Should people give money to beggars on the street? I heard conflicting opinions about this. Some say they just spend it on booze and cigarettes, so it would be more effective to donate that money to hostels for the homeless and similar institutions. Others say it’s not a big deal and it makes them happy. What do you think?
I notice the effects of the recession – I always offer to buy food, and in the past beggars often concocted elaborate excuses why I should give them money instead of buying a hotdog or something. But in the last few years, more and more they agree to get the food (and actually eat it).
Anyway, depending on where you live, there might be organized teams of professional beggars who are exploited by their “owner” and they have to give him his daily share “or else”. By not giving money, you really hurt the beggars—but this amounts to emotional blackmailing, so perhaps you should not—for the price of hurting a few beggars now we could close the exploitation later, since if there is no profit there is no incentive to exploit the beggars.
(this is off topic)
I have always felt that africa is very far away; the man on the street literally asking for himself is significantly more tangible.
Do you care if they buy booze and cigarettes? I for one do not. If it makes you happy to give them a few bucks, do it. I do not charge this against my charity budget, however, but my discretionary budget. But that impulse causing you to take money OUT of your charity budget may be a poor choice, as there may be charities about which you care more than beggar booze. Bottom line, giving to beggars is consumption not charity and if you get more happiness that way, do it. Or go buy a bunch of mini liquors and hand them out; I did this once and I felt great afterwards.
Yup. I enjoy drinking, so I understand that they might likewise, and I enjoy other humans enjoying themselves. Win/win. It genuinely does feel good to make other people happy. Or I suppose pleased, if you want to be technical. Try it for yourselves. The people you help will thank you.
The money you would have spent on giving money to a beggar might be better spent on something that will decrease existential risk or contribute to transhumanist goals, such as donating to MIRI or the Methuselah Foundation.
Anecdotal, but I know of one case where the beggar got angry about being given food (I think it was something like a grocery store deli sandwich, still wrapped and unopened) and ranted at my friend about thinking they know better than the recipient about what they need and how the giver must not trust beggars with money and so on. It’s kind of funny in retrospect, but at the time it was disturbing and confrontational and (of course) extremely ungrateful, so there were definitely no warm fuzzies derived therefrom (more like a highly unpleasant fight-or-flight moment plus public embarrassment) and it really did feel like a waste of money. If your goal is warm fuzzies, or even just to convince yourself you’re doing some good, triggering an experience like that is utterly counterproductive. I can’t imagine it’s a common thing, but so far as I know, my friend has never again tried giving food directly (as opposed to donating to a food drive).
And sometimes they bring babies, not always their own, drugged perhaps unto death so that they will receive more charity but not be bothered by the unrest of the children… I think it is better to donate to hostels because it doesn’t give the ‘parenting homeless’ an advantage.
Should people give money to beggars on the street? I heard conflicting opinions about this. Some say they just spend it on booze and cigarettes, so it would be more effective to donate that money to hostels for the homeless and similar institutions. Others say it’s not a big deal and it makes them happy. What do you think?
I notice the effects of the recession – I always offer to buy food, and in the past beggars often concocted elaborate excuses why I should give them money instead of buying a hotdog or something. But in the last few years, more and more they agree to get the food (and actually eat it).
Anyway, depending on where you live, there might be organized teams of professional beggars who are exploited by their “owner” and they have to give him his daily share “or else”. By not giving money, you really hurt the beggars—but this amounts to emotional blackmailing, so perhaps you should not—for the price of hurting a few beggars now we could close the exploitation later, since if there is no profit there is no incentive to exploit the beggars.
What’s your goal? Effective altruism literature suggest that if you want spent money to do good, bet nets for Africa are an effective way to do so.
(this is off topic) I have always felt that africa is very far away; the man on the street literally asking for himself is significantly more tangible.
Do you care if they buy booze and cigarettes? I for one do not. If it makes you happy to give them a few bucks, do it. I do not charge this against my charity budget, however, but my discretionary budget. But that impulse causing you to take money OUT of your charity budget may be a poor choice, as there may be charities about which you care more than beggar booze. Bottom line, giving to beggars is consumption not charity and if you get more happiness that way, do it. Or go buy a bunch of mini liquors and hand them out; I did this once and I felt great afterwards.
You can’t be serious.
Yup. I enjoy drinking, so I understand that they might likewise, and I enjoy other humans enjoying themselves. Win/win. It genuinely does feel good to make other people happy. Or I suppose pleased, if you want to be technical. Try it for yourselves. The people you help will thank you.
The money you would have spent on giving money to a beggar might be better spent on something that will decrease existential risk or contribute to transhumanist goals, such as donating to MIRI or the Methuselah Foundation.
I can see nothing wrong with buying such a person food.
Anecdotal, but I know of one case where the beggar got angry about being given food (I think it was something like a grocery store deli sandwich, still wrapped and unopened) and ranted at my friend about thinking they know better than the recipient about what they need and how the giver must not trust beggars with money and so on. It’s kind of funny in retrospect, but at the time it was disturbing and confrontational and (of course) extremely ungrateful, so there were definitely no warm fuzzies derived therefrom (more like a highly unpleasant fight-or-flight moment plus public embarrassment) and it really did feel like a waste of money. If your goal is warm fuzzies, or even just to convince yourself you’re doing some good, triggering an experience like that is utterly counterproductive. I can’t imagine it’s a common thing, but so far as I know, my friend has never again tried giving food directly (as opposed to donating to a food drive).
And sometimes they bring babies, not always their own, drugged perhaps unto death so that they will receive more charity but not be bothered by the unrest of the children… I think it is better to donate to hostels because it doesn’t give the ‘parenting homeless’ an advantage.