Stop Enabling the Homeless

September 26, 2007 at 6:20 pm nathan118 20 comments

I would like to argue that giving money to pan handlers in gas station parking lots and freeway off ramps is not a compassionate thing to do. I also believe that allowing homeless people to sleep and live in parks or other public places is not compassionate.

I also think that people who hand out money to these types of people are not helping, but making that person’s life worse. Whether out of guilt, misplaced compassion, or under the umbrella WWJD?, handing out money to pan handlers and allowing homeless people to sleep wherever they want is not compassionate at all. It might make the giver feel better, but their compassion is misplaced.

I’m ready for some backlash. The evil Mr. Blarg picking on the poor! However, if that’s all you’ve gleamed from my post, then you are wildly confused. I am picking on the people that give money, not the poor people.

Ready, set, discuss!

Is it helpful, Christ-like, or compassionate to give “donations” to poor and homeless people you meet on the street?

Politics blarg, homeless people, ready set, sleep

Comments

Written by Cory about 4 years ago.

personally, I don’t believe in giving money to the homeless. For all you know they could walk around the corner to the liquor store and buy some booze or even worse, they can buy some drugs. Just buy them a burger or offer to take them to eat or something.
Even then, I don’t necessarily think you should do that. In a way you could be encouraging them to stay on the street because they figure they can get hand-outs every day. I think if you want to help the homeless then just go and volunteer at a shelter then you are at least certain you aren’t fueling some addiction of some kind.
Written by amy about 4 years ago.

so, cory, are we only supposed to help people if we have an assurance that they will make wise decisions with the help we offer? where’s the line? why do we get to decide who’s worthy of help and who’s not? and who decides what the criterion are for people being worthy of our care and our hand-outs?

i disagree with the blarg about it not being compassionate to give a homeless person some money. yes, there are people out there who are taking advantage of the poor suckers like me who offer a couple bucks to the guys on the freeway off-ramp. but there are also people who are not trying to take advantage. they really have nowhere to go. who are we kidding…there’s no way they’ll ever get a job anywhere. and it’s not always possible to find a shelter with room in it. and maybe they really haven’t eaten in days and all they want is a couple bucks to get some food somewhere. i think we’re just supposed to do what we can to show love, whether it’s giving our time to a shelter or buying some food for a homeless person, or giving some spare change to someone who’s asking for it. no, we don’t know what some people do with the money…i don’t think we have to know. ’cause maybe for every 7 or 8 people who buy booze or drugs with the money i hand out, there’s 1 or 2 that actually go buy a cheeseburger from burger king and feel some kind of hope that there is a God out there who’s providing for them during this time in their life.

and you never actually said why it would make people’s lives worse to give them some money, which i think is a pretty bold statement.
Written by nathan118 about 4 years ago.

I think Cory hit it on the head when he said you’re “encouraging” them to stay on the street. When a person is panhandling and you give them a few bucks (and if several people give them a few bucks, they actually have quite a few bucks now) then that person has little motivation to make their life better. Why go to a homeless shelter or a church to actually turn their life around? Everytime they stand by the side of the road they get enough money to continue their life the way it is. I think it’s all about motivation. Receiving handouts means they don’t have to face the problems in their lives, and I think that makes their life worse, not better.

I remained vague for a reason. I think it spurs conversation more when the reader doesn’t have a full blown argument from me.
Written by kurtiigeek about 4 years ago.

Along the same lines, LBJ screwed us all (responsible tax payers) with The War on Poverty. Handouts are bad due to the simple fact that it creates a dependency on third party organizations whether that be Amy handing out money or the Federal government aiding the poor/homeless. Once that dependency is established, there is little to no incentive to change.

Nate, can I get a free pencil? :]
Written by Andrew about 4 years ago.

Some of the programs that were created during the Depression to help people out became part of this massive government complex that no longer needs to exist. Social Security was great back in the day when people had nothing to fall back on, but now people look to the government and EXPECT to be taken care of when they retire. By providing Social Security, the government has actually made people worse off by shifting personal responsibilities away from the individual.

I won’t go into how broken the Social Security is, but I’m not planning on it being around when I retire. Someone might argue that we need Social Security or else people won’t invest and save for their future. I think just offering the program discourages people from taking responsibility for their finances.

A big problem is that the government has gotten their fingers deep into so many different things there’s no way to get them out without causing chaos. Are we doomed to government interference forever?
Written by ~kevin about 4 years ago.

I agree with the original post and with every comment. I also believe the Holy Spirit will lead you to give/volunteer in whatever way he so chooses… if you’re open to the suggestion. We can’t blanket statement either side of the argument. Giving is a very personal experience and the only people I would condemn if it were up to me, are the people who don’t give at all.

I don’t hand out money to people on the street as a rule, unless there is a tingling in my gut to do it. I served lunch at the Bakersfield Rescue Mission last sunday and it was one of the more rewarding things I have done and I think (hope) that some of the people I had conversations with were helped in some way by my being there. But even that is not for me do decide. Do what your heart tells you. But first, make sure it is in the right place.
Written by Cory about 4 years ago.

ok, If you would read it a little more carefully I said I personally don’t believe in giving MONEY (where’s my underline and bold key! It looks like I’m in need of them) I in no way, shape, or form ruled out showing compassion to the homeless. I was merely voicing some solutions to giving money to homeless people on the streets and pointing out some reasons for not doing that. Are you not showing compassion to someone who would have just used your money to buy drugs by buying them a meal? If I would have meant to say “not show them compassion” I would have said ignore them completely. This got personal really fast and for no reason what so ever. Clearly unbecoming of a discussion.
Written by nathan118 about 4 years ago.

I’ll explain Kurtis’ pencil comment, and it actually applies really well to this discussion.

I used to let kids in my classes borrow pencils if they didn’t have one. What happened though is that students took them instead of returning them, treated them like garbage, and they all disappeared. I said the heck with that. Now I sell them the pencils for cheap, but now that they’re buying the pencil and owning it, they care WAY more for the pencil.

Helping someone out who is homeless is not a bad thing, and I think is very compassionate. Simply handing out money and crossing your fingers it’s not fueling a drug habit, I think that’s misplaced compassion. It’s sort of like saying I’ll throw $20 out the window once a week, and hopefully whoever finds it really needs it. It’s misplaced. I like what Cory said about truly helping people. Buying them food or clothing, or even finding them a place to live and get their life together, now that is helpful.

Something else I’d like to add to the discussion is about what it takes to become homeless. Imagine in your own life how terrible things would have to get for you to be homeless. That means your parents, brothers and sisters, extended family, friends, and homeless shelters all turned you away! I think what is usually the case, and some of the data backs it up, is that most people on the street aren’t there because they came into some bad times. They’re on the street because they’re an addict probably.

Of course not all of them are bad, and giving money to some of them could be helpful. The last person I ran into that asked for money was at a gas station. When he asked for money I told him he should visit a local church. I told him about food help, because he said he needed the money for food. But of course he couldn’t wait for food, he needed the money now.
Written by Padfoot about 4 years ago.

I usually buy a couple of $5 gift cards from McDonalds and hand those out to the people asking for money for food and tell him to not give up and that Christ is out there for them. Maybe they use it to buy some food and think about going down the street to the church, or maybe they sell it to someone else to get cash and buy their poisons. When I do give out money, I get a tingling like Kevin said and I go with it. I don’t think it’s not compassionate to give money to someone on the street. So I guess I disagree with the blarg too on this point.

I like to think of myself in their position. If I had no money, no food, no shelter, and no where to go…what would I want? I’d love it if someone gave me a few extra bucks. Would I just sit there and take in the freebies for the rest of my life? No. I’d have some motivation. I’d save and try to get a job eventually and try to make my life better. Does the average homeless person think this way? Maybe not. However Matthew 7:12 says “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.”

I like what Amy said, if out of every 10 people I do try to help only 2 or 3 actually get helped…that’s okay with me because you are never going to find a 100% sure proof way to help them all.
Written by amy about 4 years ago.

i didn’t mean to offend you or hurt your feelings cory. i’m sorry.

you know, i see these guys a couple times a week on my way to work. i get off the freeway at harbor and there’s either this old war vet with a cane and a really messed up leg, or there’s this large, cross-eyed man with a facial tick. what am i supposed to do? inevitably, if i pray, “God please provide for that man today and help him out.” i always hear, “you do it.” always. i don’t have photocopied directions to the nearest homeless shelter in my car, and even if i did, i would feel like a douche giving them out to the guys on harbor at the 91 since the nearest shelters are like in orange and santa ana. and no, it is absolutely not compassionate to do nothing. so, i give the guys a couple bucks. i understand what you are saying about these guys maybe having little motivation to change their situation if they keep getting hand outs, and i agree that with some people that is true, but i just can’t see how it is compassionate to do nothing in that specific situation.
Written by Cory about 4 years ago.

It’s alright Amy. I was just a little set off by that. first, I never said don’t help out. I think my point was missed there. second, I think you made me sound like a heartless person, which is not what I intended. That’s partly my fault I guess because I worded it that way. I just thought it got really personal right away and almost went from a discussion into an argument. I don’t know about anybody else but that really makes me think twice about entering discussions.

I have run into similar situations in the past where people have basically just reduced me to the equivalent of a douche bag for entering into a discussion with them. I really didn’t want to go and gunk up Nathan’s blog with a comment like this but I felt I should put it out there. I don’t think discussions should be so personal as in “in somebody else’s face for saying that or thinking that way” Now we all aren’t perfect and it’s quite easy for a simple discussion to go that way but I think we should all keep this in mind if we want to continue with discussions of this caliber. We all have the right to our own opinion and it’s important not to degrade others because of theirs. This is really the last thing I’m going to say here and I hope I have expressed myself in a way that will not be misinterpreted. I just refuse to enter into a discussion where people are going to make me feel bad until I just stop discussing and just give up. I’m not accusing you of this Amy, or anyone else for that matter I’m just voicing how I think a proper discussion should be dealt with. Sorry for the large rant Nathan. If you want, you can just spam my blog to your hearts content.
Written by nathan118 about 4 years ago.

Nah, don’t worry about it Cory.

“And no, it is absolutely not compassionate to do nothing.”

I still disagree with this. Sometimes the most compassionate thing you can do for a person is NOT the most comfortable for you. Not to denouce the magical tingling sensation of God, but that sounds more like you need to give money to make you feel better, not the homeless person. I would argue it is more compassionate to help the person hit bottom so they have to change their life, than to enable them to continue begging at the side of the freeway the rest of their life. It’s not like the Vet was kicked out of his house yesterday, and just hasn’t made time to go to the homeless shelter. He’s chosen not to. Every buck he gets tells him his decision is OK.

I’d like to thank everyone for the lively discussion. It’s great to hear everyone’s point of view, and sometimes we just have to agree to disagree.
Written by Andrew about 4 years ago.

Or as Hugh Hewitt always says, “I prefer clarity over agreement.”
Written by Padfoot240 about 4 years ago.

You’re saying that we are giving money just to feel better about ourselves?

And who says helping them hit bottom is going to help them? They might commit suicided because they think no one cares about them. They might be currently going to a homeless shelter but still don’t have a job and the only way to get money is the self degrading act of begging they are doing.

I guess I still don’t see how it can be more compassionate to do nothing.
Written by amy about 4 years ago.

hahahahahaha! you kind of did denounce it when you called it a “magical tingling sensation” didn’t you? well played. and in no way am i saying that this is the case EVERY time, but what’s wrong with doing something good for someone else for your own benefit anyway? i’m sure i could go on passing people on the off ramp, looking the other way every time in order to show real compassion to them by not contributing to their just-before-rock-bottom-and-ok-with-it life…but eventually, i would stop seeing them at all, wouldn’t i? and then there’s some kind of callous on my heart that i never wanted there to be. and that’s not good either, right?

ok, so what if i just give the Vet a water bottle when i see him?
Written by nathan118 about 4 years ago.

Paddy, I don’t think hypotheticals are extremely useful. I can counter that they might use my money to buy alcohol and stumble in front of an oncoming bus. :p

I agree Amy, I think the giver gets just as much joy as the receiver does. I’m not saying you can’t help people in need because it makes you feel good. But I think the guilt people feel when they see someone panhandling, giving that person money is a way to make that guilt go away. It’s a normal human reaction to feel sorrow for another person. It’s not like I enjoy refusing a homeless person, not at all. But I think handing that person money to abate the guilty feeling is misplaced. I don’t think it’s really helping them, and I think the odds are greater it will hurt their quality of life. Whether it enables them to feed addictions, or reaffirms that their panhandling can be a way of life. Now that doesn’t mean you do nothing and become calloused, but instead find a way to give that can be as useful as possible.

Andrew’s Hugh Hewitt reference was exactly what I was looking for. Even if we never agree, it’s good to see clearly why we don’t. This discussion has got me thinking about what I can do to help since I don’t think handing out money is useful. I was reminded of the guy that spoke at Oasis one year from the dream center in Los Angeles. My money is much better spent at an organization such as that than randomly handing it out.
Written by Denise about 4 years ago.

The last time I gave anything to a homeless person was several years ago in Pasadena. I was on my way in to a McDonalds and a homeless gent in a wheelchair asked me for a dollar. I said, “No, but how bout a cheeseburger?” He said, “How bout some chicken nuggets?” I said it was a deal.

Not long before that, I’d been panhandled with the line “I need a quarter for a phone call.” I’d offered to walk to a nearby payphone and put a quarter in, and the person said, “Oh, no, Um, I need to make a call later, um…” I said thanks anyway.

On a personal level, I tend to check out a person’s panhandling to see if they just want cash, or if they’re hungry.

On a psychosocial level, I know that many panhandlers do have drug and alcohol problems, often associated with a mental health problem, and that my giving money to them may provide them the fix they need today, but that in the long run I am helping cement the system of abuse/suffering they are currently in. Some would argue it is compassionate to provide an alcoholic with delerium tremens a drink. If the guy were in a hospital receiving treatment for his addiction/psychological disorder, he would be given either alcohol or a benzodiazepine for his DT’s, but then he’d receive treatment for the real issues. I think compassion is most compassionate when it has some long term lenses in addition to short term lenses.

With that said, I believe Christians have a responsibility to contribute to long term solutions. I’d encourage everyone to consider making a Christmas gift to the Union Rescue Mission or another organization which is not merely a soup kitchen, but which provides vocational rehabilitation for those willing to participate. Perhaps every time your guilt strikes, you can buy someone a cheeseburger, and then put a dollar in the jar for URM.

On a final note, and believe it or not Nathan (I almost couldn’t believe my ears at first either) I’m plagiarizing Hewitt here, the State Hospital system needs revamping. For those who are too mentally ill to provide for themselves and who often end up using public property like its their own personal property and engaging in substance use behavior/illegal behavior in order to obtain the money for substances and generally negatively impact property values, we might consider a return to state supported treatment. His argument, and I’d really have to look into this for myself, is that reducing the negative fiscal/social impact of homelessness could offset the costs of state hospitals.

So, to sum up on a biblical note, ‘compassion’ means literally to ‘feel with’ someone. Feeling what someone feels is a difficult thing to do, and to have a desire to help is natural. But those feelings do not automatically equal (or not equal) any given behavior, and we are licensed to bring our good sense and judgment into our compassionate decision making.
Written by Niall about 4 years ago.

man I wish I had seen this post sooner…
oh well

short answer: I don’t agree with Nathan, well, at least his approach in adressing the situation of the poor.

long answer: nothing is new about me not agreeing with Nathan and I’m way to lazy to read every post that was said.

i.e. lolz and ignore this.
Written by nathan118 about 4 years ago.

I don’t disagree Denise. I think the government’s job is to provide services that private citizens can’t (like roads). I think taking care of those that are incapable of taking care of themselves, and they have no dependents, then the government can do it. Then again, if the government is willing, individuals who DO have obligations can pass them off on the government…but that’s a whole different discussion.

And Niall, no offense, but if you’re gonna post, at least put something about why you disagree (and if you didn’t read all my comments, then you don’t know my position fully). I’ve come to the conclusion that the money God has blessed me with is better used by a private organization like the Dream Center than handed out blindly. What is so evil and wrong about that belief? I think a strong argument could be made that it’s foolish to throw your money blindly at people who are prone to addictions, when that money could be used more effectively.

Then again there has been next to zero interest in my post about private organizations that help the homeless, so I give up.
Written by ctgottapee about 4 years ago.

giving small handouts to the poor is SELFISH!

yes you heard me, selfish; as well as lazy and naive.

a homeless person on the side of the road needs more than some change, and we all know that. what problem have you ever had past age 6 that could be solved with 50 cents? NONE.

we know what the solutions are, but they are too hard for us to tackle or follow through on. we in effect become bums ourselves by not wanting to do what is right.

so when we see that homeless guy on the side of the road, and we feel bad, we due the simplist thing to make the bad feeling go away, throw money at them like they are a wishing well, close our minds to the reality, and walk away happy brimming with all the good we’ve done.

the reality is the homeless person is no better off, and in nearly all cases far worse off than before you passed him/her.

when has a handout ever made you feel better? whe has resorting to begging ever improved things for you? now your getting it…..

the next time you pass that homeless guy you see, get off your lazy ass, keep your change for the parking meter and establish a relationship with them. invite them to dinner; invite them to church with you if you must; keep going back, show them you actually give a damn and are not there just to make yourself feel better tossing treats at them like a dog. discuss there problems, work on finding solutions. be a guide on the path to recovery.

and yes, the homeless guy begs for money to buy the things that social programs won’t; drugs, alcohol, tobacco, sex, etc. food is amply available from a number of sources. shelter is also available, although in some cases not ideal, but more ideal than the sidewalk. the homeless can’t use tha shelter often because they restrict people who are abusing drugs, alcohol, sex, perpetrating violence, or refusing medical care.

if you are going to give money, you should just carry a six pack of beer in your car and hand that out

and there are plenty of jobs out there, so many that 15 millon illegal people from other countries without legal documentation to work here have no problem getting work.

finally, that ‘vet’ on the side of the road, 99% of the time he is not a vet. any disabled vet will receive disability, and it is enough to keep you off the sidewalk. there is more than enough care and services to go around for retired military personnel, especially disabled members. generally he is suffering from verious mental illnesses and has convinced himself or conned himself into being a veteran.

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Sometimes it's easy to constantly dream about what you want, and never stop to appreciate what you have. The future is never guaranteed, and our time here is short.

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Stop Enabling the Homeless

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