We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Wednesday, December 21, 2016

Los Angeles outlaws sleeping in cars, further criminalizing homelessness

Click here to access article and audio broadcast from Free Speech Radio News.

One such person is from Seattle.

Homeless in Los Angeles
Sarah Scott sings in the parking lot of a law office located on the boardwalk. She’s here on a sunny but brisk December day to seek help from volunteer lawyers at the Venice Homeless Citation Clinic.

Tickets have accumulated on her vehicle that no longer runs and that, for now, doubles as her home. A month and a half ago, the singer-songwriter packed her belongings and drove her Dodge Ram from Seattle, Washington to Venice, California.