Decay

Year after year homeless camps are sprouting all over Los Angeles. This started about three years ago, around 2018. Before that time these camps mainly existed in a place called "Skid Row" in downtown Los Angeles, you would see homeless individuals in various cities but never groups of camps. As the years go by the amount of these camps increase, I say to my daughter that it will be even more pronounced and widespread in the next few years. To be honest I feel like I'm losing the city and county that I have lived in and loved since my teenage years, it feels like we are teetering over to the edge and not even thinking about the consequences. Heartless as it may be, my first thoughts gravitate to the idea that these people are ruining my home. But it's not really that, I tell myself that this is a symptom of a rotting infection which no one wants to treat or even acknowledge. I think the root cause is the high prices for real estate and renting, as a homeowner it is to my advantage that our house has practically doubled in value since we bought it nine years ago. But it is this reckless growth that is driving many to despair, living on the streets, inside their cars and RVs. Last night I was hungry because I ate little to lose the weight I gained during the lockdowns, where all I did was sit and eat. I decided to continue with the hunger because the gain of losing girth was worth it. But the hunger was unpleasant and I thought of people cramped in a little tent on concrete worrying each night where they would find food to calm their growling stomachs. How hard that must be.