War on Poverty

Riding the bus on my way home from work today I saw a cop give a ticket to a man panhandling on 13th and Myrtle, right at the end of the connector. The bus filled with grumblings about the cop being an asshole just trying to meet ticket quotas. However whether or not BPD has some kind of quota system didn't bother me, what did is the way here in Boise, and the state of Idaho our leaders and those in power are waging a war on poverty.

Now this isn't your parents or grand parents war on poverty (you know the idealistic one from President LBJ). This is a much colder, hegemonic one, whose goal isn't to end poverty, but to keep people in their place.

 While often times panhandlers are assumed to be people trying to make and easy buck, this man being ticketed was clearly homeless. Before the bus pulled away from the stop light the bus watched as the officer began waving his arms and yelling at the man who sat solemnly  with his head in his hands, and his bike at his feet beside his cardboard sign. The officer could be heard yelling over the sound of traffic and the closed bus doors.

What does this man represent? To me he is all of us who live on less than we deserve, those who are in between jobs, those with health conditions, who got the short end of the stick out of life. This man is like the occupy encampment on the state house lawn; a symbol of what most people try to forget when they go home to a big house, with a big car, a big boat, and a big paycheck. A symbol that our leaders in the state house don't want to deal with anymore, so just like that cop they tell them to move along. They scream and yell and wave their arms because they have the law and the power on their side and Goddammit if they are going to be reminded of how many people don't have it as good as they do everytime they look out their office window.

This man is like your neighbor who lost their home or were evicted from their rental because they couldn't afford to hold on anymore. A symbol of all those struggling in this recession to make it even when most people just drive on by with out event thinking, while the authority figure at the bank tells you to get out or the landlord who bangs on the door to throw you out.

Why do those in power have power? Is it because they can cement themselves in place with their laws? YOU"RE DAMN RIGHT IT IS!

Why do those with out it continue to be left behind? It's because those above them don't have to care, there is no immediate repercussion from ignoring them.

 How do we change this? LOL IDK... we'll all have to figure that out as a society.

As for that homelessman, he's more than a symbol. He's a living breathing human beign.  I don't know what happened to him, I have no idea how he'll pay that ticket off either. All I know is the bus pulled away from the stop light, and that he's not the only one in Boise out in the rain tonight.