Vigilantes and violence against unhoused people:
Thanks to the UCP, the number of houseless people on the street are increasing in Alberta too. Two friends of mine have been delivering clothes to the homeless downtown. They’ve witnessed the increase. There are some, so new to being in this condition, that they “look” like they don’t belong there. Eventually, they will, though…. This article discusses the homeless situation in British Columbia. If you don’t see the same thing here, it’s because you chose NOT to see it.
Capitalism is founded on, and rooted in, violence. Whether the violence of enclosure and privatization of commons, or the violence of an imposed labor market that commands, “Produce value for capital or die.” These aspects of capitalist violence often become concentrated in violence against unhoused people, because they occupy commons (public or community space), and they represent life not in the service of producing value for capital.
The violence inflicted on unhoused people is most visibly shown in policing and criminalization. It has also taken the form of civilian vigilantes either protecting their own property (or property as a concept) or acting out capital’s internalized ideology of productivity.
Vigilantes and violence against unhoused people: Thanks to the UCP, the number of houseless people on the street are increasing in Alberta too. Two friends of mine have been delivering clothes to the homeless downtown. They’ve witnessed the increase. There are some, so new to being in this condition, that they “look” like they don’t belong there. Eventually, they will, though…. This article discusses the homeless situation in British Columbia. If you don’t see the same thing here, it’s because you chose NOT to see it.Capitalism is founded on, and rooted in, violence. Whether the violence of enclosure and privatization of commons, or the violence of an imposed labor market that commands, “Produce value for capital or die.” These aspects of capitalist violence often become concentrated in violence against unhoused people, because they occupy commons (public or community space), and they represent life not in the service of producing value for capital.The violence inflicted on unhoused people is most visibly shown in policing and criminalization. It has also taken the form of civilian vigilantes either protecting their own property (or property as a concept) or acting out capital’s internalized ideology of productivity.Read More