gentrification

[Wojtek Sokolowski]

At 02:15 AM 8/18/99 +1000, Angela wrote:
>> and, is there really such an easy distinction between the working
>David wrote:
>
>>>I'd guess that such ideas are very alienating to people
>who have been there, which I take to be part of Wojtek's point. <<
>
>which is not I think at all what Wojtek was saying.  his concern was
>clearly for not alienating those he defines as working class (ie., those
>who work and pay taxes) in contradistinction to those who are homeless.
>hence he wrote, "I had endless conversations with ordinary people - not
>particularly conservative but not very analytical about social life
>either - who gave Giuliani the full credit for relieving the city of its
>'crime and grime.' They really hated crime, noise, panhandling, filth
>etc. and they are now thankful to Giuliani for relieving them of those
>ills.  The bottom line is that I have no arguments that can convince
>them otherwise. .. the Left ... for ideological reasons embrace
>positions that glamorize poverty and find excuses for its social ills -
>which pushes it to take abusrd positions (cf. defending the right of the
>homeless to squat in public parks) that marginalize and alienate the
>Left from the working class".
>
>if Wojtek can find no arguments to convince "ordinary people" (which I
>take it does not include those who are homeless) of the abysmal nature
>of giuliani's militarisation of NY, then perhaps he's starting from the
>wrong idea of who these "ordinary people" he must try not to "alienate"
>from the left in the first place.  I guess the homeless just don't look
>much like a constituency... just ills to be relieved of.
>
>Michael h quite rightly turned our (my) attention back to the processes
>and decisions which produce homelessness.

The homeless are a minority by numerical standards, and they are not
responsible for most social problems that working class faces.  First, a
significant proportion of the homeless are people in need of psychiatric
treatment or even some form of institutionalization that had been denied to
them on the grounds of "patient rights."  True, that well-intended but
misguided liberal campaign was cynically used by the right wingers to cut
health care costs - but that is yet another example how liberal concern
over symbols and ideas works in tandem with conservative cost "saving"
measures to screw up people who need real help.

Moreover, the homeless may be objectionable from an aesthetic point of
view, but they rarely create problems that working class people resent the
most - crime.  Most of the criminal activity is perpetrated NOT by the
homeless, but by people who at least nominally have homes, even if these
are only housing projects.  

And if you look at the stats, those who are mainly affected by crime are
not white middle class, but the working class and the minorities.  

 Number of violent crimes per

                   1,000 persons age 12 or older

                   1997              1998
Male               45.8               43.1
Female             33.0               30.4

White              38.3               36.3
Black              49.0               41.7*

Hispanic           43.1               32.8*
Non-Hispanic       38.3               36.8

*1997-98 difference is significant at the 95%
confidence level.

(source: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/ascii/cv98.txt)

INCOME              Number of violent crimes per

                   1,000 persons age 12 or older

                    1997              1998

Less than $7,500    71.0              63.8
$7,500-$14,999      51.2              49.3
$15,000-$24,999     40.1              39.4
$25,000-$34,999     40.2              42.0
$35,000-$49,999     38.7              31.7*
$50,000-$74,999     33.9              32.0
$75,000 +           30.7              33.1

*1997-98 difference is significant at the 95%
confidence level.

(source: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/ascii/cv98.txt)

As these data show, the poor ($7k or less) are twice as likely to be
victimized (63.8 victimizations per 1,00 persons in 1998) than upper middle
class (33.1 vicitimizations per 1,000 persons).  Blacks and Hispanics are
more likely to victimized than whites.  Moreover, the only significant frop
in victimization rates between 1997 and 1998 occurred among blacks,
hispanics and moderate income ($35k-$49k).

Now, all you campus radicals and suburban liberals, try to tell those
people that their victimization and changes thereof have been illusory, and
the true danger is the militarisation of society Giuliani style.  Good luck.

wojtek