Camping For Their Lives Summary

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No electricity, water, sewer, permanent address and certainty. These are what the people in tent cities live through every day. In the article “Camping for Their Lives”, author Scott Bransford chronicled the stories of people who reside in tent cities, a makeshift housing for informal settlers. He also documented their struggles, the different circumstances of the informal settlers and the origins of tent cities. The author was effective in raising awareness on the issues surrounding tent cities were growth rate seems to be proportionate on the amount of indigent residents. He was able to communicate the story without prejudice by citing stories of residents from Taco Flat, and adding excerpts from interviews with experts on the matter.
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He incorporated views of the experts in the field like the associate professor in urban studies as well as the executive housing director serving Southern California. His strength as a journalist is showcased with the use of amazing storytelling. He presented the unique circumstances of the settlers that ended up in tent cities as opposed to giving generalizations. True to a great mark of responsible journalism is the ability to tell both sides of the story. This was evident in the phrase “if they are neglected, they will be lost to crime, addiction, and illness. Yet whenever officials act to destroy or stifle them with punitive regulations, they not only wipe out the pride of residence struggling to survive. They also jettison a spirit of self-reliance and innovation that could harness to help meet the housing needs of the future”. Furthermore, the readers are not swayed one way or the other towards the governing authority or the problems with unemployment. Throughout the article you cannot detect any fallacies. He did however refute what many journalists argued regarding the emergence of tent cities signaling another Great Depression in that he only sees a partial truth to that because these settlements have long existed even before the housing crisis, and would probably still be a problem even when the economy recovers. Although his purpose was well supported, it would have been more effective had he explored more on the possible solution on the issue of homelessness leading people to living in tent

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