Epidemic intensifies gap between rich and poor, homeless people continue to increase in the U.S.
California Governor Newsom was attacked by a homeless person during his recent visit to Oakland. The suspect has been arrested and was summoned by the court on the 21st local time.
The homeless who assaulted the governor of California appeared in court on 21
On the 18th local time, California Governor Newsom was going to the community to make publicity. A man tried to approach and attack him. The police arrested the man after protecting Newsom from the scene. It is understood that the man threw a water bottle at Newsom.
Newsom quipped to reporters afterwards: “Different people have different ways of greeting.”
The suspect is Sergey Shomet, 54 years old, and is currently being held in a local jail. He is under investigation for allegedly obstructing law enforcement personnel and attacking government officials. Relatives of Shomet said he was homeless and had serious psychological problems.
Recently, there have been many attacks on homeless persons in the United States.
At the end of last month, in San Francisco’s Chinatown, an Asian female police officer was investigating an insult to Asians. When she stepped forward to investigate the 33-year-old homeless, she was attacked.
Many passers-by swiftly passed by to help, and eventually subdued the homeless person who had assaulted the police. The homeless person is currently facing charges of hate crime and assault on the police.
In the past year, the new crown epidemic in the United States has remained high, the gap between the rich and the poor has widened, the proliferation of guns and drugs, the intensification of racial conflicts, the frequent occurrence of social chaos, and the increasing number of homeless cases.
Local businesses: Sometimes homeless people will walk into the store, harass customers, and say “give me the money”. I’m not kidding, they just walked in and asked for money. You can see almost ten homeless people in every block, and a few drug users in every block. If you go out now, you can see them.
On the other hand, the homeless are often victims of violent crime.
Take Portland as an example. According to local police, in 2020, there will be more and more incidents of theft and assault among the homeless, sometimes even three or four in a day.
Portland Police: Very scary and worrying. I think the homeless are the most vulnerable people here.
The number of homeless people in the U.S. reached 580,000 last year
The existence of a large number of homeless people and the increase in related attacks have brought instability to society. In recent years, the number of homeless people in the United States has continued to increase. Among them, minorities account for a relatively high proportion.
According to data released by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, there are approximately 580,000 homeless people in the United States in 2020, an increase of 2.2% from 2019 (567,700). On average, for every 10,000 population, 18 people are homeless. This is the fourth consecutive year that the number of homeless people in the United States has grown.
From the perspective of gender distribution structure, the proportion of female homeless is 38.50%; while the proportion of male homeless is as high as 60.70%.
In terms of age, one out of every six homeless persons is a minor under 18 years of age.
From the perspective of ethnic composition, minorities account for a relatively high proportion. Among the homeless, African Americans, Native Americans and Hispanics accounted for 39.4%, 3.3%, and 23%, respectively. According to data from the U.S. Census Bureau in 2019, their populations accounted for only 13%, 1.3%, and 18%.
Mark Donnes, executive director of the public welfare organization “National Innovation Service”: Homelessness and the new crown epidemic have highlighted the continuing racial inequality in our country, and blacks, Hispanics and indigenous people have been particularly affected.
In 2020, about a quarter of the homeless will gather in the two major cities of New York and Los Angeles. The New York Times reported that many people lost their jobs and were displaced during the new crown pneumonia epidemic. The actual number of homeless people has not been counted in this report.
Homeless people struggle to survive the epidemic
The impact of the epidemic has made the lives of the homeless even worse.
This is an overpass in Oakland, California. Scrapped cars and messy garbage dumps have become a new home for some homeless people. It is understood that there are about 10,000 homeless people in Auckland, and their basic lives such as food, accommodation, and toileting are not guaranteed.
Homeless: This is our kitchen, this is very dangerous.
Homeless: It’s difficult to cook here. We often don’t have food and we just have something to eat.
This gathering place for the homeless usually has 100-300 people on the move, and local volunteers will help provide some food and some basic medicines. But at present, these homeless people are facing the dilemma of being deported, and the Auckland local government plans to demolish the temporary houses they built.
New York City is also one of the cities where many homeless people gather in the United States. Since the outbreak of the epidemic, New York has introduced a number of restrictions. Many residents have been forced to work from home, and the number of tourists has also been drastically reduced. At the same time, the number of homeless people has increased sharply, and people can see or sit or lie on the streets everywhere. For the returnees, due to lack of food, many people are still looking for food in the trash can.
Local residents: I often see many homeless people and many unemployed people. Some people are begging, and there are people sleeping on the street.
According to statistics from charitable organizations, in February this year, more than 20,000 people lived in shelters in New York City, a record high; at the same time, more people were sleeping on the streets. Some of the homeless have problems with drugs, alcohol or mental illness, which has also caused a surge in violence such as begging, theft, and robbery in the local area.
In response, some charitable organizations said that the epidemic has had a huge impact on New York City, the local economy has suffered heavy losses, and many public services have stalled. Therefore, the work of helping the homeless is difficult-whether it is to help these people re-adapt to society or It will be a long process to get the operation of the city on track.
The gap between the rich and the poor keeps widening, the wandering problem intensifies
As a developed country, why are there more and more homeless people in the United States? Why are they homeless? In fact, the problem of the homeless has exposed the stubborn disease of the American social system, the widening gap between the rich and the poor.
According to data disclosed by the American Tax Fair Association, from mid-March to December 2020, the wealth of 651 American billionaires surged from 2.95 trillion US dollars to 4.01 trillion US dollars. Frank Clemente, the head of the agency, said with emotion: “The United States has never had such a large wealth concentrated in the hands of a few people.” In sharp contrast, a survey by the Harvard School of Public Health showed During the epidemic, as many as 54% of households with a total income of less than US$100,000 were facing severe family financial crisis. Statistics from the “Forbes” website show that during the 2020 epidemic, more than 20 million Americans will lose their jobs, and many will be left homeless.
Mike Griggsby-Lane, an unemployed tenant in Oregon: I sold everything I could think of, from clothes to furniture to records. I spent my savings, used up my pension, and reduced all my expenses, including medicine and food. I am still in arrears of rent for several months, and I don’t know what else to do.
Marcelo, an expert on social inequality at Yale University: The epidemic is very regrettable and unfortunately exacerbated the existing structural problems in society. Some groups have been hit the most, not only from a health perspective, but also from an economic perspective. angle.
Since the main asset of the low-income people in the United States is real estate, once they are unemployed and cannot afford to pay their mortgages, they are likely to lose their shelter, while the rich hold more financial assets. After the outbreak, the assets of low-income groups have shrunk sharply due to falling housing prices. The people have suffered from unemployment and a sharp decline in living standards; while the rich have mostly benefited from the government’s multiple rounds of market rescue plans and continue to enjoy the benefits of financial assets. Earnings were unscathed and even assets appreciated.
Over the years, politicians including the President of the United States have promised to narrow the gap between the rich and the poor, but the gap between the rich and the poor is growing. Behind this is the power of capital. The Senate and the House of Representatives of the United States Congress, where rich people gather, have been dubbed the “Millionaires Club” by the media. At a time when the epidemic has brought a huge impact on American society, a small number of rich people who have the right to formulate policies have lost their lives, while more unemployed people are living on the streets and homeless.
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