Civilization?

When we in the UK think of slums we think of our country and how people lived years ago.  I'm old enough to remember the slow building of new homes where I grew up.  And the slow destruction of the slum homes they were to replace.  We think of homes with toilets in the stair wells to be shared by families or a toilet outside behind the cramped little house, just where the midden was.  When we think of shanty towns, we think of poor, poor countries with large cities.  We think of African and Latin American countries. 

When we think of California we think initially of Holywood and giant redwood trees.  We think of movie stars and mansions.  We don't think of rain either. Homeless, wet and damp. In America.



My initial thoughts aren't this:




or this:



or this:




Or how about Oregon? I think of evergreen forests, mountains, snow, oceans bringing morning mists and clean fresh air. I don't think of people being left to freeze in winter tents like this:





When I think of American kids, I think of little white kids who are desperately worried about having the latest trainers and trying anything to fit in at school. To be a 'cool kid' whatever that is, and spending their leisure time at the mind-numbing mall. I think of poor black kids who don't stand a chance. Few people born poor stand a chance. It doesn't matter what colour your skin is as far as I can see. There are other things, like regional accents in the UK that mark you out, your choice of words every time you speak act like tatoos of destiny. Blackand hispanic kids in the US have the tatoos that will bring them despair and that is what I think when I think about American kids. What I don't think about is homeless American kids, and I don't think about hungry American kids.




Just fleeting thoughts. Do they reflect reality? Well, whoever said real life and Holywood were the same? And have you ever seen a TV show based on the life of school dinner ladies who earn the minimum wage?

Now think a little longer about the UK. Is this our new reality thanks to the spivs of the Universe who are trying so hard to tell us all we, not they, need some austerity?