music: Phish- 9/12/2000, Mansfield, MA
This one came from duncan, by way of TiMO. It’s very much worth a look.
It is, of course, a shame that Brian’s home would be so forcefully torn down. I’d expect the Law to not give the man much wiggle room, especially after living on the fringes of society for so long, but to raze such a magnificient structure? At the very least they should preserve it, charge admission, and use the money to fund homeless shelters. As TiMO pointed out, there is very little that is different between Brian Joyce’s endeavours and that of Henry David Thoreau. Thoreau’s homestead at Walden Pond, some 15 miles to the West, is now a historical and recreational park. Brian Joyce’s homestead, perhaps more impressive in that he built it with supplies and materials scavenged and found for over 5 years, and did so literally under the noses of a couple million people, is now a patch of dirt.
What is striking to me here is that someone is able to live like this for five years, virtually unbothered and virtually undetected, in one of the largest metropolitan areas in the country. When I was in Boston I had absolutely no idea that Brian Joyce existed, but his tenure in his house was almost exactly the same as my own in JP, Allston, Cambridge, and Somerville. Think of all the rent money I could have saved…
This is not a normal picture of homelessness. Many homeless people are homeless not by choice, but by one circumstance or another. Homelessness is a terrible byproduct of a social system where the distribution of incredible amounts of wealth is so uneven, as well as an indicator of certain types of institutionalized prejudices. But in the case of Brian Joyce, a very sharp and strong and willful and lucid figure, I can’t help but romantacize homelessness a little bit. Brian has found a way to work his way between the big teathers of society and subsist on what everyone else has cast aside. This is, no doubt, not an easy way to do things, and is probably uncomfortable at times, perhaps somewhat dangerous at other times, but I support Brian’s efforts. He is a walking practice of what so many have just read about the so-called “Great American Novels.” How many of us have cast down the river like Huck and Jim? How many of us have jumped trains like Jack and Dean? How many of us have dropped everything, built a one-room cabin by a pond, and lived in it for two years like Henry? Damn near none of us. But Brian Joyce has. His homelessness can be construed as unfortunate, but I think in this particular case Brian’s homelessness is the reason for his extraordinary life.
Posted by davidtaus at March 20, 2007 07:31 PM | TrackBack