Thoughts on giving to beggars

I just read about a man, who lives a very simple life. Has an occupation as a beggar. And gives all his begging earned money to the poor.

I have also just read about a man, who takes on odd jobs for a living. Everymonth he donates 400 euro to the poor. Every Friday, he goes around town with food boxes, giving it around to the poor, becak riders, and the homeless.

These kind of stories are inspiring, but they also leave you feeling guilty. These people are inspiring because they don’t enjoy luxury. Imagine if they enjoy a little luxury, would the story be as strong? What if they go home and take a bath in their Jacuzzi? Would the selfless giving of food pay for the selfish hot expensive Jacuzzi bath?

These people seem to be so selfless. Why don’t I get up and do this too? Help a lot of people.

Then I remember the excuses I make for not doing these things.

First: giving to the poor just teaches them to receive. If you do it continually, they may spot that and take advantage of it. Without making more effort to improve their lives. That is the reason why I don’t agree in begging. You just ask people for money, without contributing to society. (HOW are you contributing to society these days? It’s a question to ask yourself. For me, I am being a polite member of society, and I’m studying to build a better trade back home)

Second: its better to give them a pole and a hook, rather than a fish.. But giving a man a pole and teaching a man to fish requires quite a lot of time and effort invested. The returns may not be satisfying. In fact, people may even spit in your face after receiving your help. It is not a surprising aspect of human nature.

Third: how much do they really need food?

Fourth: There are far too many mouths to feed, then one could possibly give out food packets.

Good thing: Free goods in decent shape is a nice thing to receive. It may brighten up someone’s day. It may not solve all their problems, but it may give a boost.

The supplier of the food packets will also be lucky.

So for example, there is a guy on the bridge.

Let’s say you give him a sandwich. He will be grateful. He will be less hungry. He may not show the gratitude. He may be too busy with his food. He may not like the food and just discard it, but really if he is chronically hungry, he will eat it.

Giving a person a sandwich will not improve his life in the long term, except from giving this person a bit of humanity, which he may in turn give to others in other instances.

Imagine in Jakarta, you show up on a  road intersection with 20 packs of rice. And start to give it to the children. A group of older boys, premans come and ask for their share.

“Mana buat kita? Kita juga lapar”

“Bang, nasi bungkusnya hanya ada 20 nih. Bareng2 aja yah.”

“Mana kenyang?”

“Ya adanya segini.”

“Ya bawa lebih donk.” -à ini mayan keterlaluan sih, tapi namany juga preman..

“Bawa aja sendiri.”à Bikin marah gak ya kalo jawab ini..