Why Don't You Give Cash to Homeless People?

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Unpopular opinion: We should give homeless people cash.

It's very common for people to be adamantly against giving cash to the homeless. In my experience, this attitude transcends race, religion, culture, and political ideology. Even some of my fellow radical leftists balk at the idea of handing a dude on the streets ten bucks.

I do not want this to be a discussion about WHETHER homeless people tend to spend cash on cigarettes, booze, and drugs. Instead, I think a better question for discussion is: Why shouldn't they?

I would first point out that 100% of us buy or do things every day that neither advance our survival needs nor improve our standard of living. We all have luxuries. We all enjoy one "frivolous" thing or another. But society talks about homeless people as if it's reasonable to demand that they care only for their survival needs and for getting out of homelessness. But it's not reasonable. Sometimes we all just need something comforting, even if only for a few minutes. Maybe it's a ridiculously expense drink from Starbucks, maybe it's getting highlights in your hair, or a chessboard or just a cigarette. I smoked between the ages of 16 and 23. I was often broke and out of cigarettes, and when I was having cravings on a bad day, when someone finally had a cigarette for me, it gave me at least an hour of feeling better. That's meaningful. Feeling better is meaningful and worthwhile.

Or how about a drink? Have you ever had a cold beer or a neat whiskey at the end of a hard day? Should homeless people never have that comfort? I would also point out that if someone is an alcoholic, giving them money for booze might literally save their life. Alcohol withdrawal can kill. And if they buy drugs? Opioid withdrawal can't kill directly but it's torture and might make someone suicidal or make a destructive decision that ruins their life.

But rather than focus on need, I more so want to focus on comfort. If millions of people hand out a few bucks every day, millions of people get millions of little comforts. All that added up is an incomprehensible reduction in human suffering.

So tell me, if you won't give homeless people cash, why? If you think they can't be trusted with it, are you not infantilizing them? If you were in their situation and asked for help, would you honestly be happy with someone else telling you what you need? Is it so unreasonable for a homeless person to seek out the temporary relief of a cigarette or a beer? In their situation, would you really forgo any "unnecessary" luxury? Should homeless people focus 100% of their effort on getting out. Don't small comforts matter?

[Vorausen]

My parents if they have money with them usually gives the homeless people we saw the road some quarters and coins. However our church gave us these little baggies which carry basic items, and my church has teamed with another church to donate supplies (think tenants, food, liquids etc) to the homeless. I feel like giving the homeless essentials and supplies is better than giving them money, as it is less likely to be used for something bad. But if I don’t have a baggie with me, I still give them spare change and money I may have. There is nothing wrong with giving the homeless money, more of a personal preference for me.

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My parents if they have money with them usually gives the homeless people we saw the road some quarters and coins. However our church gave us these little baggies which carry basic items, and my church has teamed with another church to donate supplies (think tenants, food, liquids etc) to the homeless. I feel like giving the homeless essentials and supplies is better than giving them money, as it is less likely to be used for something bad. But if I don’t have a baggie with me, I still give them spare change and money I may have. There is nothing wrong with giving the homeless money, more of a personal preference for me.

But what constitutes "something bad"? Is a pack of cigarettes bad? Yeah, cigarettes are poison but in a lifetime of smoking, a few more or less doesn't make a difference. And it can make someone's day less shitty.

There is nothing wrong with giving homeless people essentials but there are millions of people and organizations already doing that. Shouldn't they get non-essentials that they desire sometimes? Even if 90% of the money people donated was to charity and only 10% was handing out cash, wouldn't that go for in making lots of people's days better?

[Ifreann]

It's a bit strange that when it comes to giving cash to the homeless people are very concerned with what ends that cash will be put towards, but when it comes to everything else we do with our money we tend not to think like that. I bought some Steam games, and I didn't give a moment's thought towards whether that money might be used to buy drugs or booze.

[Vorausen]

My parents if they have money with them usually gives the homeless people we saw the road some quarters and coins. However our church gave us these little baggies which carry basic items, and my church has teamed with another church to donate supplies (think tenants, food, liquids etc) to the homeless. I feel like giving the homeless essentials and supplies is better than giving them money, as it is less likely to be used for something bad. But if I don’t have a baggie with me, I still give them spare change and money I may have. There is nothing wrong with giving the homeless money, more of a personal preference for me.

But what constitutes "something bad"? Is a pack of cigarettes bad? Yeah, cigarettes are poison but in a lifetime of smoking, a few more or less doesn't make a difference. And it can make someone's day less shitty.

There is nothing wrong with giving homeless people essentials but there are millions of people and organizations already doing that. Shouldn't they get non-essentials that they desire sometimes? Even if 90% of the money people donated was to charity and only 10% was handing out cash, wouldn't that go for in making lots of people's days better?

Like I said fits honestly up to you, whatever you prefer and feel is better for the homeless person.

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But what constitutes "something bad"? Is a pack of cigarettes bad? Yeah, cigarettes are poison but in a lifetime of smoking, a few more or less doesn't make a difference. And it can make someone's day less shitty.

There is nothing wrong with giving homeless people essentials but there are millions of people and organizations already doing that. Shouldn't they get non-essentials that they desire sometimes? Even if 90% of the money people donated was to charity and only 10% was handing out cash, wouldn't that go for in making lots of people's days better?

Like I said fits honestly up to you, whatever you prefer and feel is better for the homeless person.

But shouldn't the homeless person get to decide what is better for them? How could I possibly make an accurate judgment about the needs of a stranger?

[Ethel mermania]

I give homeless cash, Sometimes food if I have it.

Do I give to everyone who asks? No, but pre-pandemic probably 10 - 15 bucks a week.

Buskers almost always get money.

[Washington Resistance Army]

Because I'm not rich.

[Kilobugya]

I consider giving to organized charities (like Secours Populaire or Restaurant du Coeur) to be a more efficient and fair usage of the same amount of money. But I don't see anything wrong with giving directly to homeless people.

[Ifreann]

Because I'm not rich.

If you have no spare cash, you could always give them a spare gun.

[Vassenor]

I don't carry cash.

[523]

Because for some reason our society likes to scrutinise how the poor spend their money, but not the rich. Lots of people I know wouldn't care if some billionaire contributing nothing to society bought a private yacht, yet they are whipped into frenzies when they suspect homeless people are buying drugs (which is actually not that prevalent and yet another example of anti-poor propaganda we're all exposed to.)

[Washington Resistance Army]

Because I'm not rich.

If you have no spare cash, you could always give them a spare gun.

Sadly I cannot, Washington has a Universal Background Check law and background checks are expensive to do nowadays. No free guns in blue states

[Ifreann]

If you have no spare cash, you could always give them a spare gun.

Sadly I cannot, Washington has a Universal Background Check law and background checks are expensive to do nowadays. No free guns in blue states

Thanks, Obama.

[Picairn]

We don't give cash to beggars and homeless people here because there were multiple reported instances of them being used by the "beggar ranchers". Basically, those fuckers gather beggars, homeless people and children then send them out to beg on the streets for money, later delivering the money to their greedy bosses, making a handsome profit in the process. If they don't deliver the required amount then they may be beaten or starved. Disgusting stuff, really.

So many people decided that they will never give money to beggars again, to stop the beggar ranchers from making profits on vulnerable homeless people and children.

I would still give some small amount of cash if a homeless person asks me though.

[Kubra]

Like I said fits honestly up to you, whatever you prefer and feel is better for the homeless person.

But shouldn't the homeless person get to decide what is better for them? How could I possibly make an accurate judgment about the needs of a stranger?

take up smoking, let em bum, talk a bit.
Do I know what's best for folks? Probably not. Should I judge a guys meth habits despite having taken proper middle-class speed? *definitely* not. But should I help the obvious case of untreated schizophrenia get more? That's an ehhhh from me dawg, best I can do is tell him what the LP's at the local grocery store look like.

[Lost Memories]

It depends where you live, in some places there are criminal organizations which exploit and abuse beggars to gather money.
In those cases it's better to avoid giving money, and give instead food and other things needed, as those things can't be converted back easily to money. Fresh food is the best in that sense(bread and other non-industrial food), as it expires, it's hardly resellable.
But to play it safe, it's always better to avoid money, and go with food or supplies.

Talking with the person to understand what they need is better than giving them things without knowing.
If a person is begging in front of a grocery store, you could presume to know what they need, but stopping and asking is better than assuming, and otherwise giving them something they don't need.

Talking with them, is also useful to filter out the frauds, but then again, if someone has "beggar" as a job, that's still very miserable, making them actual real beggars, needing help nonetheless. Actually, people involved into beggar frauds, may be more in need of help than others, to get out of that system.


But above any material charity, be it money or food, the best thing to do would be to direct any beggar to any organization which could be able to help them with other things than just surviving day by day. Like jobs or other support.
That requires much more involvement. If people don't even stop to talk with people begging, they are hardly ever going to do so much as to help them on the source of their begging, to bring them to don't need to beg to start with.
There is also the issue of finding reliable organizations to recommend or direct beggars to, to follow up and actually help them.


I've personally bought food multiple times, but I'm yet to organize as to direct any to charity organizations or other places with useful informations for them.
I haven't done what I think to be the best practice, more out of lazyness than anything, as I think is the case for most people, most don't want to get involved, most don't want to get out of their routines, it takes a voluntary effort to get involved and help others, on a very personal level it's not easy.

[Salus Maior]

I have before. But in terms of charity I prefer things like donating to food banks.

[Trollzyn the Infinite]

Because I'm not rich.

I don't carry cash.

Both of these sum it up rather well. I live paycheck to paycheck and tge last time I had cold, hard cash in my wallet was maybe 2-3 years ago.

[The Federal Government of Iowa]

It would be better to give food or usable items like clothes. As for drugs? Well, they are homeless and hungry, aren't they? They shouldn't be buying drugs when they could be buying things that will keep them alive until help can reach them.

[The Alma Mater]

In general: Because cash is something from the last millennium. Smartphone and cards can be used everywhere. During Covid we are also explicitly asked to not use cash and use contactless payments as often as possible - so I do and no barely carry any cash anymore.

Well, ok - I do carry a € 50 bill in a "emergency cash" keychain for if there is some widespread system failure; but I seldomn give that amount to beggars.

Before Covid I used to carry around a few 10s to hand to beggars. I am uncertain if I will return to that post-covid. Buying them a beer, coffee or sandwich seems to work just as well.

[Kubra]

It would be better to give food or usable items like clothes. As for drugs? Well, they are homeless and hungry, aren't they? They shouldn't be buying drugs when they could be buying things that will keep them alive until help can reach them.

Well uh dunno how to tell you this, drugs are a hell of a drug. It's only fear of the shakes that keeps me from full blown alcoholism, lemme tell ya.

[Ifreann]

It would be better to give food or usable items like clothes. As for drugs? Well, they are homeless and hungry, aren't they? They shouldn't be buying drugs when they could be buying things that will keep them alive until help can reach them.

If someone is starving to death then they aren't likely to buy drugs instead of food.

[The Federal Government of Iowa]

It would be better to give food or usable items like clothes. As for drugs? Well, they are homeless and hungry, aren't they? They shouldn't be buying drugs when they could be buying things that will keep them alive until help can reach them.

Well uh dunno how to tell you this, drugs are a hell of a drug. It's only fear of the shakes that keeps me from full blown alcoholism, lemme tell ya.

[Forsher]

Should anyone be buying cigarettes? no.

Should anyone be buying recreational drugs? boring people, maybe.

Should anyone be buying alcohol for recreation purposes? again, maybe boring people.

I'm not going to be party to any of those things regardless of whether or not they're homeless.

In the UK, it'd probably be worth having a tin of soup or whatever and just handing over that once in a while. Here that's ridiculous. You're really lucky if you can get a 2 for $5 deal on soup... for comparison you can buy soup for about 80p, which is about a $1.6, which is about 3 for $5. Of course, baked beans are cheaper and probably more interesting cold...

Anyway, I reject charity in all forms. That's why I don't. Also, I'm a dragon... I hoard money.

EDIT: also, been quite some time since I've seen anyone homeless and I definitely don't have cash on me these days. I'm talking more about "when I've been in town in the past".