on record” and it also has been rising at the fastest pace ever recorded. The following comes from the Wall Street Journal…
The U.S. count of homeless people surged to the highest level on record, reaching more than 653,000 people early this year as Covid-19 pandemic-aid spending faded, new federal data show.
The increase reflects a collision of factors: rising housing costs; limited affordable housing units; the opioid epidemic; and the expired pandemic-era aid that had helped keep people in their homes, federal officials said Friday. A surge of migrants into shelters in places such as New York City, Massachusetts and Chicago also contributed to the challenge.
The data released by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development show a 12% gain since last year, marking both the biggest increase and highest tally since the U.S. first published comparable data for 2007.
Homelessness didn’t even increase this fast during the Great Recession of 2008 and 2009.
On top of those that are living in the streets, millions of other Americans are living in cars, trucks, vans and RVs.
In some of our wealthiest cities, you can see such vehicles lined up on the side of the road for miles.
Areas that are right along a river or a lake are particularly popular for those living in their vehicles because that gives them easy access to water.
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