Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century

Jessica Bruder, Professor of Journalism at Ivy League Columbia University in New York City, published her book Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century in 2017 although the research was done before the 2016 election. The author stated on C-Span that she is not a policy wonk but she is an Obama Democrat. Thus her causes and solutions to the problem of people living full-time in RVs for economic reasons can be set aside. Professor Bruder is writing about homeless Americans. I got the book as a Christmas gift as I had been watching YouTube videos of RV life.

In truth, the book concentrates mostly on the plight of Americans, mostly fifty and older, who have lost their 'stick and brick' homes and now live in cars, vans, old buses, and RVs. Some are upscale and affluent and are called glam-mads. Others become scam-mads and e-beggars on the "bottom of YouTube." The regular nomads roam south in the winter and north in the summer.

Some work the sugar beet harvest, something that the Jack Kerouac generation of the 1950s did, which led to the speculation that that was the origin of the world "beatnik". Some work Amazon warehouses nationwide during the Christmas rush, walking fifteen miles a day in cold dirty warehouses while camped in trailer parks assigned by Amazon. Others "volunteer" at trailer and RV parks performing a myriad of menial tasks in exchange for a free hookup with electricity, water, sewage, and maybe cable television and a laundry room allotment. Others work at seasonal theme parks, carnivals, fairs, attractions and events such as baseball spring training.

They use laundromats (not many left), join gyms to use showers, go to food banks, eat at rescue missions and soup kitchens, and park overnight at big box store parking lots and on public land, state and national parks, and even city streets.

Hygiene is a problem for nomads. They replace showers with baby wipes and sometimes use buckets for toilets. Medical attention is often not in the budget.

Some have no refrigerators and eat canned meat and other canned goods. Many have dogs or cats. Water is sometimes a problem to find. Mostly vehicles are not good everyday homes as maintenance becomes expensive.

Professor Bruder is against fossil fuels and touts expensive solar panels for nomads, although solar panels provide little energy. Generators are cheaper and more reliable but noisy. She frets over CEO pay in ratio to worker pay. She complains about the low minimum wage and the lack of benefits but does not mention the weak, debt-ridden economy and the millions of illegals who will work cheaper than what it's worth to the owners. She talks about the women's pay gap--even if that were true, it does not apply to menial labor which pays both men and women the same.

However, she points out that some single women are nomads, including divorced women with very little income. A trend in the economy is that pensions were replaced by 401K plans which lost value during the Obama years and when housing values dropped, many became nomads. She does not write about the criminals among the nomads although she does mention that some are nudists and others are LGBT.

This time of year in Quartzsite, Arizona, is the largest boondock (no hookups) gathering of nomads of all types. An event called the Rubber Tramp Rendezvous was started by Bob Wells about ten years ago. He is sort of a YouTube e-beggar. He has links to Amazon whereby he gets a small kickback if you buy RV supplies through him. Also, he has ways that you can donate to him over the internet and YouTube pays a small fee according to how many people watch his videos. An eccentric, he has the gift of the gab. He used to live in Alaska where he worked in a grocery store but divorce and child support forced him to start sleeping in his van. He mastered the art. He left Alaska, probably with Social Security if nothing else. He cuts his hair and beard once a year. He has white hair and is heavy set. His YouTube channel is CheapRVLiving. He is nominally in charge of the RTR at Quartzsite but he relies on the Bureau of Land Management to provide him with a designated area, bulldozed roads, and BLM police. People wintered in numbers at Quartzsite long before Bob Wells found the place.

Also, at this time of year is the Big Tent, named because a huge tent in Quartzsite hosts a number of vendors of all types but also nomads can meet up with employers such as Amazon and the sugar beet processors and campgrounds who are looking for employees to hire. There may be more jobs than people. Married couples at the Big Tent often get campground jobs. The wife may help with signing in new campers and sorting out the mail and other office chores plus janitorial chores. The husband may help people hook up, make repairs, clean the grounds, and sometimes act as a security guard. Sometimes after "volunteering" so many hours for a hook up, the other hours are paid at minimum wage.

Nomadland is a good book but there doesn't seem to be a good solution to the problem. Some people will remain nomads in spite of the poverty. Now that jobs are more plentiful, perhaps some of the older people can find nice places to live and survive on a regular job. It probably would be cheaper for them in the long run.

RV sales are about 500,000 a year. More and more people can work over the internet and so they like to travel and live in an RV. It is a fad that is booming. There is something romantic about boondock camping in beautiful rural areas and enjoying the fresh air and the freedom of the highway and some RVs are very comfortable but they are not really intended as homes at this time because they have the mechanical problems of a motor vehicle combined with the housing problems of appliances and accommodations suffering the wear and tear of bouncing up and down on the highways of America. Some places do not allow RVs over ten years old.

Professor Bruder did a good job of writing this book.