The mole people of Las Vegas

QUOTE (article)

The irony is hard to overlook. There are few, if any, cities on earth where the show of wealth and consumption is so shamelessly on display, and yet hidden beneath the surface of Las Vegas, another world exists. In sobering contrast with the bright lights and bustle of the famous strip up above, dispossessed people inhabit the storm drains that run below, venturing up into the casinos to make ends meet scouring the slot machines for coins or credits left by drunken gamblers. To those enjoying the extravagant, gaudy entertainment of the Vegas people know and love it this place would be alienating in the extreme, and even to many of those who live and work in the Nevada playground, the echoing, pitch-black recesses below street level are probably best left unseen. Even so, these tunnel people are an unknown no more; the flashlight is beginning to flicker on their faces. Dank, dark and cobwebbed the over 200 miles of labyrinthine tunnels running underneath Sin City may be, but they are home to an underground community, scattered in pockets, that may easily number hundreds of individuals. The dwellings these people have made for themselves can be as basic as a few blankets or as elaborate as living spaces complete with double beds and kitchen areas. Possessing little of their own, the tunnel people of Las Vegas yet display a remarkable ingenuity in making do with what they’ve got – and what they can find – with resourcefully fashioned furnishings, shelving and damp-resistant crates piled with belongings; and in the case of lovers Steven and Kathryn even a makeshift shower made from an office drinking water dispenser.

While offering a guided tour of his home to The Sun, Steven Dommermuth – who moved into the tunnels after he lost his hotel front-desk job because of a heroin problem – explains: “We use our imagination a lot. Our bed came from a skip outside an apartment complex. It’s mainly stuff people dump that we pick up. One man’s junk is another man’s gold.” Of course, the concreted tunnels that criss-cross beneath Las Vegas offer none of the sham glitz and entertainment on offer above ground. Extensive graffiti murals are about as good as it gets; and this urban netherworld is riddled with very real hazards. Disease and venomous spiders are just two of the hidden menaces to those living here, and the risk of flash floods is extremely serious in winter. When flash floods strike the desert floor Vegas lies on, they are often torrential, and naturally the flood tunnels fill up extremely quickly and can fast become death traps. Cases of drowning are not uncommon, many of those involving people living in the tunnels. Then, even without the threat of being washed away, inhabitants must daily splash through stagnant, dirty water, several feet of which can gather. So what draws people to live this shadowy subterranean existence? Homelessness is obviously the key issue facing the tunnel people, with some forced underground by the recession and difficult job market. Drug and alcohol addiction are rife, and for many the underground network offers a place where they can be free from society’s constraints and the reach of the law.

A few images to go along --Click here to view--

You can read the rest here: Sin City underground tunnels

I have to say that the situation is rather fascinating and ironic and polar opposites of what happens top and bottom of such a lavish city. I've heard of homeless people sleeping on park benches or beneath sewer drains, but to build an entire miniature civilization?? That's pretty damn crazy. I figure that since this story has broken out, Las Vegas would clear these people out due to the major health hazard it provides.

Well... as dispiriting that article is, its not exactly unique. The bigger/wealthier a city is, the bigger the gap between rich and poor. Its unfortunately is a fact in our current world. I myself experienced similar thing during my childhood though not as extreme as in the article but I did experience how it feels to life in a slum. The problem is that in current world, its nearly a fact that money talks. Those with abundant can get practically anything while those with little of them will get next to nothing or in another word: those who're rich will only get richer and those who are poor will only got poorer. The gap will only increase the envy from the poor to the rich while the rich will remain ignorant of the poor, thats where most crime will happen.

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