Social Protest and Cyber Attacks

Social protest, historically has been visible through marches and demonstrations and taken to the streets or corridors of government and even corporate offices throughout the world. Who can forget the civil rights movement here in the U.S.A. or the 1989 Tienanmen Square protests in the Peoples Republic of China where 100,000 gathered in civil resistance. Social activism, and civil resistance although non violent acts often evolved into violent encounters. A line from the Rolling Stones song may put that form of protest into perspective with the lyrics "I went down to the demonstration, to get my fair share of abuse".

Social protest is no longer found just in the streets. Cyber attacks on government, municipalities and large corporations are becoming more the choice of the digital generation as a non violent means of seeking change. Groups of hackers, although loosely organized have been using "hacktivism" as an alternative to physical protest effectively enough to disrupt or temporarily disable municipal and corporate websites creating at least major inconveniences. Most hacktivist cyber attacks are motivated by a perceived inhumane condition or denial of basic human rights.

Last week a group of hacktivists declared cyber war against the City of Orlando disrupting various websites including the Mayor's re election campaign and the city's largest redevelopment organization. The attacks were a response to the city's recent practice of arresting members of the Orlando based "Food Not Bombs" anti poverty group for feeding the homeless in one of the city's parks. Over the past 30 days police have arrested some 25 Food Not Bombs volunteers as they provide meals to homeless people. Members of Food Not Bombs released a statement condemning the cyberattacks saying "We have nothing to do with this kind of thing, what is being done is a distraction from the real issue at hand" . The group said that the mayor and the city council are attempting to "criminalize poverty" and intend to "hide the homeless".

Separately a group of hacktivists known as "Anonymous" takes credit and responsibility for the attacks. Although most protest movements are organized by the oppressed group, Anonymous has become known for it's denial of service attacks on prominent high traffic websites worldwide in conjunction with more conventional protests of other organizations. In November 2010, Anonymous conducted several cyber-attacks on the corporate giant MasterCard after the company pulled sponsorship from the anti-secrecy website Wikileaks.

Love it or hate it people will find a way to be heard whenever basic human rights and freedoms are jeopardized, marginalized or compromised. Cyber Attacks may be an effective evolution of peaceful social protest.

George Sinacori
GES Real Estate LLC

American Homeless

I've made a business out of finding homes for families in South Florida since 1990. The plight of homeless people was never a concern to me because my business requires that you either have a home to sell or that you want to buy one. The homeless simply do not qualify. Whenever I'd see a homeless person begging I was skeptical. I'd rationalize in some way that I needed the dollar more than them or that they really weren't homeless. I'd even named one guy "Scammer Johnny".

Lately however, I've witnessed a growing number of new homeless people. Families losing their homes to foreclosure as a result of unemployment, the economy or just falling victim to predatory lending which ultimately caught up to them.



I'll try not to point fingers here simply because I'd like to focus my attention on the homeless in America and not the reasons for the seemingly continuous growth in their numbers. Although counts vary greatly by state there seems to be an alarming increase in the numbers of homeless families and children showing up at shelters all across the country. In order to provide some measure of the homeless population, the government relies on data supplied to the Department of HUD, obtained from more than 400 volunteer organizations and outreach programs nationally. There's probably a better way to find realistic numbers but again I'll not point any fingers.

Accordingly, there are varying numbers of "sheltered" homeless people, or those who have temporary housing provided by shelters, churches and various volunteer organizations and the "unsheltered". Those who live in the streets, under bridges, in cars, hallways, cardboard crates, makeshift back alley communities, parks and so many other areas not meant for human habitation. According to HUD's national counts 4 in 10 are unsheltered. These folks may be more vulnerable to illness, drug abuse and crimes like robbery, rape and murder than their counterparts. All homeless folks are constantly at risk of catching a disease or a parasite, falling victim to drugs and alcohol which inevitably results in health problems, or of being raped or murdered. The unsheltered are just more likely to face these circumstances. The homeless have no safe harbor. They all lack any feeling of security. Imagine being assaulted in broad daylight and not a person around helps. That's what a homeless person faces every day. That and trying to eat in order to face another day.



Homelessness today is an effect of the economy. People become homeless because they don't have sufficient financial resources to maintain their housing, although some may like to believe that it's a result of psychological and social inadequacies. The challenges that people face financially in today's America are significant. Joblessness, increasing tax burdens, higher energy costs, tougher credit standards, lack of affordable health care and the lack of affordable housing are all contributing factors to the growing numbers of homeless in America. As our homeless population increases our middle class decreases. The level of poverty in the country is beyond reasonable. The gap between the haves and have nots is widening. Putting a face on homelessness and poverty is not easy. It may always be a woven into the fabric of society. Eliminating homelessness may not be realistic or possible either, but allowing it to grow is just as unrealistic and just as unreasonable. 




Can we make a difference? I don't know. When I see "Scammer Johnny" or his friends begging these days I'm less pessimistic. I give him a buck if I have one to give. I think about families that have lost homes. About Moms and Dads who lost jobs. I think about so many people struggling to get by another day. Struggling to keep the home that they worked half their lives for in order to give their families a safe and secure place to come home to. I wonder as an American how we let these things continue. I give a little when I can and I hope that somehow it helps.

According to Wikipedia a homeless can be described as an individual who lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence or an individual who has a primary nighttime residence that is a public or private place not designed for, or ordinarily used as, a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings.

George Sinacori
GES Real Estate, LLC