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Should you give money to people begging on the streets?
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this post was submitted on 17 Jan 2024
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askchapo
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I always try to give money to people because I was homeless for the better part of a year and most people treat you like dirt.
"Oh, they're going to just spend it on drugs." "Yeah that's what I was going to do with it, who am I to judge?"
Don't give money to your landlord or corporations they are just going to spend it on rentier capitalism
I crave a little something when I have a slightly rough day, most people do, so who is more deserving of drugs than people who have to sleep on the sidewalk?
I make this argument all the time, usually tailored to the vices of myself/whoever I'm talking to. If I was just gonna spend that on a pack of beer, an oz of weed, some fast food, some electronic toy or video game, who am I to say that those less fortunate should have no respite from reality while I drown in vices? it's fucking bullshit moralizing that should have no input on whether or not you give to the needy
I like this because it's not just true but also so out of pocket they don't know how to respond, but there's 2 more serious arguments against "tHeY'Re gOiNg tO JuSt sPeNd iT On dRuGs"
being homeless is so physically and mentally stressful that turning to drugs is the only way to make it tolerable for many. it's not just not having money for food, it's worrying you might get robbed/assaulted/arrested while sleeping (or at any time really), and constantly feeling like shit because you never get decent sleep from all the noise and elements and having to sleep on the ground, as well as not being able to maintain hygiene. any one of these would drive a normal person nuts, but homeless people have to deal with all of it 24/7.
drug withdrawal can be genuinely lethal, so even though it's true that it's bad for that person to continue using drugs, abruptly stopping might end worse for them.
Tax payer money gets spent in the trillions for Israel to drop bombs on homeless people and that's fine but someone begging for $10 to buy a pack of smokes is a bridge too far.
lmao i love saying this, people always get a kick out of it and it's 100% true