>It is frustrating isn't it? In this damn country the Democrats are
>the ones who made HUD monies possible. Note that Bush has cut back
>HUD and Section 8. In LA they aren't even taking people on the
>waiting list. I don't like the Dems either. I'm not defending them
>but our reality is that Democrats generally are not for ending all
>social programs that help poor people, I am against any more
>destruction. I know of people committing suicide from lack of
>Medicaid or being evicted from HUD housing due to funding
>shortcomings and ensuing evictions. Things are SO BAD right now that
>the slightest change can save people's lives. This is my daily reality.
Yes it is frustrating. There are several people in the local area who blog about disability and about having life-threatening illnesses without adequate medical insurance or help. Even the people who have adequate medical insurance find, as in one case, their spouse must bear the full burden of everything because they are too disabled from their disease to do the cooking, cleaning, etc. With a decent social support system, these people wouldn't be suffering. To see these things erode even further -- it is terrifying to think what their lives will be like.
I'm also watching interesting alliance forged between the queer community and disability community over transgender issues: opposition to the medicalization of deviance is the common ground.
So, I think as Ehrenreich pointed out long ago, if people are willing to see these things erode, if they want us to shut up, then they should be prepared to:
1. reach into their pockets and start supporting grassroots efforts to provide relief to the poor, to the disabled, to women who need abortions that have been made illegal, and on and on.
2. to do something that will raise money or provide them with much needed labor and resources. For instance, we used to have a voluntary program in the old 'hood where we brought together the kids in after-school care (because it was HUD funded there was free after school care --totally self-serving and actually demeaning in its view, but WTF these single moms needed the support) with the disabled people in the community. The kids ran errands, helped them with households tasks, etc. The disabled who could came in to read stories, show them how to do arts and crafts projects, etc. And, because many of the disabled were often home during the day or could be around, they started taking on the responsibilities of what, in black communities, are called 'old heads'. They watched out for the kids, kept tabs on them, etc.
As I've always said, it's in that space -- what I believe is a form of political practice in the creation of alternative institutions that provide what people need when the market and state fail them -- that we'll forge the soil necessary to truly build a radical social movement. Those alternative networks of support and involvement teach people what we're up agaisnt and that we need to get ever more radical in our demands. At the same time, they provide practical experience in running our own lives without depending on the state. They provide peole with symbolic experiences and the iconography of struggle that will unite diverse groups of people. They will provide communications networks that provide for better alliances. They provide, in other words, resources needed for revolutionary struggle.
But *sigh* I always get laughed at!
So.
Bitch | Lab http://blog.pulpculture.org