I still haven't read that book, but the hobo lifestyle does still appear to be a thing in North America. I suppose it is in Europe too, except they're called backpackers, hitchhikers or capital-T Travelers over there.
One thing that does seem to be unfortunately happening with North American hobos is security crackdowns making their lives far more miserable. The guy i met told me that after a big oil train derailment that killed a bunch of people, the railways started locking the units (remote-control locomotives), which were considered the primo rides in Canada because there is heating, water and a roof. Box cars are all universally locked in Canada too. The big rail companies are so worried about terrorists or organized criminals cutting into the bottom line, they hire private police forces (who have guns and arrest privileges) to patrol the public area around the railroad lines.
Also private property laws over here are a mess too, especially in the United States. There are lots of those "privately owned public space" areas, where private security will kick off anyone who is loitering. And rural folks get uppity about people crossing "their" land too. There is no right to roam like in parts of Europe. And the places where people are technically free to roam (BLM land in America, crown land in Canada) is so far out in the boondocks that there's pretty much no way to get there unless you have a car to begin with.
We are currently having an election in BC and the centrist Liberal party is leaning heavily on ads saying the leftish NDP is allowing tent cities and that the Libs will "keep you safe", presumably by kicking out all those dirty homeless folks. As much as hobos are part of the history of the continent (not to mention nomadic tribes), they're not really welcome in modern society.
One thing that does seem to be unfortunately happening with North American hobos is security crackdowns making their lives far more miserable. The guy i met told me that after a big oil train derailment that killed a bunch of people, the railways started locking the units (remote-control locomotives), which were considered the primo rides in Canada because there is heating, water and a roof. Box cars are all universally locked in Canada too. The big rail companies are so worried about terrorists or organized criminals cutting into the bottom line, they hire private police forces (who have guns and arrest privileges) to patrol the public area around the railroad lines.
Also private property laws over here are a mess too, especially in the United States. There are lots of those "privately owned public space" areas, where private security will kick off anyone who is loitering. And rural folks get uppity about people crossing "their" land too. There is no right to roam like in parts of Europe. And the places where people are technically free to roam (BLM land in America, crown land in Canada) is so far out in the boondocks that there's pretty much no way to get there unless you have a car to begin with.
We are currently having an election in BC and the centrist Liberal party is leaning heavily on ads saying the leftish NDP is allowing tent cities and that the Libs will "keep you safe", presumably by kicking out all those dirty homeless folks. As much as hobos are part of the history of the continent (not to mention nomadic tribes), they're not really welcome in modern society.
And yet... people still do it.
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