Housing is a human right - end the foreclosures and evictions

By Stephen Mark "Steve" Hinze

Like the rest of the country, Los Angeles County is facing a severe housing crisis. Candidate Stephen Hinze demands housing for everyone and an end to homelessness.

Los Angeles County has close to 100,000 homeless people. It is a crisis of epic proportions.

At the same time, new "ghost towns" are popping up. Homes in Lancaster, Palmdale and even Burbank are being vacated as people lose them to greedy banks and rich mortgage lenders. These homes now sit empty until the new corporate owners can turn a profit, while the former owners - families, our neighbors - must live on the streets.

And instead of creating affordable housing, new luxury housing complexes and condominiums are built seemingly overnight as part of massive gentrification schemes.

These sorts of contradictions are the essence of capitalism. They affect our day-to-day lives. Even though the capitalist managers in LA County and in the federal government with their hundreds of billions of dollars could stop the foreclosures and ensure housing for all people, they refuse to do so. Landlords and investors have incentive to keep houses empty and evict families if they cannot turn a profit.

The real root of the housing crisis lies in the capitalist system - an economic and social system that produces for profits alone, not to meet people's needs. The Stephen Hinze Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, District 5, campaign believes that housing is a basic human need and right. The foreclosures and evictions must end now. All people in District 5, and in Los Angeles County must have a place to live. This is not negotiable.