Florida criminalized homelessness, but then came hurricanes Helene and Milton: Around the country, anti-camping policies are complicating disaster recovery
Man who tf goes around enforcing these laws after a disaster. Imagine some wack ass old white guy ticketing people outside of the FEMA medical station for loitering.
Politicians make laws on the basis of "I'll never be in that situation". But then a son or daughter comes out as LGBTQ+ and all of a sudden laws need to change. A daughter has been raped and all of a sudden laws need to change. They don't make laws to help us. They make laws to control us and sweep away things they don't like.
If you feel the urge to argue for collective punishment just shut the fuck up. Saying 'you reap what you sow' in this case is regressive and cruel. Fascists enacted this law undemocratically and many people, human beings that you should have empathy for, are effectively held captive by the GOP which has heavily gerrymandered Florida and engaged in voter suppression and disenfranchisement. Think critically for a second and direct your criticism at the right people.
You know what this reminds me of? There was some cheap ass webcomic in the very early 2000s that had an Amish protagonist. I only remember a single comic where the main character is watching TV and has some pundit say that poor and homeless should be shot. Then our Amish hero sets the pundit's house on fire rendering him homeless.
The pundit declares himself poor without his house and is promptly shot by his own followers because they made good his beliefs on shooting the poor and homeless. It was actually kinda funny.
But that being said, it amazes me just how often people forget the lessons of the past. The great depression seriously changed America's views on poverty being an entirely individual failing for many, many decades. Even into the Nixon administration he had to remind everyone that he was a New Dealer and wasn't going to roll back any of that shit. They had to wait until baby boomers, who did not grow up in the depression and were the ungrateful beneficiaries of the numerous programs in its wake, were the main voting block before beginning to roll that shit back.
It's also kinda incredible just how the libertarian and conservative propaganda apparatus really nullified most criticism of this shit. While that was always case even back in the 1930s, it was never to this extent.
ITT a whole lot of people talking shit while their local governments are doing the exact same thing. This is a map from 2015. It's only gotten worse since then.
If what's happening in Florida disgusts you then check your own laws first.
Sounds like a lot of people in Florida are about to become homeless too.... I dunno, I say they completely, 100% enforce the laws right now. You didn't fight against this bullshit because it "doesn't affect me"? Well now it can affect you. Ticket everyone. Waste everyone's time. It was so important to do this, then fucking do it. Be the fucking clowns you are. Ticket people who lost their home, who are camping in their front yard. What, they're having a bad time right now and we should be generous? That's homeless people all the time.
Suspending the law because it's a weather emergency is bullshit. It's being suspended because it might affect voters. Just trying to cover their own ass when they need it and shafting anyone else when it's convenient.
Under the new Florida law, any citizen or business can sue beginning in January if they feel the anti-camping ban is not being properly enforced.
This is pants on head stupid. We could probably count on actual police and DAs understanding the situation and not enforcing this law in extraordinary circumstances. We can't count on every HOA board member doing the same. Even if a judge grants an immediate motion to dismiss, it's still a complete waste of everyone's time and money. That's the best case scenario.
I say, enforce the law! You can't be homeless here! Get out! Go to Texas! They love homeless people there! Hey you want a home because you lost a home? So you're homeless? Get out! ....super easy, super simple. President Trump only likes people who don't loose their homes.