Gov't Destroys Lib Tent Homeless City

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrPdZmPB36U&feature=related Frustrated with police abuses of homeless, Libertarians and progressives donated to creat a “Libertarian tent city” for the poor and homeless with it’s own mayor and welfare system in St. Petersburg, Florida in 2007. The media began ridiculing the project –that voluntarily raised money or pooled income from handouts to provide the Homeless with an income and paper route jobs, and organized a choice of waste removal, food distribution, transit and other programs–saying “Libertarian voluntary and progressive voluntary ideas only applied to the rich” and excusing police brutality. But the scandal led to a community summit of 400+ leaders that identified 20 areas where government policy was blocking homeless help and private donations–including the Homeless City. The policy reversal led to a county pro-Homeless policy, pass-through private and public housing and and legalizing a home -hosting program all without tax increases designed by the Homeless themselves. The government, however, continues to try and block Homeless autonomy and paper routes, and even feeding the Homeless without a government permit. But as one member of the Homeless Council, the late Jake Withers, on WTAN said: “The Libertarians and Progressives did more for the Homeless, many of us are Iraq vets, in one month than has been done in years. They showed we can solve the problems ourselves. Just with a little help and guidance and autonomy and freedom to start our own community.We had provided a small guaranteed income in one month. We had people with jobs and the  helpless with medical help in one month. We understand our own problems. The welfare people said stop or they would take it away. The police admitted we had zero cme in our community of 1000 people than St. Petersburg. A Homeless town is a good model to get people on their feet where we run our affairs. Most of the government help is about preventing us from having freedom to help ourselves…” Mayor Baker, disturbed by what he saw, worked with community leaders on the summit and bringing about change, starting with a fact-finding interview that discovered e.g. many of the Homeless were traumatized Iraq vets who had fallen through the cracks in the Veterans System…

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