If I have extra, I am more than willing to share. And no, I don’t give a minutes thought to what they spend it on. The few times I have felt particularly generous and given a hundred dollar bill I hope they had gone to a motel and got a shower and a good nights safe rest but I don’t know. There is a guy that sits outside where I get my coffee and says hi to everyone going by. I give him a few bucks every now and again. What I do know is I don’t want his job. He sits outside in Florida in high temperatures and humidity to collect the hundred or so dollars he gets a day and if I can get him out of that sun and heat faster, yes, it makes me feel good about myself. I don’t see anything wrong with that.
I did not abuse alcohol. I told you all you need to know about my financial situation at the time. Your $10,000 bet comment is extremely offensive, and the conclusions you make are based on nothing but your own self-serving selfish delusions. Back off.
You take comfort in thinking there is a personal contributing cause so you can pretend you are immune to going broke. That is good for you. Not realistic but I hope you stay lucky.
Wall Street is laying off 30,000 workers. Many will be in serious financial trouble. Educated and clean people will wind up broke. But don’t worry, you are safe because you don’t share their character flaws.
Perhaps, but it’s not reasonable to bring up your own personal history as authoritative in a debate and then take offense when your history is subject to scrutiny and skepticism.
Sure no problem. I’ll try not to consider your personal history one way or another in this debate.
Not really. Nobody is immune from going broke. In my case, I am fortunate enough to be from a wealthy family (and also married to a girl from a wealthy family) so the odds of it happening are pretty low. But I do think about the story of Job now and then.
In any event, none of this changes the fact that it’s selfish and destructive to give money to panhandlers.
Thank you.
How about an apology for accusing me of lying about drug and/or alcohol abuse, an accusation for which you have no evidence whatsoever?
Nice backward-think. Don’t give money to someone who doesn’t have any money, that’s harmful. Ignoring him completely will help so much more.
If you don’t want to give up your money to someone you don’t give a shit about, sack up and admit it. Don’t come with the platitudes about how you’re really thinking about the well-being of the homeless.
Of course I apologize. I should have asked you at the outset you had any objection to my questioning your story instead of just assuming it was fair game. From now on I will try to do this.
It’s not that they don’t have any money; it’s that they very likely have a serious problem which will be exacerbated by giving them money. Also, giving them money is harmful to other people in the neighborhood since it attracts and encourages beggars.
Let’s assume for the sake of argument that my motivations are selfish. It doesn’t change the fact that it’s selfish to give money to panhandlers.
Ann Arbor has a growing homeless population, and an increasing problem with aggressive panhandling, part of which is due to a reduction in policing. a former police detective wrote this article recently about dealing with panhandlers in this area. Short version: don’t give to panhandlers, as their sob stories are usually bullshit, and there are resources in this area they can turn to. If you really must give, have the money ready; don’t whip your wallet/purse out in front of the panhandler, and don’t let them follow you to an ATM.
Pathetic apology, but more than I expected of you.
Whatever, if you have any actual evidence or arguments to present please let me know. Personal stories which are not subject to scrutiny or skepticism do not count.
I have a tendency to give out gift cards to Subway to the homeless/panhandlers. The only one I give cash to is the guy who’s been homeless almost literally the entire time I’ve lived in this town (over ten years)–as far as I know, he’s not doing any drugs, he’s just elderly and has no family. I wonder what his story is, but I don’t have the tactlessness to ask, so I just give him $20 or a blanket or jacket now and then.
Damn good idea. How about a cite for your belief that the vast majority of the homeless are drug abusers or alcohol abusers?
Could we have a cite for this claim, thanks? Since your entire “selfish” argument rests on it.
Houston homelessness statistics
It states:
[ul]
10,000 homeless individuals are on the streets of Houston on any given night
more than 3,000 are considered chronically homeless. [/ul]
[ul]
25% of these homeless individuals are youth [/ul]
[ul]
more than 50% of these individuals have been diagnosed with mental illness [/ul]
[ul]
more than 50% have complicated legal issues that prevent them from accessing services and employment [/ul]
[ul]
50% report having a substance abuse problem[/ul]
Not all -or even most - of these people are drug addicts.
Some of the wealthy justify their stinginess by convincing each other that the poor are a different breed from them-a lower caste, if you will, and that they are innately incapable handling money. They need to believe that the poor are damaged and unwhole to assuage their guilt.
So, in other words, you have no intention of apologing for asserting without a shred o evidence that another poster was drug out alcohol abuser?
You mean you beat a girl from a wealthy family that you just happened to be married to
I’m inconsistent with this. I get torn between trying to alleviate suffering in the moment and trying to make a bigger, more long-term impact. I also have a tendency to give away too much money. If it was just a quarter or whatever, it’d be different, but when I really want to make a difference to someone I’m going to drop a $10 or more. I just can’t do that for everybody all the time, and less than that seems pointless.
I also have issues with the concept of homelessness in general. Many people in my family have been couch-surfers… my Mom last year was living out of her truck. I have a schizophrenic uncle who is always just on the verge of homelessness because of his illness. Two of my friends experienced homelessness as children. I myself came frighteningly close to homelessness at the age of 17, here but for the grace of my loving Aunt.
A part of me just doesn’t want to deal with it, or think about it. I hate the transactional relationship. I’d rather talk to someone on the street, have a real relationship, than give them money. But I won’t do that either because I’m too shy.
Anyway, I do a lot of work and put a lot of effort into helping low-income individuals, a kind of homelessness prevention, if you will. Some of my programs do interact with the homeless population (our HIV/AIDS programs, for example.) So for now I choose not to give to panhandlers and instead am trying to work on the bigger picture.
My general feeling about all acts of altruism is that it’s never enough. Nothing we do is ever enough. I can never have a conversation like this without just feeling terrible.