'Cop cities' are on the rise. Catholics should be concerned.

[shrike3]

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https://www.ncronline.org/opinion/guest-voices/cop-cities-are-rise-catholics-should-be-concerned?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR0NdK8zlLBw2h_jSW6WTTbeLBhIlfkFT7KiQ__K_ZqfYPQRseYnti_M1UE_aem_ASsGpPgHZH9sJr5CdttN0MWbkQvtvdDWNC6PywszIV_bYOuA9xGYYVoFakHThXF8xxTNtwzouyKmi10vrspYXU4R

In the decades after the Civil War, one of the most popular American boogeymen was the so-called "tramp" or "hobo." From about 1870 to 1910, newspapers were littered with pieces fear-mongering the collapse of society they'd usher in, or cheering police and mob violence against them.

A 1875 New York Times blurb, "How to Treat Tramps," for instance, gleefully recounts how cops threatened two young men with the horrors of a prison labor camp they could be sent to as part of this invading hoard until "their ready tears plow[ed] little furrows down their dirty visages."

In truth, the subjects of the "tramp panic" were working-class men who had been transformed from artisans and small farmers into social problems by the depression of the 1870s and the Industrial Revolution. These itinerant workers were usually without wives and land — things requiring a stability that neither the times nor public policy provided. The problems created by this tumult were "solved" instead by police and incarceration.

With the rise of so-called "cop cities" today, I fear we are at the start of another chapter of the mass criminalization of human need.

[Chainfire]

1. The attitude seem to be that people without homes or jobs or with mental issues should just go away.

They are both an embarassement and a warning that "it could happen to you too." Catholics aren't the only ones in danger, it is the working people of the nation that are losing the battle of the American Dream. The battle against the people is being waged by the Republicans and financed by the wealthy both of which are monsters.

Far too many Americans live on the razor's edge of financial disaster. In my opinion it is because in order to support billionaires, you must have desperately poor people to balance the equasion. That attitude must be the hated "Socialism", right? The problem is that billionairs call all of the shots. One day it will come to a head and it won't be pretty. The pity is that people will turn on themselves instead of addressing the real problem. We have put the monsters in charge, and they just sit there watching.

A group of learned philosophers from the previous century gave us the history and warned us, but did we listen?

Steppenwolf: Monster

Once the religious, the hunted and weary
Chasing the promise of freedom and hope
Came to this country to build a new vision
Far from the reaches of kingdom and pope

[Pre-Chorus 1]
Like good Christians some would burn the witches
Later some got slaves to gather riches

[Chorus]
But still from near and far to seek America
They came by thousands, to court the wild
But she just patiently smiled, and bore them a child
To be their spirit, and guiding light

[Verse 2]
And once the ties with the crown had been broken
Westward in saddle and wagon they went
And till the railroad linked ocean to ocean
Many the lives which had come to an end

[Pre-Chorus 2]
While we bullied, stole and bought our a homeland
We began the slaughter of the red man


[Chorus]
But still from near and far to seek America
They came by thousands, to court the wild
But she just patiently smiled, and bore them a child
To be their spirit, and guiding light

[Bridge]
The blue and gray they stomped it
They kicked it just like a dog
And when the war was over
They stuffed it just like a hog

[Verse 3]
And though the past has its share of injustice
Kind was the spirit in many a way
But its protectors and friends have been sleeping
Now it's a monster and will not obey

[shrike3]

3. Not familiar with the Steppenwolf song: thanks.

I don't think the article insinuated only Catholics are in danger. It warned Catholics of what's going on around them and how little it has to do with the gospel.

I think your insights are spot on. It will not be pretty. And I may live long enough to see it.

[ret5hd]

2. kinda on topic:

several years ago, spouse and I took a guided walking tour thru Seattle. The young man giving the tour had OBVIOUSLY given MUCH effort to studying his subject matter...not just pointing at buildings/sites and saying "this was once..." but delving into the Native American history of the area and region, the REASONS things happened as they did, what was apt to happen in the future, etc. Truly one of the best such tours we have taken (quite a few!).

Anyway, during this tour we of course came across homeless encampments on the streets. The guide made this comment (as close as I remember):

"The media says that Seattle, San Francisco, etc has a homeless problem. No...I disagree. THE COUNTRY has a homeless problem that manifests itself in Seattle. The country has a problem that it refuses to address and dumps that problem on areas that have the weather and resources to accommodate the nations problem."

How true...

Another semi-interesting factoid he pointed out (discussing the boom-bust cycle Seattle experienced over its history...logging, mining, etc) was that after the loggers had denuded the entire area and were now left without jobs: "...and they discovered that it takes exactly 1000 years to grow a 1000 year old tree."

I hope this didn't hijack your thread too much.

[shrike3]

4. Oh, no. This piece appeared in National Catholic Reporter, but it focuses on a nationwide problem

Which affects us all. We 'other' homeless people. A friend of mine said that we are all a series of bad breaks away from living on the street. He's right. Thanks for sharing this.