Is This Our Future?

If you've been reading my blog, you know that I have an interest in smaller "alternative" housing. This is one of the reasons why. Our nation is undergoing a change, an economic "downsizing' of sorts. I believe this to be irreversible. We keep talking about "jobs" as if talk and waving our hands will make them appear. We are stuck in a view of life from the past where we are dependent not on government, but on the private sector to provide security for life. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Work is not an entitlement. We have to be competitive and I'm afraid that ship has sailed.

If you've followed my blog, you've seen various items on this change such as Stewart Brand's talk about squatter cities on TED.COM. In Brand's talk, squatter cities are forming around large cities in developing countries so people can take advantage of the economic opportunities that are available there and not in the rural countryside.

In America, the opposite thing is happening. As economic opportunities drain from our urban areas (mostly to be "outsourced" overseas), these squatter cities are forming so their inhabitants can continue to take advantage of the few services and opportunities that are still available to them. Here is a recent item on people receiving free dental care in a homeless village in Seattle. All you have to do is Google "homeless tent city" to see how these villages are on the rise.

Below is just such a story, this one from New Jersey. My question is when are we, as a nation, going to realize that the longer this goes on, the more likely it is to happen to more and more of us (sorry about the ad before).