Placeless: Homelessness in the New Gilded Age by Patrick Markee
Placeless was published at the moment when the administration announced plans to cut programs that have housed the homeless, threatening to increase the ranks of Americans who depend on shelters or underpasses. Patrick Markee is a housing activist in New York and frames many of his arguments around policies that have left, according to the author, one in 15 impoverished New Yorkers and one in every seven Black children “in a homeless shelter over the course of a year.” The problem, needless to add, is nationwide. He likens existing programs to musical chairs—someone will always be without a seat. Will the impending policy change take away most of the chairs?
Markee blames the existing situation, a cycle of homelessness that began in the ‘80s, on “structural shifts in the capitalist economy, worsening inequality, systemic racism, and neoliberal government policies” that have deregulated and offshored the economy. What emerged for people experiencing homelessness—or its threat—is not only the loss of home and shelter, but also “the loss of identity and security, as well as community.” Perhaps it’s no surprise that districts with the highest eviction rates have the lowest voter turnout.
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