Your personal policy towards giving to beggars and panhandlers. (morality, applied, society)
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As long as they catch me on a day where I have some cash to spare and they don't have tweeker written all over them, I usually give what I can. I have an especially soft spot for old homeless folks and veterans.
I'm pretty much in the "no money for panhandlers with the rare intuitive exception" camp.
I don't necessarily feel better giving $$ to charities because so many of them are so ineffectively / inefficiently run, but the right thing to do if you're homeless is to obtain whatever help society is capable and willing to give you. I can't see that there's more dignity in panhandling than eating at a soup kitchen. And at least there's some level of accountability in how charities are run.
I'm pretty much in the "no money for panhandlers with the rare intuitive exception" camp.
I don't necessarily feel better giving $$ to charities because so many of them are so ineffectively / inefficiently run, but the right thing to do if you're homeless is to obtain whatever help society is capable and willing to give you. I can't see that there's more dignity in panhandling than eating at a soup kitchen.
Given the first sentence and the first clause of the second sentence, it sounds like you keep all your IT gains, which you as an atheist understand to be of little consequence (no Rockefellerian rationalization of god rewarding the "elect", aka the hard-working or the generous or whatever reason was initially cited), for yourself. Heh.
if you're homeless, you might be too ****ed up to understand much of anything.
There's a lot more dignity in violently mugging someone than eating at a ****ing soup kitchen.
Give to the needy. As much as you can. Period.
Last edited by Matt Marcinkiewicz; 09-30-2013 at 01:18 PM..
Reason: edit to say: idiot
I give when they look really awful... very skinny, ragged clothes, old and tired looking
Also if they have an animal with them.. sad to see someone on a corner with this little dog on a piece of rope, both hungry and alone... figure the person loves his/her pet enough to stay together, so i give them $5
There but for the grace of God, go you or I ..........
Not to sound hateful, but I wonder why God is graceful to some and not to others. It's always bothered me.
Given the first sentence and the first clause of the second sentence, it sounds like you keep all your IT gains, which you as an atheist understand to be of little consequence (no Rockefellerian rationalization of god rewarding the "elect", aka the hard-working or the generous or whatever reason was initially cited), for yourself. Heh.
if you're homeless, you might be too ****ed up to understand much of anything.
There's a lot more dignity in violently mugging someone than eating at a ****ing soup kitchen.
Give to the needy. As much as you can. Period.
I said I don't necessarily feel as much better as I'd like to feel, giving to charities vs random panhandlers. I didn't say I don't give to them, and the flip side of what I said is that I DO feel better giving to charities than to individuals for whom I have no visibility into whether I might be hurting rather than helping them by just handing them money. They are where they are for a reason and it takes the resources and savvy of a viable charity to be some kind of systemic game-changer for them.
If we were all honest with each other we'd admit that we mostly give to the people closest to us that we care about the most. I am very nearly the sole breadwinner in my household at present, and am effectively supporting myself, my wife and my stepson fully and directly, my stepdaughter and natural children indirectly, plus the community I happen to live in, not just through charity, but also simply by "buying local". I also pay six figures in taxes annually, much of which goes to societal efforts to help the disadvantaged (as it should).
And so when it comes to being hit up for various donations over and above all that, I'm willing to frankly admit that I don't feel like I have all that much to make up for. Once you pass around, say, $125K in personal income, the system pretty much bakes charity into your financial structure in the form of progressive taxation. The only open question is to what extent is private charity a worthwhile investment over and above that. It is, sometimes, in the US because the government does what I regard as an inadequate job of dealing compassionately with the disadvantaged and underprivileged. I have read that in some European countries people pay around 55% in taxes and feel they get good value for that and the flip side at that level becomes, private charity isn't much needed because the government lives up to its responsibilities fully and no one worries about starving, being homeless, or not having health care including mental health. Heck, I visited Turkey his year and there is near-zero homelessness there; between government programs and families taking care of their own, it's just not an issue.
There is also the fact that while I'm doing well for myself at the moment I have almost no savings or investments, I'm 56 and have to start thinking about my retirement (and the continued support of my family if I can no longer work). I have a son and a stepson who have disability issues and may always need some help to get by so that someone else doesn't have to worry about donating money to them or dealing with the problems they might cause for society by spiraling too far downward, left to their own devices. And I am ever mindful of the possibility of medical issues for myself and my family that could reduce us to near poverty at any time. My stepson for instance is seeing two mental health professionals on a near-weekly basis at $150 and up per hour and his health insurance has a $10,000 deductible for mental health care and thus basically it's all out of pocket.
It's easy to judge people based on outward appearances and superficial jealousies but there is usually far more going on than meets the eye. And the most often overlooked reality is that some people spend huge $$ just to keep themselves and their loved ones from becoming one of those panhandlers in the first place.
If I see someone in need, I do what I can to help. That's my simple philosophy.
I'm going to add to this.
I believe there is a difference between "professional beggars" and people who are truly down and out. I offered to buy a coffee for a "down and out" guy who was sitting on the steps of the coffee shop the other day, but he wanted a beer instead. I said "i dont think they sell beer, do you want a coffee or an iced tea"? and the guy was like "beer" He was almost unconscious, looked dreadful, smelled awful and was really and truly "down and out".
I think there's a huge difference between the guy i descriped and a "happy" bum who has his fancy "i need money" sign all written up, has a bounce in his step, has the ability to actually speak a full sentence and "seems" to be not nearly as down and out as the guy i described in the above paragraph.
Also, don't give them cash, buy them a burger or a coffee or else your cash will go to the alcohol or tobacco companies. (or illegal drug dealers).
I believe there is a difference between "professional beggars" and people who are truly down and out. I offered to buy a coffee for a "down and out" guy who was sitting on the steps of the coffee shop the other day, but he wanted a beer instead. I said "i dont think they sell beer, do you want a coffee or an iced tea"? and the guy was like "beer" He was almost unconscious, looked dreadful, smelled awful and was really and truly "down and out".
I think there's a huge difference between the guy i descriped and a "happy" bum who has his fancy "i need money" sign all written up, has a bounce in his step, has the ability to actually speak a full sentence and "seems" to be not nearly as down and out as the guy i described in the above paragraph.
Also, don't give them cash, buy them a burger or a coffee or else your cash will go to the alcohol or tobacco companies. (or illegal drug dealers).
Yes, I have often bought food. I also give people rides, offer to pay for groceries, etc. I just feel that I should help if I can.
I used to help with whatever I had on me....& I also used to go above & beyond that.
Then, I realized that the cliche' is actually true:
No good deed goes unpunished.
Last edited by believe007; 10-06-2013 at 08:48 AM..
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