TO GIVE OR NOT TO GIVE

Dec 04, 2011 Editorial

A woman stands at a road junction soliciting alms. She has an old lady with her and has been begging in all parts of the city for years now.
She is very courteous and whenever she is given some small change she always expresses her appreciation. You feel sorry for her but you wonder if this is part of a professional scheme on her part to avoid working.
She is not old. She is middle-aged, able and agile. The fact that she can walk the line all day begging from every vehicle that stops at the junction makes you wonder whether by giving her some money you are not encouraging her to avoid gainful employment. And why does she have that old lady in the sun all day.
At the other extreme, there is a fellow with permanently mangled limbs, both hands and feet, who stands by another junction. He used crutches to support himself and has a bag in which you have to drop the money because he does not have properly formed hands. While society today is trying to find suitable jobs for persons with physical handicaps, it is hard to see what job can be found for this fellow. Surely, he is one who needs help because he cannot be expected to work, given his disability.
Then there is the blind fellow who begs outside the Camp Site. Surely, he is a needy case. He is someone who can be put to work even though he is blind.
But what about that other fellow with his leg in a cast now for over one year who begs at another traffic junction? Surely this guy should not be on the road with his leg so badly broken. He hobbles around on one leg moving from car to car asking for a donation. He must be exhausted at the end of the day. He should be resting that leg.
How does he expect it to fully mend when he is limping on it all day? By helping him are you not encouraging him to cause permanent damage to his leg?
The above listed cases are assisted every day by many persons. Guyanese are very generous people and many assist people in need. But there may be different reasons why the above cases are helped.
For many these persons soliciting openly in public are a nuisance. And so simply to get rid of them quickly people stick a $20 in their hands. Others are conscious that the driver behind or the passengers at the side are watching what they will do when the beggar approaches. And so they give so as not to look bad. But there are many who give because they genuinely feel a need to help these beggars.
However, there are others- and this is quite a large category- who simply refuse to help. In fact some of them openly abuse these beggars. “You too young to be begging. Why you don’t go and look for work?” Others refuse to give because they feel that some of the persons soliciting on our streets are simply schemers trying to get money the easy way.
Then there are those who refuse to give certain beggars because they feel that these persons are going to use the money to buy narcotics. “I am not giving you a blind cent. You will take it and buy dope,” they announce loudly.
There is one particular fellow that can be seen all around. He looks like a drug addict and he is persistent when he begs. No matter what attitude you adopt towards him he does not back off. If you try to be courteous to him, he keeps insisting on a raise. If you are stern with him, he does the same.
You believe in your heart that if you give this fellow some help, he will take it and go and buy illegal drugs. But when you look at him he looks emaciated and hungry. So what do you do? Do you give or do you not give?
These are some of the moral dilemmas that citizens face when dealing with beggars. The decision as to whether to help or not to help is one that each person has to consider and then to decide what to do.
The easy thing to do would be to ask the government to help these beggars and to put an end to those who can do better but prefer to be professional beggars.
But this passing the buck does not remove the moral dilemma. How would you treat these cases? Do you give or don’t give?

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TO GIVE OR NOT TO GIVE

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