The Right to Home

Sometimes social commentary in art can be effective. The 1995 two part episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, "Past Tense", found the 24th century main characters visiting San Francisco in 2024. That seemed like a far off future in 1995 but 2024 is already a year and a half ago. The premise of "Past Tense", which is one of the more lauded episodes of the series, is that by 2024 in the U.S. people will confine the homeless to concentration camps in major cities. The writers were inspired by observing the strange coexistence of extreme wealth alongside extreme poverty in Los Angeles.

This episode had been on my mind since returning from Japan. Japan seems to be a much wealthier country than the U.S. at this point, or at least a country where wealth's more evenly distributed. Homelessness is extremely rare in Japan, it's certainly far less visible. Coming back to the U.S. feels a little like being a 24th century Starfleet officer being suddenly confronted by the site of rampant homelessness. The same truth is apparent to them that's apparent to me, that the wealthy largely don't seem to regard the poor as belonging to the same species.

It's easy to see why the concentration camps never happened, despite a contemporaneous proposal for "havens" in Los Angeles that caught the show's writers by surprise. Such institutions would require money. It's easier and cheaper to allow private businesses and homeowners to foot the bill by restricting access to restrooms. I've been surprised by the transformation of the restrooms here in the U.S. since I left six years ago. Nearly every business has a coded lock on its door. Upon returning from my recent trip to Japan, I stopped in a Starbucks in San Diego to get a muffin because I realised I hadn't eaten in six hours or so (it's hard to keep track of time taking a ten hour flight across the dateline). While I was eating, a homeless man approached the counter and started chatting with the barista. It was a friendly chat but he clearly had an ulterior motive. Was he going to ask her out? Was he going to ask her for money? Nope, he just wanted the code to the restroom and she refused because he wasn't a paying customer. He left without causing any trouble. I assume he ended up having to piss on the ground somewhere. People complain about the urine stench but what do they expect? In Tokyo recently I sat by a young woman in a smart suit with a skirt before I realised she'd pissed herself and that's why other people on the train were giving her a wide berth. As an American, I sort of wanted to reassure her that I was used to it but I doubt she'd have been comforted.

In the Deep Space Nine episode there's eventually a riot which gets national attention that kicks off a series of events that lead to social change. It's very hard for me to imagine there won't eventually be a violent uprising in the real version of the 2020s.