So, to get this out of the way, I’m a cisgender white man from a well-off family in a fairly affluent town. I’m making this post because I want to hear perspectives from those who are different from and likely significantly more knowledgeable than me. (Literally as I was writing this post, I came to the epiphany that I should probably more properly educate myself on socialism.)
TL;DR: What is your opinion on giving money to houseless people you see IRL?
I like to consider myself socialist/progressive in thought—in favor of wealth redistribution via various methods, live and let live, freedom for everyone as long as you’re not materially harming anyone, etc.—but I grew up in a fairly conservative household (more socially than fiscally, but even then). Being in a rich area, I never really saw houseless people around unless I went to one of the nearby cities, and the general policy was keep walking and don’t look. My parents definitely raised me to be kind and generous, but more in a detached “give to charity” way.
Rather recently, I’ve really embraced this idea of being socialist, and I’ve become very free with giving my money in particular (though I’m aware I could do more, like join a DSA branch or somethin’). I love giving to non-profit organizations when I can, I support creators I like on Patreon. I’ve even started giving to people on Fedi who I’ve seen need money for whatever reason. Spread the wealth, right?
Now, things have changed where I live, and even in my rich lil burb, you can usually find at least one refugee or houseless person when you go out to a grocery store or something. I just saw a guy who was standing outside a grocery store asking for spare change, and it was a rare occasion that I actually had cash in my wallet. On my way out, I gave it to him. Simple.
But I feel weird about it. I have all these ideas in my head from White America saying that they’ll just buy alcohol or drugs with it or that they’re scamming me or anything else like that. Then on the other hand, I think that it’s just as likely (if not more) that they’re going to spend it on things they actually need to live and how it’s not my job to police how they use their money. And then on the third hand, I think that maybe it would be better to donate money to organizations that help out houseless people than just giving money to random people. Then on the fourth hand—you get the idea.
For those of you who actually read the whole post and didn’t stop at the TL;DR, I have a few questions:
- Why in God’s name did you actually read this whole thing?
- Are these feelings normal or am I just a self-centered prick?
- What are your opinions on giving money to houseless people you just randomly meet?
- As a bonus question for the socialists out there: Any recs on socialism learning resources for someone who likes reading, but doesn’t like reading books?
For those of you who made it all the way to the end, thank you for reading my neurotic ramblings.
EDIT: I didn’t really expect this to blow up… but thank you all so much for your perspectives on everything. It was exactly what I was hoping for and exactly what I didn’t think I was going to get. I tried to read everything and I feel simultaneously less conflicted, but definitely more… not confused, but maybe full of ideas?
If they want to spend any money you them on drugs/alcohol… So what? Like, I can guarantee you that if I had to sleep on the street whatever gets me through my day or helps me sleep does that. Giving homeless people food is kind, but honestly it’s very common already and they have other needs. I give them money, because I’ve almost been there a few points in my life.
Absolutely no one needs to be given money for drugs/alcohol. I was a homeless drug addict and the amount of mental illness and trauma that’s out there is beyond your imagination, if you haven’t lived it, I can’t blame you for your thinking. But please don’t enable people, there is so much trauma out there and helping to perpetuate it is no good deed. The things I’ve went through and witnessed is down right awful stuff and it’s happening right now in the homeless drug circles and I’m not talking theft, it gets much much worse. If you feel for the homeless your best bet is donating to outreach and homeless shelter or volunteering your time and being a kind ear to listen and maybe show them they are worthy of love and a better life.
i don’t want to invalidate your experience, but harm reduction research suggests this is a flawed perspective. somebody should be getting drugs for people who need them. quitting some drugs is difficult, if you do it wrong you can die, and if people can get drugs without doing dangerous shit, they probably will. there are cogent arguments to suggest that giving people drugs when they ask for them, providing them with resources that make taking those drugs safer, and giving them a place to live might really make it easier for people to quit, because you are giving them stability they can’t provide for themselves. certainly providing rehab resources freely is part of it, but if you remove the need to pay for drugs, alot of the incentive to do bad stuff to get drugs disappears.