Should you give money to people begging on the streets?
Should you give money to people begging on the streets?
I really want an answer to this from people who are not reddit-brained libs. I have seen some good points elsewhere about this contributing to a cycle of abuse and control, causing parents to withdraw their kids from school to beg instead, etc., but if someone is desperate enough to humiliate themselves by begging on the street, shouldn't we give to them? Or should I feel bad that I did give to them?
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I've got a related question: I often hear people talking about "organized beggers" which are supposedly organized structures with bosses at the top that place beggers throughout city centers. They then give a cut of their income to the higher-ups who make a lot of money off of this. Is this a real thing or is it just a rationalization for people to not feel bad about giving money to beggars? I'm tending towards the latter but thought I'd use this opportunity to get some more perspectives on this.
even if it is going on it's not a good reason to not give. an equivalent would be refusing to patronize italian businesses because 'they might pay money to the mob' or some shit. there's basic economic & legal relationships that lead to the creation of cartels from legally marginalized groups--it also leads to exploitation because they're not revolutionary--but it's not like its that much worse than regular capitalistic relationships
even if it is going on it's not a good reason to not give.
It is if you don’t have cash. In my experience they never accept anything other than cash, and I don’t carry cash on me so they never take any of the extra food I have. So if you have a fat wallet then go ahead
I'd say whether I've done it part of a group or just randomly when I had extra food and offered it to someone theyve accepted way more than not.
I've been asked if I could buy some chips multiple times. I've bought and ate meals with people.
Maybe it's different in the places I've lived.
Eh having said all that, I've also talked with some people who were able to get food okay but needed money for other basic necessities. You can find food in a dumpster but not a shower or a safe place to sleep.
Some people also need to be mobile and it's a lot easier to haul cash than food.
right, i didn't mean to except the general rule of "if you can", it's just that the suspicion or reality of an organization shouldn't enter the equation of 'acceptability'
Yeah for sure some beggar working for some dipshit gangster would be a bit of a silly line to draw since I “lend” my money to my bank every time i put it in my savings, and those fuckers are doing some debauchery with Epsteins of the world. I guess the “visibility” of it is what bothers people. They want their sausages but don’t want to see how it’s made or what the byproduct is.
It is absolutely a real thing in some third world/global south countries, not sure about the USA or Europe though.
I know in South Africa the "unofficial" car guards at shopping malls and public parking, as well as quite a few beggars, are organised. They have to pay someone for the 'right" to operate in a certain area.
In Europe it happens rarely, and you can often recognise them. In my city they operate only in or near train stations and move a lot to avoid police. They also often use the same sign and after a few days of seeing them all around they will all just have disappeared.
Not sure how the operation works, but these people that are on the street for it often can’t turn to other places for help because of their immigration status or past crimes.
that doesn't make any sense. it's supposed to analogize begging to sex work or drug dealing, but those are structured like actual businesses providing a product or service with costs and revenues. if someone is begging because they have to pay someone else for the use of a bed, that's not a "boss," that's just a landlord.
It can be part of larger organized crime, but doesn’t necessarily mean it’s exclusively begging. And organized doesn’t necessarily mean there’s some big boss who runs the show and makes a lot of money - just that it’s planned intricately and has a lot of people.
The groups I see in my area are definitely organized. Like 10 different faces throughout the week working in small groups with the same 5 signs with random pictures of kids working on 2 (sometimes 3 depending on the weather) intersections.
I have no relevant experience, but it was a thing in Bertolt Brecht's "The Threepenny Opera".