Eco Fascism in Venice: Turning Homeless into Hazardous Waste

Underneath the streets, sidewalks, and houses of Venice there is a maze of decrepit city plumbing, including the old sewer main that runs from Venice to the Hyperion treatment plant. Old leaky sewer pipes run for miles just beneath our feet; pipes with unspeakable sludge running into the ground near water mains that supply homes and businesses. The city’s water supply has also been contaminated with pharmaceutical drugs that pass through water treatment.

One example of a city sewer pipe leaking for years was just east of Lincoln Blvd. It oozed bubbling raw sewage up to the surface into the grass by the side walk right of way. This was next to two homes and a church with considerable youth activity and a daycare, but the city allegedly could not find the pipe on any city map. This continual flow of sewage, not only contaminated the grassy area, but ran directly into a gutter drain going out to the ocean. There is also direct dumping of contaminants into storm drains like automobile fluids, household cleaning products, industrial chemicals, paint, and other waste products.

It is a fact that the city is denying proper sanitation facilities for its homeless population, yet the homeless population in Venice and other parts of Los Angeles are blamed for contaminating the streets. While untold sewage is leaching into our drinking water system and the ocean, motor homes have been towed, impounded, and seized by the city for extremely small or imagined leaks coming from their plumbing systems. City workers dressed in hazmat suits have even been seen crawling under motor homes and examining backpacks, tents, and other personal belongings, then impounding them.

Blaming the unhoused homeless population and those living in vehicles for environmental problems is a biased masquerade to hide the real problems regarding civil rights and human rights violations. It is a form of Environmental Fascism when the more affluent population of Venice blames the poor for destroying the water and air quality.

The vast majority of our environmental problems in Venice come from businesses and homes. The more affluent consume more and pollute more - a fact studied by the scientific community.

When a sewer line backs up and leaks in an expensive Venice home, the Hazmat team and the LAPD do not come to seize the home. Yet many vehicles were towed and impounded by the LAPD during the cities attempt to run them out of town. Those who point fingers at the extremely small percentage of pollution caused by people living on the streets of Venice should first look at what is going on directly under their house and over their heads.

Carbon pollution, the main cause of global warming, threatens the entire planet and cannot be blamed on the poor and unhoused. The population who live on the streets should be helped economically so they can repair their vehicles – not persecuted for being poor. Programs should be started and funded by the City of L.A. to improve the lives of the poor and not to seize and destroy their personal property.

When a local bar fly urinates in the alley, he is not arrested and his car is not impounded. Those in the community who are trying to push our poor and homeless community members over the cliff by saying they are a health and environmental hazard are exposing their fascistic tendencies.

One must remember the past and how other minority groups have been persecuted. Treating the poor like a punching bag is a distraction started by politically motivated tricksters .The local politicians in power are not humanitarians and are acting on behalf of their negatively motivated voter base.

Those who rail against the poor and call them an environmental hazard should jump first into the cauldron of environmental degradation and not blame the poorest among us for it.