Nomadland

I note that the film, ‘Nomadland’ is nominated for several Academy Awards. I read the book it is based on in 2018 and posted a short review on Facebook. It’s the story of the many thousands who have lost their homes and been forced to live in campers, trailers, vans and so forth…’wheel-estate’. It’s a very difficult existence, scrabbling to make a bit of money and always at the mercy of those who can evict them from their bit of hardtop at any time. It’s just going to get worse when the eviction moratoriums expire soon and thousands, maybe millions are evicted from their homes.

So do what you can to encourage affordable housing policies and, if you see someone in a van or camper parked in the woods or in a parking lot overnight, don’t call the cops…they may have nowhere else to go.

Here’s what I wrote back in 2018:

I just finished reading ‘Nomadland’ by Jessica Bruder. It’s a rather depressing book about the tens of thousands…maybe more, no one knows…who lost essentially everything in the Great Recession and have traded in their middle-class lives for ‘wheel-estate’. hopping from one temporary, low-wage job to another while living in their vans and trailers.They are working as Amazon ‘Camperforce’ – 70 and 80-year olds walking 15 miles or so on a concrete floor stooping, reaching, bending and pulling for trivial wages to help Amazon deliver its goods during the holiday season. Amazon has dispensers on the walls giving out free ibuprofen and acetominephen.The work as campground hosts in the summer, again for minimal wages and they work the sugar beet harvest in North Dakota in the late fall – all just to get by for another year.Check out their website – Amazon has one for camperforce and workamper.com is informative about the jobs that are available.For those of us who are comfortable in retirement, it’s worth a read to understand the challenges facing those who aren’t.