Afterthought: Cyndi brought up a really good point about this video. The government and media has really painted this group as "homeless" rather than a community of travelers and that distinction has greatly effected popular sentiment in the UK. I would highly encourage people to read up on this issue. Society views different groups at different levels of threat or safety. Our opinions are always influenced by popular sentiment and how the greater society views these groups.
There are people in this world that are mobile and people who are not. When these two lifestyles meet there is often conflict. Check out these other gypsy struggles around the world and please keep in mind that there is very rarely a right answer:
Without taking sides and with just about NO information the video gives the feeling that this is more of a permanent camp, rather than a traveler's camp. I'm betting there are lots of scary health hazards.
That doesn't make the violent removal a good or the right way to go about evicting these people.
Cyndi, You're totally right, this camp seems to have a lot of travelers AND ex travelers with people coming and going and some health problems to boot. I wish I could have found a video that was from the traveler's side, but there don't seem to be any. I'll be interested to see what happens to the national sentiment after this incident.
Um, Ash, Traveller, as used in the UK and Ireland is the name for the local gypsies. These aren't just people who travel, they're descendants of people who've traveled in caravans for hundreds of years. There is no such thing as an ex-Traveller. Some settle into council housing, some move on, but like being black, NA, or from hardy German stock it doesn't change just because they live in "traditional" housing.
And like gypsies everywhere they take a lot of heat. They're blamed (still) for everything from stillborn livestock to missing items. Some they're responsible for, others not. Still, they're about as welcome as carnies in Beverly Hills.
The gypsies on this site are being removed because they have built houses and living on land with no planning permission. There are 50 people who have cost the english tax payer 18 million pounds. They have been offered council housing in the local area, they turned that down, in the uk we have sites all over the country that travellers can use with water and electric, they dont want to know. if the government lets them stay it would set a legal precident for any one who owns land to build on it, the countryside would be destroyed. The people you see being removed violently are not the gypsies themselves, but activists jumping on the bandwagon. Andy UK
Without taking sides and with just about NO information the video gives the feeling that this is more of a permanent camp, rather than a traveler's camp. I'm betting there are lots of scary health hazards.
ReplyDeleteThat doesn't make the violent removal a good or the right way to go about evicting these people.
Cyndi
Cyndi, You're totally right, this camp seems to have a lot of travelers AND ex travelers with people coming and going and some health problems to boot. I wish I could have found a video that was from the traveler's side, but there don't seem to be any. I'll be interested to see what happens to the national sentiment after this incident.
ReplyDeleteUm, Ash, Traveller, as used in the UK and Ireland is the name for the local gypsies. These aren't just people who travel, they're descendants of people who've traveled in caravans for hundreds of years. There is no such thing as an ex-Traveller. Some settle into council housing, some move on, but like being black, NA, or from hardy German stock it doesn't change just because they live in "traditional" housing.
ReplyDeleteAnd like gypsies everywhere they take a lot of heat. They're blamed (still) for everything from stillborn livestock to missing items. Some they're responsible for, others not. Still, they're about as welcome as carnies in Beverly Hills.
The gypsies on this site are being removed because they have built houses and living on land with no planning permission. There are 50 people who have cost the english tax payer 18 million pounds. They have been offered council housing in the local area, they turned that down, in the uk we have sites all over the country that travellers can use with water and electric, they dont want to know. if the government lets them stay it would set a legal precident for any one who owns land to build on it, the countryside would be destroyed. The people you see being removed violently are not the gypsies themselves, but activists jumping on the bandwagon. Andy UK
ReplyDeleteTraveler, Gypsy, Wanderers,= eternal conflict with society builders...
ReplyDelete