Your thoughts about poor people.

Hello,vermillion! I was offering money to the beggars previously.but since my government has floated various schemes and giving all sorts of assistance to the poor people the number of beggars in my city has been diminished.now only a handful of beggars are begging near temples,churches and mosques.my government has rehabilitated them. a wonderful achievement it is.thanx.

I almost always drop a dollar or two for a street musicians or other artists, at least they are offering their talents in trade for some money. I rarely just give money when asked though, but I have been known to at times.

It depends, when i see street children and old people on the streets I pity them. Sometimes I give them food to eat instead of money. But if i see young men who looks fit to work but still begs for money i tell them to find a job instead of begging. They can work on construction areas.

I usually try not to judge anybody... I know most of them have some sort of story behind how they came into situation they're in... I've given them food & money but I try not to give them money... Some are just lazy & their fault for being where they are, no motivation to get out & try to make anything of themselves... I'm speaking in general term & I'm sure there are some that just happened that way for legitimate reason... I know of one person who moved to different state because he accepted a job, then 1 1/2 years later, business ended up going under, then 2 weeks before he started another, his house burnt down... He stayed in homeless shelter for 4 month while he got back on his feet...

I feel bad for them , because in some way or form they are suffering and don't have a good life at all . I do give money to them if i see one , but thery are not commom in the area I live they are more in the city . I wont give a drunk one any money though . In most cases no1 choses to be poor .

I usually give them food but if I dont have any I give them some of my spare money. I only do this to elderly and children. I do not give any to people who seems to be in perfect shape or still has the strenght to work. I pity those children and elders but hey what can I do? I cannot save all of them...

i remember a bunch of kids whom i treated to mcdonalds. they would normally ask money. i am not a well off individual, but i am willing to share what i have. i posted a pic from one of those.

Good question. I think it largely depends on what country you are talking about. In some countries you can justifiably say 'it is their own fault in someway' - hey, some people want to live like that - or so they say! (they have never said it to me, I just read about it and I think it was mostly people with mental problems - they should have been in hospital I guess). In other countries is it definitely NOT 'their own fault'. It can also depend on the economic situation at the time. I guess what I am trying to say is that a lot depends on the circumstances at the time. Personally, I believe that charity starts at home - especially when times are hard. I grew up in South Africa and times were always hard. We got by and were a middle class family, but there was never loads of spare cash lying around. I worked for 10 years before I got to a point where I had a bit of spare cash and could afford to go out and treat my friends to a round of drinks, rather than each of us paying for what we were drinking so as not to spend too much money. My hubby and I have worked hard for what we have, and continue to work hard - that is how we are able to give our kids the type of childhood we never had because money was too tight. At that time, it was definitely a case of 'get off your butt and go get a job'. In hindsight (older and wiser) that may not have been as easy as it sounds - where to clean up, live, decent clothes, etc.. Over time, the people begging on street corners seemed to work out that if they 'did something' then people were more likely to give them some cash - they started washing windscreens when you stopped at the traffic light, they did car guard duties at shopping centres, etc and this earned them some spare cash. Sadly many of them spent it on drink rather then food - but what can you do? These days, with the economic situation the world over (it seems), I think we are going to see a lot more people begging on street corners and I would like to think that if possible I will help them out, but with times like they are - who can afford to do that too often? I have my own family to take care of and they will always come first. Violetdreams