Quote:
Originally Posted by Sundae Girl
It just seems to me that living on the streets is hard.
I can't see it as a cushy option.
And begging is dangerous and must be soul destroying.
I have read similar reports to Ali, published in the UK re the amount of homeless people with mental health problems. I know it was exacerbated in this country when the Govt of the time moved away from mental health institutions and into "care in the community" which was basically a recipe to let people fall through the cracks. One particular one was commissioned by the NHS in Leicester and the statistics would make you weep - percentages with disorders, who have been assaulted, raped in the case of women, who have STDs, TB, AIDs etc. Many have long term health conditions which will kill them if alcoholism and street living don't beat them to it.
I figure that someone who is reduced to having to ask strangers for money is far worse off than I am. Therefore if I have something to spare, they will value it more than I do. Oh and if they are in fact a clever scammer, only pretending to be drunk and scruffy and dirty, and are going home that night to a penthouse apartment, well enough of my money goes in profit to other fat cats, one more isn't exactly going to break me.
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Yep bein homeless isn't cushy. But I'm talking about beggars, not homeless. Just b/c they say, act, look homeless doesn't mean they are.
The mental illness is a problem here too. If I have something to spare then it should go to a friend. The friend and I both will value that more. Think about it tho SG. If you cared about that money really helping people, then why not save it and give it to a friend/family down on hard times? Or a reputable charity? Givin your money to the right people increases its and your power to help. Yeah alot of money already goes to greedy bastards, so whenever I can I try to keep it away from them. I do care about where my money goes because I have so little of it to give away that I want to do the most with it I can.