Today, we got word that the cops were evicting homeless people downtown, so, a few comrades went down to investigate, see how we could help, and hold the cops accountable.
When we arrived a few folks were packing up their stuff. We asked what was happening and were told that the tents were in an emergency/service route and the garbage trucks could not get through, so folks would have to move their tents down a block. We stayed down there to keep an eye on the cops. A few of us went to get coffee and donuts, and we handed them out to the people there while keeping an eye on the cops to make sure they didn't start misbehaving. After about an hour, the cops drove away.
The contrast between the workers, high above, cleaning the windows of a giant office tower, and the unhoused folk below them, was stark. An unspoken threat to the workers above hangs in the air. The threat of being unhoused is not just an idle threat, either. It motivates ordinary workers to endure the indignities and dangers of their workplace. As long as there are some people who live without housing, the price of rent and real estate can be raised. Just as, as long as some people live without jobs, wages can be depressed and benefits can be held back.
Those crushed within the margins of the market are subject to every indignity and cruelty to keep them there. Basic sanitation, hot food, clean water, shelter, rest and comfort have been set aside as the privileges of the employed. These can be taken away if workers can't - or won't - endure the smaller indignities and cruelties of the workplace.
