I lived and worked in downtown Chicago for close to 3 years. There is a large population of beggars. About 90% of them are black males. During the same period, I also saw lots of black males, who looked like these same beggars, in convenience stores and grocery stores buying alcohol and tobacco -- ONLY. Not other stuff along with it. Only those things. They often favored a certain kind of beer. I often saw that same kind of beer can, or wine bottle in a brown paper bag, discarded empty in the gutter or near trash cans in the same neighborhoods. Eventually, you put two and two together and conclude that it adds up to four. Do all of those beggars buy alcohol and tobacco with the money they get? Probably not. Are all of them addicts or lazy? Probably not. Are probably a large portion of them that way -- and/or mentally ill? Probably yes.
But once you see that enough with your own eyes you begin to feel less sympathy for many of them. Not a total lack of sympathy or empathy -- I don't want anyone to live that kind of life, even if it is a case of failed willpower -- but it also hardens you a little bit when there's a call for more aid. Some people truly have hard things happen to them, and it's not their fault. Some people truly bring trouble upon themselves, and it is their fault. And it's hard to distinguish between them from a distance.