Homeless citizens are diverse

I know, we are exhausted thinking about the sorry state of downtown Olympia. Apologies for pointing to one more absurdity: Olympia SWAT has a modified MREP vehicle for intervening in violent confrontations with armed civilians. By contrast, the native tribes have assisted the city in erecting an apartment building for indigent and disabled citizens not far from the new 123 Fourth Avenue block. Is it a stretch to say that the two facts are connected?

We draw a fine distinction between citizens and mere denizens. City police are asked to protect citizens, as firefighters are to protect the property they own. On the sidewalks of the little commercial district live many who lack the status of citizen, since they have no place in the economy. I have seen precious little “economy” in the actions (or re-actions) of authorities at all levels. When conditions become too uncomfortable for citizens to walk the sidewalks, we have often done as the rest of the nation, and swept houseless residents – somewhere else. The fact that so many other municipal areas are no better off is no consolation.

I will not put everyone living “off the grid” in the bucket called “homeless.” I declare that commerce has always left people behind, and that those people must not be automatically judged as “losers.” If government derives its power “from the consent of the governed,” then we are obliged to honor the citizenship of the indigent and address the sources of this scourge of “junk” people.

This story was originally published August 24, 2017 at 1:36 PM with the headline "Homeless citizens are diverse."