Anatole France, Nobel Prize winner wrote, “The law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal bread.” During the on going Great Recession, millions have lost their homes. Many of those who have ended up homeless, are living, if you can call it that, in the streets. You can see them from Santa Monica to Madison Ave to Vancouver in Canada. In Boulder, where I live, every morning, they emerge from behind bushes and from under bridges. It is shameful giving the level of wealth that so many are without shelter. The U.S. spends billions maintaining military bases all over the world and has 11 aircraft carrier battle groups roaming the seven seas but at home people don’t have a roof over their heads.

Max Rameau is a community organizer. He is Executive Director of Movement Catalyst. He helped establish Take Back the Land which organizes resistance to foreclosures and assists families to stay in their homes. He works on a broad range of issues impacting the poor such as housing, immigrant rights, economic justice, and Cop Watch.