Getting to the root of inequality

The Occupy Movement has raised our collective awareness of the inequality in our modern societies.  The rallying cries of “we are the 99 per cent” originating in Zuccotti Park in New York City and spreading quickly around the world, focussed our attention on the widening gap between the very rich and the rest of society in many nations of the developed world.  By itself, the unequal distribution of wealth, income and opportunity in rich nations is not a new phenomenon, but the Occupy Movement removed our blinders, rubbed our noses in it and forced us to question why we tolerate such inequities.  Why does the top one per cent of the population hold more wealth than millions of working people in developed nations like the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada?  Why do the rich keep getting richer?  Why is it common-place for the wealthy to live in large mansions guarded by security fences while middle class families work two or three jobs just to make their mortgage payments on a small house in the suburbs and, if they lose their jobs, they could face foreclosure proceedings and lose their homes altogether?  Why has it become common-place for homeless men, women and children to huddle under bridges or in stairwells because they have nowhere to call home? 

These issues are not new.  Anti-poverty groups, housing advocacy groups, local politicians, community organizers, churches and many, many others have been pointing out these social justice issues for decades.  On a case-by-case basis, much progress has been made in building shelters and increasing the supply of affordable housing through inclusionary housing policies or, in some cases, direct government intervention.  Many individuals and families have benefitted from these efforts but still it seems there is very little appetite or capacity to create a systemic response at a societal level to remove the root causes of inequality – the reliance upon the market to respond to a basic human need such as housing. 

What is needed is a new organizing framework for society - a framework that recognizes affordable housing is not a commodity or a public utility but is, in fact, a community legacy that must be preserved and protected for current and future generations.  Such an approach would re-frame affordable housing as a commons and would empower local citizens to govern their housing commons through community housing trusts.