Hipster, Can You Spare a Dime?
What is up with these avant-guard artist-wanna be's and the socially aware who constantly complain about our government's lack of charity yet can't spare a dime for a homeless person?
I live pay check to pay check but I seldom turn down a request from someone who asks for money, unless I really just don't have it. But I see this happen all the time. On the subway especially. Commuters discussing the need for change suddenly turn into in-transit Helen Kellers if approached by the homeless. The argument that you don't want to give money because they'll spend it on alcohol or drugs fails miserably. You don't want to give money because you are just as tight-assed as our current administration. Even when you give money to a "proper"---and probably mismanaged---charity, there's no telling how that money will be allocated. I choose not to worry about how a homeless person uses the money. Whether you donate to a charity or give someone cash hand to hand, the money will probably not be used as it was intended, except in the rarest of cases. But the proper charity does give you a tax writer off. Oh, I get it!
Think about living on the streets. I imagine it consists of one goddamn nightmare of violence and pain after the next. Many of us claim to be close to it. So how can you refuse to give assistance, even if it is going to be used for a bit of hallucinogenic or Night Train fueled escape? Hell, take the time to buy someone some food, if it won't make you late for some Lower East Side Happy Hour.
You know, neo-cons do need an image upgrade, so maybe you should drag your Beacon's Closet attired ass to the voting booth for them next time.
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Charity | Conservatives | greed | homelessness | limosine liberals | Money | NYC | progressives
Giving Until it Hurts
Submitted by Teacher With a Tude on 4 January 2007 - 10:14pm.
I choose not to give to beggars. My choice. I give to other individuals (hell, I've made donations to three or four myspacers in a pinch), I give to charities, and I'm teaching my kids to give - because I would be a rather hypocritical Libertarian if I DIDN'T donate as much as I could, since I believe that it is the individual's responsibility and not the government's.
Like Steamgeek - how the hell do you figure out which ones to give to and which not? I did give something to the guy on New Year's who brought me a cart in the parking lot. Hoiday cheer and all that. I will buy gas for someone at the gas station, but I won't give them money for gas.
My call. Everyone's call. Give a man a fish...
After thought, and in the spirit....
Submitted by SteamGeek on 4 January 2007 - 11:30pm.
I travel a fair amount just for my commute. On either end of the drive I have a favorite little breakfast joint, and most of the time I make sure to sit where the same waitress(s) take care of me (on one end the kids are college students trying to make a buck, in the other case in particular the lady's a working Mom busting her tail who remembers what I like and always smiles when she sees me coming).
I make it a point to tip $2 for a $4 dollar breakfast just out of principle.
It's not the same as folks in trouble and on the street, but we all know the waitress game (or waiter for that matter) really stinks at times for tips, and working with the public can be a royal pain in the arse.
So I do what I can.
i believe that when you have
Submitted by Tara Parks on 5 January 2007 - 4:57pm.
i believe that when you have a situation of poverty like we have in the United States, it is everyone's responsibility to correct it. the government's and the individual's.
therefore, it is your choice but i do not agree with your call.
i don't know how someone could look at a person who is so pitiful and not give them change or whatever. i think it is heartless. and that is my call.
its tough for me
I find that on most cases I'm pinching for gas money to get to work, not to mention cover my family needs, so when it comes to spare change on the one hand I usually have a little but not much, and on the other hand I find I can't give something to everyone who asks and it spins my head to figure out when to say OK and when to have to say no.
So I give a certain percent to United Way, specifcially designating it to various end users of my choosing.
When folks ask me for change for a coffee or a bite to eat I try to politely direct them to shelters I 'm familiar with where they can get services be it food shelter of other care.
It seems an approach thats fair and I can rest easy with.
Speaking of not having very much spare change, my work efforts non-voluntarily give our government somewhere close to $18,000 in Social Security tax per year - CAN WE ASK THEM WHAT THE FUCK THEY DO WITH IT?
(emphasis directed at our bankrupt federal government, not Tara)