So, to get this out of the way, I'm a cisgender white man from a well-off family in a fairly affluent town. I'm making this post because I want to hear perspectives from those who are different from and likely significantly more knowledgeable than me. (Literally as I was writing this post, I came to the epiphany that I should probably more properly educate myself on socialism.)
TL;DR: What is your opinion on giving money to houseless people you see IRL?
I like to consider myself socialist/progressive in thought---in favor of wealth redistribution via various methods, live and let live, freedom for everyone as long as you're not materially harming anyone, etc.---but I grew up in a fairly conservative household (more socially than fiscally, but even then). Being in a rich area, I never really saw houseless people around unless I went to one of the nearby cities, and the general policy was keep walking and don't look. My parents definitely raised me to be kind and generous, but more in a detached "give to charity" way.
Rather recently, I've really embraced this idea of being socialist, and I've become very free with giving my money in particular (though I'm aware I could do more, like join a DSA branch or somethin'). I love giving to non-profit organizations when I can, I support creators I like on Patreon. I've even started giving to people on Fedi who I've seen need money for whatever reason. Spread the wealth, right?
Now, things have changed where I live, and even in my rich lil burb, you can usually find at least one refugee or houseless person when you go out to a grocery store or something. I just saw a guy who was standing outside a grocery store asking for spare change, and it was a rare occasion that I actually had cash in my wallet. On my way out, I gave it to him. Simple.
But I feel weird about it. I have all these ideas in my head from White America saying that they'll just buy alcohol or drugs with it or that they're scamming me or anything else like that. Then on the other hand, I think that it's just as likely (if not more) that they're going to spend it on things they actually need to live and how it's not my job to police how they use their money. And then on the third hand, I think that maybe it would be better to donate money to organizations that help out houseless people than just giving money to random people. Then on the fourth hand---you get the idea.
For those of you who actually read the whole post and didn't stop at the TL;DR, I have a few questions:
- Why in God's name did you actually read this whole thing?
- Are these feelings normal or am I just a self-centered prick?
- What are your opinions on giving money to houseless people you just randomly meet?
- As a bonus question for the socialists out there: Any recs on socialism learning resources for someone who likes reading, but doesn't like reading books?
For those of you who made it all the way to the end, thank you for reading my neurotic ramblings.
EDIT: I didn't really expect this to blow up... but thank you all so much for your perspectives on everything. It was exactly what I was hoping for and exactly what I didn't think I was going to get. I tried to read everything and I feel simultaneously less conflicted, but definitely more... not confused, but maybe full of ideas?
The feelings are very normal. And there is no good answer or solution other than voting for politicians who would take that issue seriously and make actual change. But they are rare to find.
My personal approach is, I stopped giving to random people asking for money. There are some long-term homeless people in my area that I recognize and I will give them some change occasionally. I don't do it because I think it will change their situation or even help them but just because they deserve some kind of "happiness". And I don't care if they find happiness by buying alcohol, cigarettes, any other kind of drugs, food, or anything else.
With random people asking for money, there are just too many people trying to take advantage of the generosity of others. And since I am aware that my contribution wouldn't help someone who is in actual need anyhow, I'd rather not give it to someone who is trying to take advantage of me.
Donating to charities is usually the better approach if you want to help others. Just put in some effort into researching the charity before donating as some of them are also a scam but in general, even if they only use 70-90% of my donation to actually help others, it goes a longer way than giving that money to an individual.
Yeah, I always look at Charity Navigator and similar websites before I give. I actually do give to a few local charities that deal with houselessness in specific populations, among other things, and I'm very confident that my money is going to good use.
I live in a town where you generally don't see too many houseless people (I may even have exaggerated a bit in the original post), so there's not really that worry of "being taken advantage of" in the sense that even if I gave each person I see 10 bucks, I'm not even close to being in danger of running out of money (I'm also a bit of a hermit). I definitely do it less out of a "this is going to change this person's life" mindset and more out of a "this is going to make this person's day a little better" mindset, though.
It's not about being out some bucks but more about being lied to. In many European cities, it's well known that organized crime is involved in begging. And I don't want to support them. Even if the people who actually do the begging are sometimes forced to do it. Then there are some people who just made a profession out of begging. Which I personally also don't like. And that's why I don't give it to random people I have never seen before, especially when they are in tourist areas.
It's very dangerous in some places to pull out a wallet... literally life-threatening even. And there are ways to help people other than giving those resources to beggars, like tip large amounts to workers to help keep them off the streets in the first place, and to reward work rather than giving up. So yeah, helping people should be dependent on context, I totally agree.
There's much more you can do than voting, including giving people money directly. That helps, not waiting for the suits to toss a few pennies down to social issues like housing, beacuse they don't really give a shit about any of us. Waiting around for something to be solved doesn't work: we all gotta work toward it