"J. van Baardwijk" wrote:
>
> At 12:49 09-11-2002 -0500, John Giorgis wrote:
>
> >Now, while I have a firm policy of *never* giving money to American
> >beggars, since I believe that this rewards begging behaviour,
>
> So, you think those people *want* to be in a position where they have to
> beg for money?
There are alternatives to begging.
And begging can be very lucrative, lucrative enough that there's no
incentive to look into the alternatives. I bet that someone hitting the
right sorts of people (certain tourists, for example) in the right place
in DC could probably make a living begging 4-6 days a week. I've read
articles where people begging were asked how much they took in, and
there were people who'd bring in over $100/day, maybe more like
$200/day. If you're not blowing any of it on drugs or booze, that's not
too bad, and if you *are* blowing it on drugs and booze, then if
everyone stopped giving you money and forced you to go to alternatives
that might force you off the drugs and booze, you'd be a lot better off
in the long run.
I was instructed by someone who worked with the poor in a charitable
organization to *never* give to someone begging. Most of the poor who
really need help aren't going out and asking for money, but the folks
who are too unmotivated to find another alternative or blowing too much
of what they have on drugs or alcohol are a lot more likely to be
begging. Specific people were pointed out as people I should
absolutely, under no circumstances give any money to, as it had been
demonstrated repeatedly that they wouldn't use it to house, clothe or
feed themselves, but would use it to get high.
Unless you know the person begging, you don't know if they're going to
harm themselves or others with the way they use the money they obtain
begging.
Julia
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