It’s wrong to profit off a basic human need

To respond to the question posed by Pat Gooby about opening a county poor farm, one need only look at modern day counterparts in bigger cities – homeless shelters and housing projects – to concur they’re not places a working class family would want to be. The poor farms of the past were barracks-style group housing for paupers and mental defectives unable to survive in society, and were cesspools of filth and disease. In present day Bonner County a few places like this already exist, and anyone searching the local online rental marketplaces for affordable housing is well aware of the two “farms” south of town offering rooms for rent, and the ensuing chaos of drug abuse, petty crime, and nonstop drama that takes place in such an environment. Point being that inviting crazy concentrations of people to live together incites crazy behavior, no matter how good the intentions. Add government management into the mix and Sandpoint will have its first “ghetto” in no time.

There’s something wrong with a society and culture when a basic human need, such as shelter, is turned into a product for maximum profit. Million dollar condos? Our school teachers, store clerks, and service workers are not, in fact, poor, but rather victims of greed and a corporate economy gone wild. The Sandpoint we know and love is going, going, gone – just watch the changes occurring over the next few election cycles and decide for yourself if this is still a place you want to call home.

EVAN BROWN

Sandpoint