I spent a year in a permanent homeless camp in Arizona. It was a community. Everyone knew everyone else. Most folks worked when they could get it. Most had so

I spent a year in a permanent homeless camp in Arizona. It was a community. Everyone knew everyone else. Most folks worked when they could get it. Most had some sort of emotional problem that got in the way of entering the mainstream economy: a Viet Nam vet with alcohol problems; an out of work painter; a young couple with self respect, tobacco, and alcohol problems who saved their income and a bought a cheap Chinese generator gradually bettering their life style; an elderly man with cancer; a day laborer; and more. We kept the place clean and kept to ourselves. It was a quiet and peaceful place. I do believe that everyone there was living the best life they could sustain. On rare occasions a sketchy group would passed through who committed theft and vandalism. A pair of local teenagers occasionally harassed us. On some Saturday nights, a guy would show up and scream insults at us. A group moved in and got into fights. The law warned them to end the violence or else. A few weeks later law enforcement drove everyone away. I don't believe that did any good whatsoever.