Lending a Helping Hand?
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It's an all too familiar situation; your car is rolling up to a red light and you notice the ragged-looked man standing in the median, holding a veteran sign and a cup for change. Gut-reaction, you probably feel bad for this individual. However, you might also not want to necessarily interact and roll down your window. This may make you feel guilty, but is it morally wrong to not give money to those on the street asking for money? Or is it actually the right thing to do?
Turns out, there is not such a cut and dry answer to this dilemma. At surface level, giving money to someone who obviously has hit hard times is a kind thing to do. The couple of dollars you spare will not make or break your dinner; but it might make or break theirs.
However, you have no idea what will happen with that money. Consider how they hit those hard times. Was it a drug problem? A gambling addiction? How do you know that they will not turn around and spend that money on that same thing that landed them there in the first place? And what kind of moral responsibility do you have if that money you give them goes to the shot of heroin that ends up ending their life?
As it turns out, a London-based study found that “80% of people begging in the capital do so to support a drug habit which is often an addiction to substances including crack cocaine and heroin.” With that high of a number, the risk is very high that you will be doing more eventual harm than good.
There are also many other reasons that giving money to those on the street asking for money runs a risk that outweighs the benefits. When you give them money, you might be encouraging them to rely on this practice. It was successful with you, so if they can keep doing this they may avoid going elsewhere for help. In the long run, the arguably best case scenario for them is professional help. Without a catalyst to push them there, and with dozens of enablers per day, how heavily does that responsibility of their current failure to get help fall on those doing the enabling? Morally, and no matter the intention, if your good deed results in misfortune for those involved, it is no longer a good deed.
And what about the physical danger that is present to these people? Standing in busy intersections almost running up to cars is hardly a safe thing to spend your day doing. Again, enabling this behavior could be chalked up to encouraging it, and causing physical harm to an innocent person is always considered immoral.
So with all of these reasons as to why you should not give money to those on the street asking for money, how do you go about helping them in another manner? The next best thing logically is to buy them food and give that to them yourself. With this method, you are still helping a person who very much needs help. Even if they are lying about their circumstances, you are still committing a kind act as you are providing a stranger with a free meal. You also then know that your help is not going towards an addiction or helping continue the cycle that is keeping them in their current situation.
Sadly, there is a wrinkle in that plan of action. The person who you are feeding might be allergic to what you give them, taking away the benefit of what you are doing. Again, the good deed only counts on the outcome of the action, and can not be considered the right thing morally if the action results in harm to the other person. Therefore, I would argue that the best option in this situation is to try and help direct them to the nearest police station or homeless shelter. You may do so physically or verbally, as doing so physically may seem too dangerous to your own person. With this final method, you are doing your best to eliminate all possible negative consequences of whatever you do. In mitigating bad reactions, and still attempting to provide help, your moral obligation to your fellow human is being fulfilled. Of course, in every situation, you must consider your own safety. But if you are able to help the safety of another, doing so would be in your best interest as a contributing member of society.
References
Cherry Wilson, “Should We Give Money to Beggars”, BBC News (September 2016), https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-37492659