Homeless in Calgary 4: "Give me Money, That's All I Want"

“I know at last what distinguishes man from animals; financial worries.”
-Romain Rolland

Financial Worries: When you are homeless or unemployed, banks and other financial institutions are very hesitant about dealing with you. The fact that you have dealt with them in the past (and helped to make them rich) while housed and employed means nothing --- you no longer exist to them. When you look at their annual earnings and reports, you will see that they care more about making obscene profits and paying their upper executives outrageous salaries than they care about serving the customers who provide them with their fortunes. What other company can put holds or delays on government pay cheques (which are supposed to be as good as cash), and get away with it?

For housing, you need money for either rent or mortgage. And the landlord or mortgage lender is quick to consequence you if you fail to pay on time. You can't get loans, credit is denied, and other alternatives which are magically available when you are housed and employed disappear from the table after the financial institution learns that you no longer qualify, if you are unemployed as well.

Government assistance is meagre at best, as they assume that you will join up with others in your plight and live in some communal arrangement, or in a chicken coop or dog house. (Maybe they find out what 1/10th of 1% of the population can live (exist) on, and assign that as the maximum payable allowance?)

Other financial institutions, such as financial service and insurance companies, as well as subsidiaries of foreign banks, are now offering the same services as banks. But with the same restrictions, in spite of their advertising claims.

There is a national store franchise chain that recently entered the financial business. They could not get a shorter company name because a business in Montreal already had it and refused to give it up. An individual has managed to set up a web site on the Internet with a shorter, derogatory version of their name, but the company has been unable to stop it. Next thing you know, the company will probably print up their own money!

A group in Ithica, New York, did print up their own money, and started using it for goods and services. The concept appealed to other poverty groups in Canada and the U.S. One drawback with such a system is when it is necessary to deal with a company that will only accept real money.

There have always been barter systems, for obtaining goods and services without money. But, these have generally been done on a small scale. Professionals such as dentists have participated in some cases. Government tax collectors have been trying to figure out how to collect taxes from barter transactions.

Years ago, the credit union movement was created as an alternative to the "usury" and other practices of the banking system. While credit unions still exist today, they are not as prevalent as they once were. This is probably due to the reduced savings and increased debt of citizens. (The big 6 may have also lobbied for regulations to restrict credit unions.) The credit unions rely on reserves from savings in order to be able to offer lower interest rates on loans and mortgages. International currency speculation and control has probably also affected them.

When companies put emphasis on profits and returns on financial investment over respect for human beings, it is difficult to find a simple solution to unemployment, poverty, and homelessness. Some enterprising individuals have tried to convince companies to include ethics in their vision, goals, and values statements. But ethics appears to be one of the first goals to be abandoned during a financial crisis or recession. And there is no place on financial statements for the fundamental rights of human beings, or for the consciences of financial and other company executives.

Until humanity is factored back into the Pro Forma equations, unemployment, poverty, and homelessness will continue.

Written by Anonymous45