Evictions or Occupations?

People in Merced Protest eviction of homeless squatters.

In Merced today, police and city workers began the eviction process of a homeless encampment that has existed for several years. Where will these people go? Many will simply go to other camps, or find shelters to go into. According to the City of Merced website, "It’s estimated that one out of every 82 homeowners in Merced is having problems paying the mortgage." So, while the streets continue to swell with people kicked out of their homes, or unable to make payments due to job loss or low income, there is a lot of vacant property out there!

Taking over some vacant property is just what some friends of ours in Homes Not Jails, a SF based organization did in the oh-so hard Tenderloin District in San Francisco. These people didn't ask or lobby the government to give them something, they went out and took it. They aren't begging, they are taking what they need in their own city and defending it from the pigs. Many of us know people that have stayed inside their foreclosed houses after the banks want to evict them, or maybe we even know people that break into vacant ones so they can have a place to stay. The point is, we all know what it's like to be evicted, or face that threat. It's time we stop being afraid and start taking and defending what we need. Whether that's a place to stay, or keeping the homes that we have.