This article was written in response to a scrolling headline I decided not to share because fuck em and their rage baiting. But that’s what the quote refers to in the title.

It goes like this: a person, for whatever reason, doesn’t fit in society. So society says this person is sick (which is a pretty ballsy accusation for society to make, when it is clearly society who is sick). And the person is ostracized. And then they become homeless.

A good society is charitable and responsible. So they dole out “One day more…” And say, “Now if today is not the day that you learn how to be a perfectly corporate and obedient cog, it’s because you blew this wonderful opportunity we gave you to have one more day of housing. Now just look how you proved you aren’t worth my charity.”

But one more day, though it’s everything in the moment, is predatory giving. Because it keeps the poor coming to you everyday, beholden and sorry and set up to fail. 

The question is never “Is the government using the money to fight homelessness in ways that perpetuate it?” The question asked in debates is, “Are these people worth it?”

The obvious thing to do is to spend that money earmarked to fight homelessness on a permanent house on land the homeless person owns. But the answer is always that this is not fair to the middle class.

And no, it’s not. Because if you are a renter, you are also homeless. You simply have a more appeased lord in this moment. Your housing is every bit as temporary as a homeless person’s, since rent will continue to rise. And if you own your home with a mortgage, you are also in temporary housing, because your home is owned by the bank. But you are on your way to buying your freedom–right before you die.

The people who are “transient”–the ones who cannot pay the mob that owns us all–are not people who have no worth. They are people who have no worth to corporations or landlords. Frequently–so frequently it would kill you–because they are good people. They tell the truth too much. They fought back against something. They see things and make connections others don’t. They tried to help someone unpopular.  And that’s what made everything break.

I’m not saying poor people don’t have faults. Boy do they! They’re human. But a person’s faults are never what is perceived as a threat. It’s hard to get fired for incompetence if it makes your boss look necessary. But telling your boss the whole staff needs a raise is a very quick route to getting fired for incompetence.

That’s when society gangs up to break them by putting them on the street and telling them it’s their fault. And when their hearts break, that’s when you see the drugs pull them under.

And then society says, “I always knew they had secret demons. That’s why they are homeless.” And they shake their heads.

But the truth is the secret demons are the government, the corporations, and the middle class they made deathly afraid of charity and engagement, all while calling them the backbone of America.

They want the middle class to feel successful and good. “I pay my taxes!” So they won’t notice they are as homeless as the people on the street, the only distance being time. They dress up their transience in smart gadgets, comfort and entertainment. But none of this belongs to you and can be taken away if you ever step out of line. The cost to access your “own home” can become out of reach without warning, and without your consent.

Repeat after me:

The land is the only thing that matters.

We must take it back if we want to stop fascism. And if you want to stop transience, the help cannot be transient. It must be physical, real, and forever. It must be land and a permanent structure.

People who see things differently. People who tell the truth too much. People who help others when they have nothing. People who are sensitive and self destruct when the world becomes too much –these people are precisely fucking worth it.

Perhaps if they had a stable place to exist in, we would know why. Because they would be able to provide a very necessary check on our sick sad world.

We cannot have a democracy unless we have a pluralistic society, that allows for all kinds to live, work, discover and reveal their perspectives. That starts with owning  a place you can’t get kicked out of.

I remember when I was in high school, staying with a friend of a friend my senior year because my mom and I had been evicted, and we didn’t want me to have to change schools (I went to an arts school). I had friends over, and one of them was being an asshole, but kind of joking, and I made a mock dramatic scene and said, “Get out of my house!”

And he said, “You can’t kick me out. This isn’t your house.”

It hit me like a ton of bricks. Not him– it wasn’t that deep–but just the statement. “You can’t kick me out. This isn’t your house.”

I knew that was gonna be a problem.

I know people think I ask for too much. I ask for too much from them on all levels. I exhaust people with conversation and my exploits take up all the space in the room, and I want money and I want land and I’m impatient with fools and I just ask QUITE A LOT.

I know that. But our housing crisis is beyond an emergency. ALL of us are wrapped up in it, and “one more day” only perpetuates it.

We talk all of the time that we want change. We want freedom. We want equality of opportunity and we want space for all kinds of people to participate in society.

But we only ever design theoretical horseshit that we can mull over for centuries. We’re all really good people in theory, just like we have homes in theory.

Land is the only thing that matters. A space you can be a failure in until you get it right. That won’t kick you out until you kick the bucket.

That is the American dream, and I will not settle for less. We are not free until we have land. Not a program that can have it’s funding pulled. Not an apartment that you have no say in its upkeep. Not even a building that will fall apart within a few decades. Fucking LAND.

If you want to end transience, seek permanence. For everyone. Including those you don’t think deserve it.

The government will not make this happen. And the corporations want every town a company town, where you pay your wages back to them in rent. (This is slavery, fyi).

Only we can make this happen. And I for one want to see what the world looks like when there is no more threat of homelessness, and when every person in this country has a piece to defend from tyranny.

And on that note, I’m working to get my own piece to defend. If you want to keep one more person off the street (me) please consider contributing to my fundraiser. Im determined to escape my own poverty prison so I can help others as poverty claims more and more of us. You want me on the resistance team–I AM worth it. As are the countless others who are routinely dismissed.

We are more powerful than they want us to know–all of us. And we are all transient and threatened with homelessness.

Let’s be weird, tell the truth, help the unpopular and seek permanence together. It pisses off fascists.

To read more about my future plans and donate to help me create permanent, sustainable housing for my family (and hopefully others), go here. Scroll to the bottom for the donate button.

Donate here

I am so close to getting to the other side of this thing, and it couldn’t be at a more crucial time. Your donations mean everything–and will go to infinitely better use in fighting homelessness than your tax dollars.  Homelessness is not a theoretical problem, and it grows like a black hole in a renting society. We have to fight back against it ourselves, or we will all be sucked in. Every person who falls into homelessness creates the conditions for more homelessness. And the more frightened people become of homelessness, the more they will comply with fascism. It’s not just me at a tipping point. We all are.

Never let them tell you we aren’t in this together. It’s a fascism tactic. We may be different in many respects, but we are bound together. Poverty keeps the middle class in fear and makes them compliant. The fear and compliance keep people in poverty. Remove the poverty, we remove the fear generated by corporate terrorism. Remove the fear, and we can liberate people from poverty.

When you fear your neighbor, look up, and see who is pulling the strings. Who put them in this role and setting. They pit us against each other so we miss the simple things that would save us.

You end homelessness by ending a person’s homelessness. Land is the only thing that matters.