Unbelievable: the outrageous demands of people experiencing homelessness

Last Tuesday, August 19, as part of the International Day of Struggles of People Experiencing Homelessness, homeless individuals and various groups gathered at Plaza del Entrevero, marched in the rain toward Torre Ejecutiva, and ended at the Museum of Migrations, where they enjoyed a community meal and musical performances.

The groups Ni Todo Está Perdido (Nitep) «people experiencing homelessness fighting against homelessness»; Coordinadora 19A «for the visibility of people experiencing homelessness»; Rutras Transfeministas Sudacas «by and for women and diverse individuals experiencing homelessness» and Menstruar en Calle gathered under the slogan "Injustice kills, we demand care for life".

This year, the statement was special given the eight deaths caused by last month's cold wave due to the inaction of the Ministry of Social Development, which only after six people had died declared a national emergency and authorized mandatory evacuation.

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Representatives of the Nitep group expressed their concern about what the government will do with them once winter ends and, consequently, the national emergency. In this context, they pointed out that the solutions to homelessness "are very easy": the State must guarantee them housing, employment, and healthcare.

Coming Home: collective houses to replace shelters

They demanded the right to housing —denouncing that it has been expropriated by real estate speculators backed by the State— and launched the proposal Coming Home: collective houses to end the "eternalization of shelters".

They stated that "the unequal way in which resources are distributed, on which this society keeps its privileges, is what produces people experiencing homelessness, prison, confinement" and that they are "the scapegoat of a society that refuses to acknowledge that individualistic ways of life are what produce homelessness."

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Take responsibility, hand me the shovel

In 2023, members of the Nitep group founded the social cooperative Avanzar, through which people experiencing homelessness have gained access to work cleaning public restrooms: "They tell us that you get off the street by working, but the jobs they offer us barely allow us to survive," they denounced.

They demanded participation in public policies, since "it's about their lives," requesting the formation of a special committee in Parliament.

The privileges of men, even in homelessness

How women experiencing homelessness manage menstruation is the demand of the group Menstruar en Calle, which this time called for special attention to women because "being a woman is a factor of inequality, a risk".

The Nitep group stated: "Homelessness is a situation of extreme violence that this body has to endure. Everything is intensified if you are a woman, trans, Black, dissident, migrant, neurodivergent..."

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Let uselessness govern: the circus of social dialogue

The day after the August 19 march, the "brand new" Minister of Mides, Gonzalo Civila, confirmed the obvious: a participatory process has begun, which will last three months, with "listening to all voices" to develop the Comprehensive National Strategy for Addressing Homelessness.

The Broad Front's strategy: so-called "participatory" calls, "social dialogue" roundtables, and "listening to all voices" plans to create the appearance of democratic action, when we already know what the solution will be: more bureaucracy and state subsidies that will bleed taxpayers dry.

The Broad Front not only lacks any idea of how to govern, but also has not the slightest interest in eradicating poverty. As Hayek pointed out: "Socialism claims to protect everyone from poverty, but in the end it only ensures the misery of many."