Is it right to give money to beggars?

[DanielBrown]

I tend to avoid giving them my money. Not because I'm a greedy fuck(well, partialy), but because I got no clue what they'll do with it. In a worst case scenario; I don't want to be part of their drug addiction. Once a beggar stalked me and my friend and kept harassing us for money until my friend broke down and gave him some.
I once gave a homeless person my Burger King meal though. I was drunk as hell and didn't know what the hell he wanted, so I just put the hamburger in his hands and took off.

 

[similar.squirrel]

Every now and then, but only small amounts in the knowledge that I'm probably funding a habit of some sort. It is much better to keep your empathy in check until you find somebody collecting for a shelter, or buy some food for the unfortunate individual. I usually give to buskers, unless they're abysmal. And I avoid Eastern European beggars because they're usually part of a begging ring that funds organized crime. I feel bad for them, being kept as slaves, but i know my money won't be helping.

 

[Jinnwarior]

i haven't ever seen a beggar before, just a few street performers.
personally if i saw one, i wouldnt give him anything.

 

[IceStar100]

I never give anything major. Heck I lived on the street and what do you want them to do buy a CD? Getting high or drunk might have put them there but that all they can do. That said I give more so to chrities and churches.

 

[klakkat]

Here's the fun thing: Offer a beggar a meal at a nearby restaurant. Somewhere in the 20 dollar range.

He will not go for it, 9 out of 10 times, and will instead ask for cash. Even if it's only a dollar.

Why? Most beggars are either scam artist, or alcoholics/addicts. Not all, but most. They don't want a sandwich, they want vice.

Try it some time. It blew my mind when my dad showed me.

This is largely true. I'm not one to give charity in any event, but if I happen to have food on me I'll give it away if a beggar wants it. But not money. I don't give money to anyone.

Now then. There are a fair number of homeless, but there are also people who beg for a living; some of them live better than I do. I would suggest only giving food, as people who want only money are usually either the fakers or those that are hopeless addicts. It doesn't have to be a meal specifically, since they may have just eaten from the generosity of someone else, but if they are by a grocery store, you can always take them in and get them some food for later. Not so hard.

In the end, a couple dollars isn't going to change their life anyway. If you really want to change a homeless person's life, give money to shelters and half-way houses. This gives homeless people a place to go and get cleaned up so they can actually get a job and provide for themselves (and it has the added benefit of giving fucking nothing to the beggars that are not homeless).

 

[Carlston]

Houston has done several specials on beggars.

And low and behold a beggar can make from 200-350 a day.

I did once buy a man a meal who walked into a KFC, couldn't speak very well...but there was a real pride to not want to ask, a shame in his eyes. Gave him the two pieces of chicken I had left. He ate it with thanks, then I gave him a few bucks.

All others... I won't even look at if they are to...easy going and used to it. You can spot the real person who hates to ask easily.

 

[ultrachicken]

Nope I don't anymore,I gave one a dollar and he walked off without even saying thank you >.>

So, because one didn't say "thank you," you abandon all beggars? I don't follow your logic.

OT: Yes, it is. Just because someone is a scam artist doesn't mean falling for their scam makes you a bad person. Furthermore, if I were homeless, I'd probably start doing some form of drug as well.

 

[Womplord]

When people say that beggars should take the food rather than money, is that really accurate? I mean, if they ever want to stop being beggars they will need to save up money rather than food.

 

[Littlee300]

Beggars need to keep up with the times

Most likely, 9/10 beggars are lazy, desire-crazed bastard. 1/10 probably just had hard times catch up with them.

 

[Littlee300]

I have no problem with it. My wallet has a hole in it so I can not carry coins anyway plus if I were ever in a hard situation and lost everything I would want someone to help me out.
I even assaulted a coworker once who tried to bribe a homeless man to drink a bottle of 1/2 coke, 1/2 bleach.
I threw the hobo his wallet (had a couple hundred in it) then told the manager and got the fuckwit fired.

Your awesome xD
__________________________________________________________
Beggars (or at least some) are one of the reasons people should need to get a license before being able to have kids because a extremely successful tactic is to beg with your kids because what kind of asshole would you be to walk by without donating to innocent, underfed, skinny kids?

Edit: I hate people who buy magazines and sell the for more. "GOD BLESS YOU! DO YOU WANT TO BUY MAGAZINE? PS: GOD BLESS! YOU BUY NOW!?"

 

[NurseDoomsday]

I was homeless once and I never took handouts. I walked around for hours looking for change on the ground just so I could pay the $3 to use the public pools (they had showers there) after I was thoroughly clean I went job hunting. I usually spent nights sleeping in the park. when I finally got a job I saved up my money and got an apartment. If i can escape from homelessness why cant they. What I'm saying is if their not going to try then I'm not going to give them my money.

 

[Tdc2182]

I honestly don't care what they do with it and it's not my place to judge.

I usually do if I have money on me.

 

[tim98042]

there are plenty of beggers where i live i never give away money to them pure and simply because a lot of them i see outside the local off license grabbing drink or drugs, and that's what a lot of homeless do, like someone said above if you offer to pay for a meal for them they often say no, so i don't bother with any of them because you don't know which one's are genuine and which one's are fake.

 

[Aetera]

Myself, and everyone that has spent any significant time in my college town, knows to only give food instead of money to our one resident homeless guy, Tojo. He's a really nice, friendly guy, but he's also a recovering crack addict.

It's a bit cliche, but a lot of homeless people will in fact use money that you give them for drugs or booze. You know that you're actually helping them by giving them food.

 

[Ambi]

I've lived in England and Australia, both countries have good and universal benefits systems. There is no reason for someone to be begging, since all they need to do to get by is go to their local government office.

I used to be perplexed by the poverty statistics and beggars in Australia, but then I looked into it more. There are possible scenarios that would force people to beg in Australia. A single parent finding it difficult to find work can easily struggle to cover the cost of rent, food, car registration, clothing etc. living on $335 a week. A homeless person might not even know where/how to start to apply for payments and they might not even have the necessary ID on them to do so. If you've just been stressed almost to the point of nervous breakdown and kicked out of home, I imagine it would be hard to have a clear mind to think strategically about how to get yourself into a better situation. Not to mention ordinary people who've somehow managed to get into an uncomfortable and desperate situation by, for example, losing their bus money or running out of petrol when there are no stations open.

 

[CasioCoal]

the thing abouyt giving money is that you can't be sure you are helping them, more than likely you are harming them. you are helping them to buy something that will make their lives worse and bring them closer to death

 

[volcanblade]

I give them coins from time to time, but for the most part the only random people who get my money are performers who play music on the streets.