Should you give money to people begging on the streets? (hexbear.net)

submitted 8 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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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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[-] [email protected] 28 points 8 months ago

Yeah that's what I was going to do with it, who am I to judge?

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.

this post was submitted on 17 Jan 2024

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