"While waiting for the traffic signal to turn green, a young girl with an infant clinging on to her knocks on your window and raises her hand gesturing for ‘help’. "
The common argument against giving alms is that the charity would in all probability go into the hands of the ‘drug lords’ and the ‘syndicate’ which controls these beggars. Also in the process, we’re encouraging this 'system' to work and demotivating them from doing any collective action.
Then, why not the people who propose this argument get together, mobilize other such theorists and collectively try helping those who are calling out for ‘help’ instead of expecting them to help themselves?
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5 comments:
Sean,
Such people do not derive any kind of benefit from the process of getting together and collectively helping them. While in the case of the beggars, since its a matter of their livelihood, the chances of having a collective action is higher.
I feel if there is one strong leader among themselves or even an external agent can improve their condition.
I think it is a very noble idea to mobilize well off people to help these beggers. But I would not question the non-alms giver for not coming together, for at least they are not helping these so called beggers(majority of them), who don't get a proper job because they have to labour hard and get relatively less pay, to be in this same profession(yes begging has become profession..there are a few cases that I know personally when people left their paid jobs and sat on streets or went door to door to earn twice than what they got earlier)
I basically feel that when people say you should not give alms cause you're just encouraging beggary, it's just an excuse they make to satisfy their inner conscience for not doing anything to help these helpless people.
Instead, why not actually do something about it. Try and find the reason why the child is forced to beg. Try getting the child out of this trap and off the streets.
The quest for individual survival is what prevents the beggars from realising the power of the collective. For those earning more, fear that collective action on their part may reduce their personal earning prevents them for coming together. Thus individual rationality does not aggregate to collective rationality. Here is needed an outsider and can explain and convince the collective. Also since there is indeed a lobby which feeds on it ,chances are that such a utilitarian will do more good than harm as those beggars supporting him might have to face recursions. These factors might discourage people from helping them.
If we take the begging business as being controlled by the 'drug lords', then the cost of coming together for collective action will be much higher than the benefit(which in this case may be satisfaction or happiness received by helping others). No one would like to mess with or go against the powerful and the dangerous. Hence there would be little incentive for them to help out these beggars.
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