Ask HN: Do you ever give money to those guys with signs at stoplights? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Do you ever give money to those guys with signs at stoplights?

I make a pretty good salary. I can easily spare a few bucks, but I generally don’t give them any money.

I was curious if others who work in places with lots of high paying jobs but lots of homeless as well, do or don’t and why or why not. My instinct is a more right leaning person would say “no don’t give them money they’ll spend it on drugs and alcohol” and a more left leaning person would say “give them a few bucks, it’s not their fault”, but wanted to hear from others. I feel a little guilty just trying to ignore them as I drive past, but I’m also like should I?

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Many years ago I was homeless for a few months and I never asked anyone for money, I didn't even consider it. I met a couple of people in similar circumstances who shared the same attitude.

I did see, however, many other 'homeless' people who spent their entire day asking people for money. This was in a fairly small city where you soon start to recognise the same people over and over agin.

For the most part, these people were actually not homeless in the true sense of the word, they were staying in one of many hostels where you get fed, access to a bathroom/shower and a bed for the night. They were people with drug/alcohol probelems who were being enabled by a sysytem initially created to bring about an end to homlessness yet has evolved into one that perpetuates it - because if you are just someone who's made a few bad decions in your life then you will get no help from them at all.

What I would say to you is that if it makes you feel better giving people money then by all means do so. The recipient will also feel better for a while but they'll probably just be digging themselves further down the same hole. In the end, you're making no difference.

I was lucky, I got help from a couple of random strangers who'd noticed me walking around aimlessly. I got back on my feet fairly easilly after that.

Some are not so lucky and those most deserving of a bit of help are most likley the people you never see. And the reason you don't see them is because the genuinely homeless people who can be easily helped are the least likley to ask for it - that's why they ended up where they are.

Thanks for sharing. It doesn’t make me feel good if all I give is money.

I generally won’t give anyone money that I don’t know at all. Yet what I try to do when I meet people in the street is give them dignity by just speaking to them like they’re human.

I’ll almost always offer a cigarette and after a bit of conversation my compassion is usually stirred to give them a few bucks or buy them some subway or something. But yeah doesn’t “fix” the problem. I feel like the fix though does start as seeing them as people who for all you know are doing better and more good given their circumstances then others who currently have more would do if they were in the same situation.

It depends on the person. In my country it is popular for the poor to sell flowers or snacks at stoplights, and I usually always buy flowers. But in the US it seems most at stoplights are bumming for drugs or alcohol.

That said, I think donating is something that helps you more than them. Generosity makes you feel good, and it lightens your mind.

Yes. Sometimes I also give them bread or other food if I'm driving back from the grocery store. It fundamentally doesn't solve any problem but it at least shows them that someone is willing to give them something and help them out and that might be enough for them to start believing in themselves as well.

I’ll offer food but never cash. In Seattle, we have professional homeless people who do have proper housing. And the state has offices near Cap Hill area where they’ll literally give you decent cash with practically no background check. There are plenty of resources available, though many of these folks are just needing cash for their drug addiction. And hey, we have needle swap programs now too, and you can shoot up in public, live on public school grounds, and even expose yourself in public in front of children. I just don’t hand cash out because it feels like we’re only encouraging or enabling and not really helping these people.

You can find charities that help the homeless. They'd be happy to get the equivalent of $5 a week from you. There are sites that rate charities on how much goes to the intended beneficiaries v. how much goes to overhead, for example https://www.charitywatch.org/top-rated-charities . I suppose that some quite effective local charities might be too small to be rated by such sites, though.

I’m pretty cynical towards non-profits in general, though there are good charities out there.

The problem though if I just give money to them, even if they’re good, is that it is essentially me saying, I don’t want to get my hands dirty.

It’s kind of like those saying “tax us more, I just do whatever to make the poor go away”. But what if the Jesus saying “you will always have the poor with you” was meant to mean you will always have the blessing of helping the poor, not the poor are some curse we need to eradicate.

The striving for utopia seems to be the thing that has more often brought “hell” on earth. It is more blessed to give than to receive, but if no one is poor then there is no way to realize that blessing. (Though keeping people poor so you can feel good about giving would be despicable)

I’d still give money to charities, I just wonder is that enough, have I done my duty as a person in civilized society?

Rarely.

I once gave two jackets, that I was going to donate somewhere, to a guy with a sign. He immediately put them both on.

We keep bottled water and food (chips, protein bars, etc)… in our car and offer them whenever we come across someone homeless. Some take, others refuse. That’s okay. We don’t give out cash though.

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