Seems to me ...

GRAPES REVISITED

There is a chapter in Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath where the Joad family pulls into a government-run camp. After weeks on the road, spending the nights in Hoovervilles—under bridges, alongside ditches and streams, anywhere with a water source—they find themselves in an organized camp. There are designated campsites, fresh water faucets, and—wonder of wonders—a building that houses restrooms, showers, and laundry facilities. There is a chain-link fence around the place to keep the residents secure, and a manager who watches the gate and collects a nominal fee. But the camp is essentially run by a committee of the residents. All residents must do their part to keep the place safe and clean.

            This abrupt change is a bit of a shock. The Joads have become accustomed to living in the dirt, seeing police raids swoop down and break up whatever Hooverville they found themselves in. This government camp polices itself. Break the rules and you are asked to leave.
            What’s the point, Chuck?

There was a report on television news last night, and an article in the paper this morning, about the Sacramento Police breaking up a tent city of about 150 illegal campers along the American River. These homeless folks were told on Wednesday that if they are not gone by Thursday, their tents will be torn down and their belongings confiscated.

All of this is taking place within a stone’s throw of the site where we propose to build a $400 million sports and entertainment center. City leaders are working hard to find sources of funding—parking revenue, a tax on hotel rooms and rental cars, cash from the Maloof family and the NBA, an investment from the AEG corporation—to make this dream a reality. This project could be a wonderful boon to the city.

And the construction workers and the illegal campers will be able to keep an eye on one another.

Yes, the city is right to break up the camp. Yes, these campers pose a sanitation and health hazard that can’t be tolerated. Yes, many of them are there due to bad choices about drugs and alcohol, not to mention mental illness. Yes, there are a growing number of children among them, because they chose bad parents. And yes, even if you offered warm, dry shelter, many of them would not accept. All this is true.

            But I keep coming back to Steinbeck’s depiction of the government camp, and I ask myself if there isn’t a better way. The simple truth is this: The Grapes of Wrath is a classic for good reason. The faces change, the context changes, but we have never finished trampling out the vintage.
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