I am asking because I know people from both sides:
- People who discourage it: usually talk about how the beggars might spend their money on, how they might be lying, How donating to them will encourage them to keep begging and how they should be looking for a job instead (My commentary: finding a job is impossible for them this days, matter of fact there is literally hundreds, if not thousands of articles online talking about how hard and impossible it had become).
- People who encourage it: to be honest here, they usually talk only about religious reasons.
(Note: I know that the overview about both sides are highly unbalanced, but I preferred to keep it limited to my personal experiences rather than expanding it from myself, as I intentionally not looking for theories and objective logic, rather I am looking at people reasons and opinions as this is highly subjective matter.)
Anyone got any thoughts about this?
Loud street beggars - never. They are usually members (or victims) of criminal organizations. Even if they are forced to do it, giving them anything only makes the business profitable for their bosses.
Poor people you know otherwise. Like for example a homeless person in your neighborhood who doesn’t usually ask for anything. Help them if you can, especially with non-monetary support. Food, clothes you don’t need, personal hygiene supplies, etc…