Think About This as You See Stories About Occupy Wall Street

The New Name for HoovervilleBy Tom FlakeOccupy Wall Street is now entering its third week and showing no signs of weakening. In fact, as the unions attempt to co-opt the movement for their own ends, it may in fact strengthen and become a long term facet of American life. Have you asked yourself where those people are living? Where they are going at night?From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Hooverville near Portland, OregonA Hooverville was the popular name for shanty towns built by homeless people during the Great Depression. They were named after the President of the United States at the time, Herbert Hoover, because he allegedly let the nation slide into depression. The term was coined by Charles Michelson, publicity chief of the Democratic National Committee.[1] The name Hooverville has also been used to describe the tent cities commonly found in modern-day America.Homelessness was present before the Great Depression, and hobos and tramps were common sights in the 1920s, but the economic downturn increased their numbers and concentrated them in urban settlements close to soup kitchens run by charities. These settlements were often formed on empty land and generally consisted of tents and small shacks. Authorities did not officially recognize these Hoovervilles and occasionally removed the occupants for trespassing on private lands, but they were frequently tolerated or ignored out of necessity. The New Deal enacted special relief programs aimed at the homeless under the Federal Transient Service (FTS), which operated from 1933-35.Some of the men who were forced to live in these conditions possessed construction skills and were able to build their houses out of stone. Most people, however, resorted to building their residences out of wood from crates, cardboard, scraps of metal, or whatever materials were available to them. They usually had a small stove, bedding and a couple of simple cooking implements.Most of these unemployed residents of the Hoovervilles used public charities or begged for food from those who had housing during this era. Democrats coined other terms, such as "Hoover blanket" (old newspaper used as blanketing) and "Hoover flag" (an empty pocket turned inside out). "Hoover leather" was cardboard used to line a shoe with the sole worn through. A "Hoover wagon" was an automobile with horses hitched to it because the owner could not afford fuel; in Canada, these were known as Bennett buggies, after the Prime Minister at the time.After 1940 the economy recovered, unemployment fell, and shanty eradication programs destroyed all the Hoovervilles.[2]Many are living at the site, Wall Street or some other large city near you. So there is a historical analog for this protest and these temporary cities within cities. At this point the Democrats, seem to be giving them a wink and a nod, but I am going to make a prediction. Currently the optics are that this is a protest against Wall Street. But the ire of the participants will eventually become focused on the administration. When that happens, when these tent cities begin to be known as Obamatowns, the optics will shift and the current administration’s tolerance will be at an end. I predict that if this becomes a primary issue and the GOP candidates begin to successfully tie Obamatowns to the administration, well, bad things will happen, as this administration has shown no tolerance for anyone that makes them look bad…other than themselves of course.