• jpreston2005@lemmy.world
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    5 hours ago

    It is unclear if Gatz was living in the national forest because he was experiencing homelessness.

    …Yeah, I think we can safely assume that, yes.

    In 2023, the National Homelessness Law Center called on the feds to stop arresting people for living on public lands and shift to a housing- and services-only approach, after undercover Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management police officers shot a disabled man in the back during a removal operation and left (him) paralyzed from the waist down.

    He and his family had been living in the Payette National Forest near Boise, Idah, after their landlord reportedly evicted them from their home and they were unable to find space in area shelters.

    Just a big reminder that we could end homelessness in America for about $20 billion per year.

    That’s about the same amount the federal government pays every year to give farmers super cheap crop insurance.

    So, it’s a choice we’re making. Allowing homelessness, and abject poverty to exist, as a cudgel to those who would otherwise seek to drop out of the rat race.