It is unclear if Gatz was living in the national forest because he was experiencing homelessness.
…Yeah, I think we can safely assume that, yes.
In 2023, the National Homelessness Law Center called on the feds to stop arresting people for living on public lands and shift to a housing- and services-only approach, after undercover Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management police officers shot a disabled man in the back during a removal operation and left (him) paralyzed from the waist down.
He and his family had been living in the Payette National Forest near Boise, Idah, after their landlord reportedly evicted them from their home and they were unable to find space in area shelters.
Just a big reminder that we could end homelessness in America for about $20 billion per year.
That’s about the same amount the federal government pays every year to give farmers super cheap crop insurance.
So, it’s a choice we’re making. Allowing homelessness, and abject poverty to exist, as a cudgel to those who would otherwise seek to drop out of the rat race.
Under capitalism, homelessness is a feature. The spectacle of it keeps those with homes scared of being without.
I don’t disagree with you that $20 billion is a drop in the federal bucket that would be returned tenfold in improved societal shifts and increases in economic output. I also don’t love farm subsidies, but in terms of places to pull $20 billion from, I’d rather start with investments in foreign countries committing genocide and then work our way over to the military budget if that doesn’t cover the entire bill.
It is unclear if Gatz was living in the national forest because he was experiencing homelessness.
How the fuck is this “unclear”? Do they think this was just his daytime hangout location, and that he went “home” every night to sleep indoors? smh.
Man caught
Sounds like he wasn’t doing anything wrong or harming anyone in any meaningful capacity.
Why not just let him live in peace?
But he didn’t pay anyone anything!!! Lol
With the way shit is going, I don’t blame the guy for wanting to live alone in the woods
His residence was a giant pile of garbage. I mean, he’s not like, 3M or Mr. Burns, but we I don’t think we want people trash dumping in national parks. They’re in enough danger as it is. If you move your campsite every 14 days and don’t litter, you could live there indefinitely, it would seem.
I’m all for living in the woods, but this guy was definitely doing it wrong multiple ways
I do volunteer work for a couple homeless orgs in Canada and reading this story doesn’t surprise me. he wasn’t “doing it wrong” he was doing what was logical in his head. I see guys all the time carrying around bags or pushing a car literally filled with garbage. paper, cans, tim hortons cups, whatever. They pick it up, they keep it. It’s a form of hording. It’s not so much “I could potentially use this one day” its more like “I have nothing and having something makes me feel a bit more normal”. It’s 100% a mental illness and you always find it with older individuals. They carry around too much and the majority of which they don’t need but they carry it because they need “something”. They need some kind of possession. they just collect garbage.
I guess “1000lbs of trash” doesn’t sound as bad as “half a ton”?
That’s like, maybe 1-2 months of household, curbside waste for an average family. This dude was living there for 8 years.
If he was there for 8 years, that means he was paying taxes into the system for 40 years before he nope’d out and headed to the woods, which his taxes paid for.
And this is what he gets in return. Tsk tsk.
I guess “1000lbs of trash” doesn’t sound as bad as “half a ton”?
That’s like, maybe 1-2 months of household, curbside waste for an average family.
I’m sorry, WHAT?
What do you mean “caught”?
He was discovered!
Yes, but the word caught implies he was doing something illegal
There are laws about unattended open fires and trash removal when camping on federal lands. He was breaking those laws. There’s other rules about how long you can camp in the same place, but in a lot of areas they usually look the other way as long as you are living in a way that doesn’t damage the area. He was also on National Forest park land, which is much stricter about residency than BLM land is.
my retirement plan
