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RE: Being Free To Help Others In Need
It's a difficult situation, I think. There are definitely people out there that need the helping hand until they get their footing again to recover. But you can't really deny that there aren't homeless people out there that take advantage of the generosity of people. There are people that could care less if their lives improve. They're fine with remaining homeless and living off of the generosity of a passerby. But I still say that it's better to be generous and help those that need it. I think teaching them "how to fish" is better than "giving them the fish." But everyone is different.
If the guy next to me fished 100 fish in ten minutes with his fancy fishing equipment and then threw 90 in the garbage, I wouldn't feel motivated to fish either. I'd go fish in his garbage. If he tried to have me arrested for "stealing" his waste I'd call him an asshole and I'd be right.
The best thing we can do for homeless people is to make them feel more like humans. We can do this however we choose. When you live under a bridge and people look at you like you are trash, it's hard to believe that your situation could or even should get better. I actually rarely give money to people in the streets but I smile and nod at them and if they don't seem nuts or like they want to follow me home, I'll have a conversation with them. I've sat and hade beer and cheap donated meals with the homeless. This isn't always a safe thing to do, it's better to keep some distance sometimes but I was lucky enough to be introduced to a group of homeless people who weren't threatening at all and with a group of friend in a safe place. But even just a smile is kind of "teaching them how to fish" because they have to remember that they are humans and that they are capable of influencing their own situations.... Kind of the opposite of "don't feed the dogs" laws.