Ask HN: Should I give money to a beggar on a street?

Here is what I do: I ALWAYS give, and I NEVER judge.

I stopped giving money to "beggars" long ago. I usually help them by buying them what they need.

I go with them to whichever close market or restaurant and buy them what they really need, I don't usually put a money limit but rarely goes over 20 bucks with a nice food basket.

Part of these process is also listening to their stories, sometimes you can even hire them for some tasks and I usually tell them to help others in the same way if they have the oportunity (or to teach their children this lesson).

Of course they could sell these items later but I really feel good about this and I don't think they do that.

I don't give to charities or homeless people. I live by the old saying, "Charity begins at home."

If I can afford to help strangers then I can afford to help my family and friends, who are more important to me.

I stopped giving money to these people, instead offering to buy them food.

I prefer to know exactly what the money is being spent on. I'm happy to help them, but I don't want to fund an addiction.

I suppose it depends on where you live. In my city (Cape Town) beggars can make up to $400 a week at certain high-traffic spots. People who give them money are enabling them. Also, in my city certain organisations exist to help the homeless and IMO it's better to donate to these groups instead.

In many places in South Africa you are encouraged NOT to give money to beggars.

http://giveresponsibly.co.za/

http://www.capetowncid.co.za/docs/6268/Image%20from%20Best%2...

Most of them have some "boss" who is collecting all the money, and giving them just a bit of it.

So instead of giving them money, it's much better to buy them food or something else what they really need.

An alternative is to contribute time, money or other items to an organization which helps the homeless or those with financial challenges. A local shelter, food bank, Habitat for Humanity, etc.

If you a rich, then yes. What's a dollar to you? Have a chat with them too.

Maybe share your lunch if you've got some to spare.

what you should do is figure out why someone you don't know, to whom you own nothing, is able to make you feel so bad about not giving them anything.

Give money to beggars or don't, give money to charity or don't, give money to random people or don't.

Just figure out why you feel the way you do, I don't think anyone can do that for you.

I give to the top charities on GiveWell [1] instead. As an individual you can't help everyone, at least with GiveWell you can be fairly sure your money is making someone's life better.

[1] http://www.givewell.org/

Well you can sidestep the issue slightly. Ask what do they need the money for? If they are hungry buy them a meal at a local cafe then buy some dry food (like crackers), canned meat such as spam that can be kept in a tin till needed and UHT Milk (milk in a cartoon that doesn't need to be refrigerated till opened. Don't forget some bottle water, also low alcoholic beer may be a subtle alternative if they don't have access to a clean drinking water supply within reason (In ye olde days, drinking beer was common during the day as drinking water was often polluted) [1]. Also vitamins and supplements too.

If they need money for the Bus or Train to get home, then buy it for them. Get a taxi (you hail/pick it not them) to the train or bus station (don't walk there in case its a setup and you get robbed on the way and don't use your own car)

However, everyone has a story. For every person who is desperate and needs money, they are others who abuse peoples kind genorisity. They may use the money to buy Crack or Heroin or they made need it to buy their baby some food. You simply don't know.

[1] http://www.healthguidance.org/entry/14208/1/The-History-of-B...

Giving money enforces and condones the behaviour of begging. I'm sure people's intentions are good, but by giving money directly you're keeping them on the streets.

I live in Boston (and occasionally NYC) and I rarely give money. My grandfather taught me to rarely/never give money, but always buy any person a meal that asks for it. And I've done so on several occasions; taken someone to a Subway or whatever is nearby and bought them food; or to a 7/11 where they could purchase whatever food/toiletries they needed. Especially in the winter around here, being outside like that all day is brutal.

I have had a few occasions where people ask for money for food, and I tell them I'll just buy them food and they refuse. But I've had many more times where they are excited about it. Generally they ask for very little, sometimes just a cup of coffee and a bagel.

I always try to put my personal assumptions aside and buy the person a meal - in the UK a lot of convenience stores have "meal deals" on that cost around £3 for sandwiches, a side and a drink. I usually go with that without asking them first, and then listen if they want to talk.

I think the worst thing about being in their situation would be that most people wouldn't listen, and sometimes that can be just enough to get you through the day.

There are probably charities that provide services like employment advice/assistant in your area, or food parcels or the like. They might accept donations - it's worth checking and harder for the individuals to abuse if they are lying.

Most homelessness charities in the UK subscribe to the view that you are not helping by giving money to beggars. There's even an extensive campaign called Killing with Kindness

http://www.thamesreach.org.uk/news-and-views/campaigns/givin...

As someone who used to work in this sector, I no longer give money to beggars. Support the charities instead.

As I commented earlier, I ALWAYS give and I NEVER judge. I do this because I'm a Latter-Day Saint[1] and God explicitly spells out in the Book of Mormon[2] how we should respond in such a situation:

Succor those that stand in need of your succor; ye will administer of your substance unto him that standeth in need; and ye will not suffer that the beggar putteth up his petition to you in vain, and turn him out to perish.

Perhaps thou shalt say: The man has brought upon himself his misery; therefore I will stay my hand, and will not give unto him of my food, nor impart unto him of my substance that he may not suffer, for his punishments are just—

But I say unto you, O man, whosoever doeth this the same hath great cause to repent; and except he repenteth of that which he hath done he perisheth forever, and hath no interest in the kingdom of God.

For behold, are we not all beggars? Do we not all depend upon the same Being, even God, for all the substance which we have, for both food and raiment, and for gold, and for silver, and for all the riches which we have of every kind?

Book of Mormon, Mosiah 4: 16-19

[1] http://www.mormon.org.uk/

[2] https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm?lang=eng

I think buying food in lieu of giving money ignores the fact that money is fairly fungible. A dollar saved on food expenses is a dollar that can be spent on the vices that the donor is trying to prevent.

As for my answer to the question, I try to limit my charitable contributions to charities praised for efficiency and effectiveness on the various watchdog sites, but I usually end up cracking and giving in person as well.

On a related note, writing my post reminded me of an old LessWrong post [1] I saw.

[1] http://lesswrong.com/lw/6z/purchase_fuzzies_and_utilons_sepa...

Try spending a little time with them, chat about their life, their problems. Try to find a solution to get them out of beggary. Then if you want either buy them something useful or give them money or do neither ! Whatever you do just don't forget to give them a hug ! It will make both of you amazingly happy :D

I established a formal policy of not doing business with strangers in public areas - and panhandling is definitely a business. It just happens to be one that works by creating and subsequently monetizing guilt. An adept panhandler will combine the skills of a con artist, a mugger and a thief, so that you are first frightened and thrown off balance by their aggression, then guilted by their pitch, and finally robbed by their sleight of hand.

When panhandlers or other street people behave more aggressively I simply run away like a scared animal. They do not have a moral right to touch or yell at me, but neither do I have the right to use violence against them for that.

The good you need to do to solve "the problem" of homelessness and poverty involves gradual systemic change - handing out cash to one person at one time is going to maintain the status quo. You have no way to know whose story is a truthful one when you are so suddenly confronted by it - it is like making a blind investment. Only invest if you force them to commit time to you. If they refuse they are up to no good and you should run away.

You are leaving implicit a very important question: What are your goals?

Otherwise, give them money if you want to. Don't give them money if you don't want to.

You'll have to decide what you should do for yourself. If you are philosophically inclined I recommend looking at Famine, Affluence, and Morality by Peter Singer not because it is right or wrong but because it may help clarify your own thoughts by laying out a systematic approach to reasoning about the issue.

http://www.utilitarianism.net/singer/by/1972----.htm

Singer is arguably the 'greatest' philosopher of the last fifty years [1]. Agree with him or not, he has thought deeply about the issue and his reasoning around it and expressed these thoughts within a framework of rule based utilitarian philosophy.

Singer's Ted talk on the subject:

http://www.ted.com/talks/peter_singer_the_why_and_how_of_eff...

Singer's homepage at Princeton, the link page includes links to most of his papers:

http://www.princeton.edu/~psinger/

[1] Not that I am interested in arguing. I only use the term to suggest that the list of candidates is not very long, at the moment. In fifty years who knows?

You should only give them money if they are in front of YOUR home, so they are more likely to become a permanent fixture in YOUR life. I live in a tourist area which also has several well-run shelters, which are not a problem. The problems are the vagrants who will not accept rules and organized help (for whatever reason--I'm not addressing that). If YOU pay them to beg in MY neighborhood then you are paying them to stay right there and wait for more handouts, and they are a constant burden on the health, police, and social services system, to no avail. If you can't imagine encouraging them out in front of YOUR house, then don't do it in front of MY house. Volunteer for or donate to a relief organization, or take an individual into your home, if you really want to help.

The replies on this thread make me sad.

I've been homeless, sleeping rough under bushes and on building sites. I was homeless for over 2 years when I was much younger.

I begged on a few occasions, perhaps 3-4 days in total. The rest of the time I attempted to earn money however I could (minus the dodgy offers I received to give blow jobs for toast and butter and other sexual services).

When I begged I did it because I really needed to, I had nothing else.

I did it because I was that hungry that I could no longer offer to knock down walls for £5 if someone could just lend me a sledghammer. I was too weak, or I was ill and unable to.

When I begged, those very few times, those people who gave me money were my saviours. I sometimes reflect that I shouldn't have made it off the streets, the odds were against me. I should be dead, never known enough to be forgotten.

Can you tell a person in need from one on the take?

Do you think it's race, or gender that defines that?

Do you think it's age?

Do you think that a person who appears more run-down has a more urgent need than someone who washed recently?

Do you think the urgency of need can be told from how they smell?

I can guarantee that you'll get it wrong some of the time.

I give today, without question. I know some are on the take, that most are not in that level of need. But I'm not going to walk past the person that is in that level of need and I know I can't tell the difference either.

I'm also not going to dictate that I'll buy some shitty fast food meal. I was ill so much on the streets. It's hard to be healthy when you're cold, damp, and frankly eating food that makes it hard to stay healthy at all. And sometimes I would skip meals, I'd feel hungrier if I ate... it stretched the stomach, created a bigger emptiness inside. Sometimes when I had money I needed to ration it on food I could digest over a long period of time... buying me a sandwich wouldn't have helped me greatly, it satisfies your need not mine.

This may be different in San Francisco (I've seen that you have a hell of a problem there)... my experience is in the UK where you may only pass a person begging every few days at most.

But seriously... that few quid in your pocket, it's not going to make a difference to your life, you'll still be at whatever your wealth level tomorrow. But it could really make a difference to the person you give it to.

Personally, it's my policy to give money to anyone who asks unless they are drunk. I know that a lot of beggars are simply trying to take advantage of people like me, but on the other hand there is a lot of people who really need help. I'm not in a position to sort them out, and I'm most certainly not going to judge them. If I'm better off then they are, why not give a few $?

One more thing. Sometimes I see a lot of people asking for money for a "bus ticket" or "gas" because "their car broke down" I always tell them that I know they are full of shit, and that they should change their line. they will still get few $, as I prefer that they ask for money instead of robbing someone else.

And in all honesty, do beggars do anything different than your average sales person? Instead of a product they are selling their poverty. If they good at doing that why not reward them :)