EVERYONE DESERVES A HOME

According to data from the census and Knox HMIS, there are about 17,000 empty homes and 2,000 homeless people in Knox County. In other words, there are over eight empty houses for every homeless person. This is an absolutely unconscionable state of affairs, but how did we get here? How can we solve this?

We in the Communist Party believe that housing is a human right – that it should be provided as a public utility like water or electricity. Under capitalism (and according to the Democratic and Republican Parties), housing is a commodity; it is first and foremost an investment opportunity, a tool to make money. The results of this are plain to see: rampant homelessness and exorbitant rent. Such a relationship to housing is a net negative for society. Certainly it makes a few fabulously wealthy, but for working people – the overwhelming majority – it is a disaster.

No one should have to worry if they’ll be able to make rent or a mortgage payment. No one should have to live in a car or on the streets in the richest country in the history of mankind. We have more than enough houses to make this goal a reality. The working class generates enough wealth to do this many times over. 

This leads us to a question that we must collectively answer: do we want to use the riches that we’ve built to ensure that we can all live fruitful lives of dignity, or do we want to let the owning class take this wealth from us and use it to make our lives harder for more money than they can spend?