" was a racketeer for capitalism'

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Barbara Putnam, Kwame M.A. Somburu, Sylvia Weinstein.

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2 SOCIALIST ACTION AUGUST 1990 The homeless in the cities of this, the richest country in the world, are bringing home the message that capitalism cannot solve its most urgent problem.

Their message is that the social system is sick and getting sicker. Many of the homeless do work at fulltime jobs but are still unable to afford the skyrocketing rents.

Hostility toward the homeless is growing among many sectors of the population, including the liberals. City governments have for years destroyed low-cost housing and allowed it to be replaced by highpriced condos.

They have also allowed the banks, real estate brokers, and speculators absolutely free rein in amassing the largest profits possible from housing. However, the homeless, who are the victims, become the target of hostility.

Recently in San Francisco, the police were called in to herd the homeless from the Civic Center rich he which by comparison make jails park and force them into shelters look like high-class hotels.

The homeless have actually broken no laws; it's not illegal to be poor. But City Fathers know how to create laws. Make everything illegal, and it is impossible not to become a law breaker.

Sleeping on public property such as parks and streets and in motor vehicles became outlawed during the Depression, when millions of working people were driven from their homes and apartments because they could not pay rents.

That was at a time when millions of workers were laid off and unable to find work. The United States today is not in an economic depression or even a major recession, yet thousands of homeless men, women, and children are unable to afford a roof over their heads. What will it look like when the economy goes into a real crisis?

Major corporations are announcing cutbacks everyday. McDonnell Douglas says it is to cut back on 17,000 jobs by the end of this year; Boeing, which is reaping massive ACTiON Editor: ALAN BENJAMIN Asst. Editors: MICHAEL SCHREIBER Staff: Alex Chis, Paul Colvin, May May Gong, Malik Business Manager: DAVID KIRSCHNER Second-class postage is paid at San Francisco, Calif.

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BY profits, will lay off 5600 workers this year; and the Grumman Corp. has eliminated 6000 jobs. It is not hard to imagine the anguish of workers who are waiting for the ax to fall on their necks. How many more homeless will be created by those layoffs?

Lieut. Col. Phelps

In Santa Cruz, Calif., on July 4, an anti-homeless rally of 1500 demonstrators took place. They wanted to express their anger at the homeless. Not at those who had caused the homelessness, but at the homeless themselves.

One of the leaders was a retired Army lieutenant colonel who lives in the town of Aptos, Calif. He ranted: "It's time some of these people realized that work of any kind is not demeaning, and they're not above it."

Lieut. Col. Phelps places most of the homeless in the "4-D category: people who, by their own choice, are dope pushers, drug addicts, drunkards, and dropouts."

He went on to tell of the hard life he and his family had during the Depression, of backbreaking labor in order to just survive. Anyone who lived through the Depression could recount the same stories.

But let's take a closer look at our racketeer for capitalism."

"I helped purify Nicaragua," Butler said, "for the international banking house of Brown Brothers in 1909-1912. I helped make Mexico and especially Tampico safe for American oil interests in 1914. I brought light to the Dominican Republic for American sugar interests in 1916. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City [Bank] boys to colThe Bush administration has finally been flushed out into the open. The president now admits he plans to raise taxes in order to "balance the budget."

Where will our tax money go? To begin with, the "budget" includes interest paid to the banks on government loans. Then, of course, the lect revenue in. I helped in the rape of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefit of Wall Street."

"In China in 1927," Butler related, "I helped to see to it that Standard Oil went its way unmolested.... I had a swell racket. I was rewarded with honors, medals, promotions.... I might have given Al Capone a few hints. The best he could do was to operate a racket in three city districts. The Marines operated on three continents."

These words by Commander Smedley Butler were written in 1931. Can you imagine him declaring war on the homeless, as has been done by retired Lieut. Col. Phelps? The problem with Phelps is he doesn't know who the real enemy is. That's why he and people like him are the danger—not the homeless.

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Come on... let's celebrate! The Cold War is over.

THE HOMELESS;