The Fresno Bee published a cartoon Aug. 24 on the editorial page about a hapless California family priced out the housing market and forced to reside in its car.
Matthew Desmond’s new book, “Evicted: Poverty and Profit In the American City,” tells the story of poor people in a typical inner city (Milwaukee, Wisconsin) searching for a flat to rent. It is a story of people struggling to avoid eviction and undergoing a disheartening, debasing and destroying experience to secure housing.
Mr. Desmond spent some time living among the inner-city poor and experienced the destitution first hand. A flat induces better parenting, holding on to a job and citizenship. Or as Mr. Desmond puts it, “Home is the wellspring of parenting.” He offers a solution to this problem in which one in eight are evicted in the inner city for lack of rent payment: government vouchers.
Lastly, the universal quest for housing is expressed in the musical “My Fair Lady” (currently at Roger Rocka’s Dinner Theater ) in the song “Wouldn’t It Be Loverly.” The first two lines of the song are: “All I want is a room somewhere far away from the cold night’s air.”
Sydney Bluestone, Fresno
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