People Might Get Arrested for Giving Money to the Homeless

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Charlotte Councilmember Suggests Arresting People Giving Money To Homeless


https://www.iheart.com/content/2021-06- ... 3_readmore

That councilmember should either resign or hangout with homeless people.

Such an idea like this IMO is insensitive.

This isn't the first time Republicans have pushed something like this.

Give the homeless food, water or other necessities but not money.

Do Not Feed The Bears???

Giving money to homeless people is like giving food to stray animals.  More and more of their kind will come around looking for handouts; and sooner or later, they will attack someone for not giving them a handout or simply attack someone for being in "their" territory.

It's pretty likely that some of the change and dollars people give the homeless goes for drugs or alcohol.

I sometimes give; but sometimes, I don't.

I believe arresting people for giving to the homeless is ridiculous.

I see homeless people every day on the trains, and in the streets. You have some nice people; and then you have some really nasty people.

I would say that most single homeless people either have a mental illness, are alcoholics, or are drug addicts.

The Director of Our local homeless shelter has gone on TV and radio telling people to never give money, only food. Money goes to drugs and drug addiction is almost universal among the homeless population.

San Francisco had active political efforts to "clean up" downtown by pushing the homeless population outside of city limits. One aspect of this was making it illegal to give food to the homeless.

So what does my father do? Make a mission of giving food to the homeless, with a videographer nearby. When the cops showed up to arrest him, he walked into a fountain so they would have to get wet if they wanted to arrest him. It's just one of the wacky stories I grew up with. I think the cops just waited for him to get bored and then cited him when he left the fountain on his own. (Having visible TV cameras is helpful in avoiding police violence - I recommend it.)

In the UK there are people who sit around on the street posing as a homeless person just to get money for hard drugs, which leads to crime.

It's true that doing something philanthropic or simply person-to-person helping does make the giver "feel good." So what? Why is that a bad thing?

It's better that you voluntarily give someone money that they then use for booze or drugs, than have them robbing and burglarizing to get that same money.

Whenever I hear or read something referring to homeless people using drugs, I remember this Hoyt Axton / Steppenwolf song "Snowblind Friend" (audio only):



Lyrics:

You say it was this morning when you last saw your good friend
Lyin' on the pavement with a misery on his brain
Stoned on some new potion he found upon the wall
Of some unholy bathroom in some ungodly hall

He only had a dollar to live on 'til next Monday
But he spent it on some comfort for his mind
Did you say you think he's blind?

Someone should call his parents, a sister or a brother
And they'll come to take him back home on a bus
But he'll always be a problem to his poor and puzzled mother
Yeah he'll always be another one of us

He said he wanted Heaven but prayin' was too slow
So he bought a one way ticket on an airline made of snow
Did you say you saw your good friend flyin' low?
Flyin' low
Dyin' slow...