Guaranty Bank of Austin ordered the demolition of a partially finished housing development in southern California that included four finished houses. It claimed the unfinished structures represented “a hazard” and finishing the 16-unit development would cost too much money.
The bank’s spokesman John Wessman said, “We made the difficult decision to return the site to a safe, clean and undeveloped state keeping in mind the best interests of the community and our shareholders.”
While Guaranty Bank destroys homes to avoid losing money, 3.5 million people are homeless in the United States each year. According to official statistics—which are far lower than the real numbers—11.5 percent of California workers are unemployed. The state’s rising incidence of homelessness has seen tent cities forming and growing from Fresno to Sacramento. Only the insanity of capitalism, a system that values profit over human need, would destroy homes in the face of such conditions.
