Today is my adult and oldest son's birthday. Happy Birthday! Congratulations to his parents! (For decades I've told all friends and family parents that on their children's birthdays).
Now, can we please make America a great country for everyone and not just those in power or the corporate and wealthy?
Now. Homelessness was NOT a choice. Not OUR choice! It was engineered. We didn’t do this—it was done to us. Decades of policy failure, corporate greed, and political indifference built this crisis.
It's a crucial and complex question that touches on systemic failures in housing, economics, and policy. Here's a breakdown of the core issues, the role of corporate investment, and how it all intersects with political (in)action—particularly Donald Trump's.
๐ WHY SO MANY HOMELESS?
Homelessness has surged in the past few decades due to a convergence of factors:
1. Housing Costs Outpacing Wages
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Since the 1980s, housing prices and rents have skyrocketed while wages for the working and lower-middle classes have stagnated.
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The National Low Income Housing Coalition reports that in no U.S. state can a minimum wage worker afford a one-bedroom apartment at fair market rent without working multiple jobs.
2. Dismantling of Social Safety Nets
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Federal investment in affordable housing has declined since Reagan-era cuts.
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Mental health institutions were closed or defunded in the 1980s without replacement services.
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Section 8 and public housing waiting lists are years long in many cities.
3. Zoning and NIMBYism
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Local zoning laws restrict multi-family or low-income housing in many areas.
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NIMBY ("Not In My Backyard") resistance blocks shelters or affordable housing developments.
๐ข CORPORATE INVESTMENT: CORNERING THE MARKET
What's happening?
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Private equity firms, REITs (Real Estate Investment Trusts), and corporations like BlackRock and Invitation Homes are buying up entire neighborhoods, rental properties, and even single-family homes.
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They often outbid individual buyers—especially first-time homebuyers—with cash offers and then raise rents or flip homes at inflated prices.
Why it matters:
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These institutional investors view homes as assets, not shelter.
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Their scale lets them manipulate markets: reduce supply, raise prices, squeeze renters.
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As more inventory is taken off the market, competition increases and prices soar—leaving middle- and lower-income families behind.
๐คก WHAT IS TRUMP DOING ABOUT IT?
Short answer: Nothing. Longer answer:
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As POTUS45, Trump cut housing funds and proposed slashing HUD's budget by billions each year.
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His administration rolled back fair housing rules, making it easier for communities to exclude affordable housing.
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Trump demonized homeless populations, especially in California, offering no constructive solutions.
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He surrounded himself with luxury developers and viewed housing through a profit-first lens, not a public good.
As POTUS47, he’s made no serious proposals on housing. If anything, he's doubling down on deregulation and promoting markets that benefit large investors.
๐ ️ HOW TO FIX IT?
It’s going to take layered and bold action:
1. Regulate Institutional Buyers
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Impose taxes or limits on bulk-buying residential properties.
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Prioritize sales to individuals and families.
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Enact vacancy taxes on unused homes and short-term rentals.
2. Build Affordable Housing—Fast
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Massive federal/state investment in public and mixed-income housing.
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Streamline permitting and override restrictive zoning when necessary.
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Fund housing-first programs for the unhoused.
3. Protect Renters
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Implement rent control or stabilization in high-cost cities.
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Strengthen eviction protections and tenant rights.
4. Restore the Safety Net
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Rebuild mental health infrastructure and addiction services.
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Expand income supports (e.g., universal housing vouchers, UBI pilots).
๐️ Why So Many Homeless? How Corporate Greed, Policy Failure, and Political Apathy—Especially Trump’s—Broke the Housing Market
America’s housing crisis didn’t come out of nowhere—it’s the result of decades of policy failure, unchecked corporate expansion, and a stunning lack of political will. The rise in homelessness and the collapse of affordable homeownership are symptoms of a system designed to serve profit, not people.
๐ The Roots of the Crisis
1. Wages vs. Housing Costs
While CEO pay has skyrocketed, wages for working Americans have remained largely flat. Meanwhile, housing prices and rents have exploded. In many U.S. cities, it now takes multiple full-time jobs just to afford a modest one-bedroom apartment.
2. Erosion of the Safety Net
Since the 1980s, public investment in housing and mental health care has been gutted. Public housing construction slowed to a trickle. Section 8 vouchers have years-long waiting lists. And mental health institutions were shut down without building adequate community services to replace them.
3. Zoning Laws and NIMBYism
Local laws often block construction of affordable and multi-family housing. Suburbs use restrictive zoning to keep out "undesirable" developments, preserving wealth for the few and pushing working-class families further out—or onto the streets.
๐ข Corporate Investors: Cornering the Market
In recent years, massive investment firms like BlackRock and Invitation Homes have begun buying up entire neighborhoods. These firms:
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Make cash offers, outbidding families.
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Raise rents or flip homes for profit.
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Reduce available housing supply.
For them, homes are not places to live—they’re assets to exploit. The result? Prices soar, renters get squeezed, and ownership slips further out of reach for everyday Americans.
๐คก Trump: All Talk, No Action
Trump has done nothing to address this crisis. In fact, he's made it worse:
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Slashed HUD funding during his first term.
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Rolled back fair housing rules designed to fight segregation.
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Vilified homeless people rather than helping them.
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Prioritized deregulation to benefit wealthy developers.
Now, as POTUS47, he continues to ignore the crisis while aligning himself with the very corporate forces profiting off America’s pain.
๐ ️ What Needs to Be Done
Fixing this will take bold, unapologetic action:
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Regulate Corporate Buyers
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Limit or tax bulk purchases of homes.
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Offer right-of-first-purchase to individuals and families.
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Penalize long-term vacancies and empty investment units.
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Invest in Affordable Housing
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Launch a federal building program for affordable and mixed-income housing.
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Eliminate zoning that blocks low-income housing.
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Protect Renters
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National rent stabilization in high-cost areas.
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Strengthen eviction protections.
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Rebuild Social Services
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Expand mental health care and substance use treatment.
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Universal housing vouchers.
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Pilot Universal Basic Income in high-risk areas.
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America doesn’t lack the money. It lacks the will—especially from leaders like Donald Trump, who view housing as a tool for the rich, not a right for the rest. Until we redefine housing as a public good and regulate those who exploit it, the crisis will only deepen.
๐ Why Can’t Americans Afford Housing?
Section 1: The Problem
Title: U.S. Housing Crisis by the Numbers
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Median home price ↑ 118% since 2000
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Rent ↑ 86% since 1990
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Minimum wage ↑ only 21% (inflation-adjusted)
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653,000+ homeless in 2023 (highest since the Great Depression)
Section 2: What’s Driving It?
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Wages Stagnate vs. Costs Soar
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Zoning Laws block affordable units
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Corporate Investors buy up homes:
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Firms like BlackRock & Invitation Homes dominate
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Cash offers edge out families
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Rent extraction = profit motive
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Section 3: Who’s Doing Nothing?
Donald Trump’s Record:
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Cut HUD funding by billions
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Undid fair housing regulations
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Blamed victims, not causes
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No plan to stop investor monopolies
Section 4: What Can Be Done?
๐ ️ Solutions
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Cap corporate ownership of homes
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Mass investment in affordable housing
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National tenant protections
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Expand mental health & housing-first programs
Housing is a Human Right.
It's Not a Wall Street Game.
This crisis isn’t beyond repair. We can still reclaim housing as a human right—if we have the courage to challenge corporate greed, demand real policy reform, and invest in people, not profits. Change begins when we stop blaming the victims and start holding the powerful accountable. We didn’t create this crisis—but together, we can end it.
Compiled with aid of ChatGPT
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