They can't run wars. They can't govern. But they are good at killing fellow citizens.

Everyone should be able to afford basic human necessities such as nutritious food, clean water and adequate shelter. By making this about helping some people who couldn't pay their water bill, we are needlessly limiting the scope of the issue we can make this into.

This needs to be widened into a general political attack on the entire system that requires profit for the necessities of life.

What about next month? When you give in to the blackmail, you just add to the profit margins of the privatizers. The best method would be akin to what they've done some in Greece. Turn the water back on WITHOUT authorization. And when they turn it off again, turn it back ON again. Do it for everybody, so that there's no way they CAN arrest everybody.

It's time to realize that we won't win this without disobedience to the strictures of both the state AND the god of "private" property.

and it should have been the focus for the past 20 years or more. But everybody's been waiting for George, or Harry, or anybody else to do it. While the Kochs and DeVos families have been digging us a grave and filling it with toxic waste.

to Detroit as it proceeds through Bankruptcy.

I follow the Shea show on YouTube-

He fixes property in Detroit, checks them out before investors buy them, does some security, cleans up the mess after nasty renters- all in one dude and team-



These drug dealing squatting assholes even have the balls to say, "Show me your papers" LOL-

the wrong site. The site you want for this post begins with the letters F and R.

He does an awesome fucking job trying to get houses back up to shape for good people to live in instead of neighborhoods turning into more shit. And protect people from buying and trying to invest in areas that need leveled-


Oh, wait, you didn't watch the videos right....that makes sense


Welcome to the dark side,,, My bad, its the eastside of Detroit, enjoy the Shea show .

many of those without water are drug-dealing squatters; the stock repub answer to any attempts to help those in need is to demonize and minimize them as undeserving and unworthy. And I fail to see the relevance of your videos to the subject we're discussing here, which is helping the thousands without water because they can't afford it. Many of them being families with young children and the elderly.

You do know that when a house is abandoned, utilities are shut off within three months or so, and subsequent squatters can't ask for the utilities to be turned back on, unless they have been paying to keep the utilities on since the house was abandoned. And since most casual squatters, your homeless or your gang members, don't stay in any one building for any length of time, utilities are not usually an issue to them.

As it is, most squatters who care about their living situation and are creating "safe houses" or living there Occupy style - homeless with families or working/disabled/elderly homeless - will tend to appropriate utilities from nearby houses with sympathetic occupants. They will usually get their water and power from the neighbors who are paying their utilities as needed with buckets, hoses, and extension cords.

I currently live in "the hood" where there is a warring gang problem with minimum-wage/minimally employable 30-year olds (predominately mexican and SE asian) with little or no future; yes, there's problems, yes, there are slum lords allowing three or four families to live in two-bedroom houses, and yes, there are boarded up or abandoned houses that are being squatted in (the one a couple blocks up is how I know how squatters who are serious about the roof over their family's head when they have no income get their power and water), but most of the struggling residents in the hood are not drug dealers or strung-out junkies and hookers.
Most are households where the adults work as much as they can on near minimum wages or at day labor. The gang problems; prostitution, theft, and drug dealing - increase when it's difficult for the young people (who are the cause of most of the troubles) to get work other than with the gangs.

Like with most crime, it's only a few - at most 3 or 4% chronic problem people that cause most of the damage in a community, but that is the small group the media likes to hype as the culture of the neighborhood.

What you're seeing in Detroit are a large number of residents who are struggling to keep a roof over their heads and struggling to find meaningful employment. If Detroit is running twice the national average for water, that's a minimum of $80 a month just to be able to get tap water for cooking, sanitation and to run the toilet. If you're not bringing home much more than $600 - $800 a month after taxes and have a $250 a month rent to pay and seasonal average of $100 a month gas and electric, it only leaves you with another $150 or so to spend on non-subsidized expenditures, like transportation costs, household maintenance products (cleaning products, toiletries, OTC health items, and other "consumables&quot , and clothing and school items as needed - and if you have kids, regular clothing purchases, even if they're Goodwill and yard sale purchases, are needed.
Notice I didn't say food. I'm assuming that someone who makes around $12K - $15K a year is getting food assistance.

An average $80 a month for water and sewage per household is a significant expense to most working poor; it can be the difference between a week's groceries at Dollar Mart after the SNAP card runs out and a week without food. And if you have no income for that month even though you were looking hard for work, no unemployment, and little to no emergency welfare, you're not going to be able to pay utilities at all while you're on the teeter-totter of waiting to be evicted or trying to get any work to keep from getting evicted.
While sitting in the dark after sunset isn't too terribly unhealthy, living without water is deadly. There should be no reason why there can't be an emergency subsidy to cover the water utility for people who don't make enough to pay their bills, are not able to do or find work, or people who are on disability or can apply for other subsidies.

After all, who's intentionally not going to go to work if they have a chance to do just so they can get $80 a month worth of free water? And if it's the difference between someone able to spend an extra 5 to 10 hours a week with their kids or working minimum quick-e mart wage job #4 just so they can pay the water bill, I'd much rather they spend the time with their kids, which helps the community out far more in the long run than forcing some poor father or mother to grind out an additional couple hours at minimum wage on top of their already 40 to 50 hours on average work week.

Haele

I don't think the program referenced in the OP is attempting to turn on utilities to abandoned/empty properties, so I fail to see the relevance of your... deep concern.