Poverty is not a crime!

The state is treating poor and homeless people like criminals: evictions, denying access to public spaces, surveillance, police controls and imprisonment. We believe that these policies are unjust, inhuman and dangerous for freedom and democracy. Poverty is a problem of the system, not a crime of the poor!
The poor people of Budapest are being evicted from the places they live in with low rents, or from the shelters they build for themselves. This way, many people are left on the streets without any roof over their heads. They have to use the public spaces of the city to survive: metro stations, parks, passages, garbage bins etc. Instead of building homes for these people, the state is sending them to prisons! Instead of helping these people live a decent life, the authorities are ‘cleaning’ the city, while hundreds of buildings across Budapest are empty.
In this way, the population sees the homeless people as criminals, as people who are lazy, who don’t want to work and prefer to steal, who don’t want to live well but prefer to be alcoholics, and who choose to be dirty, sick, sleep in doorways, humiliate themselves, beg for money and eat garbage.
This was not always like this! Society used to take care of its poor people, the population used to have more sympathy to those without luck or money, and the poor people were not blamed for their own condition. Today, however, in our society based on individualism and competition, the poor are seen as just people that were not good enough, who don’t deserve the life that everyone else has because they are lazy, uneducated and tricksters.
But this is wrong, just think about it! How many rich people, how many politicians, are lazy and get things for free? Are they being called tricksters and sent to jail? How many of us spend money on drinks and cigarettes? Does it mean that we are un-deserving? Also, many of the homeless and poor people on the streets of Budapest are people that did not have a chance to all the benefits that we have, including a family, school and a good health. Before we blame others, let’s think of how many privileges we have, and how lucky we are that we have a roof over our heads and a doctor to heal us!
And instead of using these privileges to help those without them, we watch silently as the state blames them for everything that goes bad in our city: the neighbourhoods are full of crime because the poor people steal and rob; the streets are dirty because the homeless people use them as bedrooms and toilets, and because they search through the garbage; the tourists are not coming because they can’t stand to see the beggars; the metro is not working well because the poor people stink – and so on.
And who actually wins from all this? Buildings that are destroyed to make room for offices, banks and malls, streets that are ‘cleaned’ so that expensive restaurants and cafes get in, neighbourhoods that attract more and more fancy and posh people rather than encourage communities – who wins? Those with money, those successful, those with power and privileges win! So next time you blame a beggar for her or his life, think twice – who knows how long you’ll be able to survive in the money jungle?
It’s time to stand up and say NO to all of this! We say NO to the mentality of blaming the poor people for their own misery! We say NO to building prisons instead of homes! NO to giving money for more police instead of giving money for more doctors! NO to the racism, xenophobia and hatred for those without privileges that the state promotes! And we say NO to the destruction of solidarity and community spirit in our lives! We are not evil, calculated and egoist machines, who eliminate those who cannot play the game well enough! We are humans that feel, give and receive, that can love and have empathy and solidarity!
And we say NO to the policies of the state that try to tell us how the public space should be used, and by whom! We are not just guests in this city, we live, we work, we create, and we survive in it. We prefer to see green spaces where everybody is welcome rather than grey banks and malls. We prefer colourful streets that everyone uses freely rather than cold and sterilized ways for cars. And we prefer a city that is open for everyone rather than a fortress where only the rich live in luxury. Luxury belongs to all! The city belongs to all!

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