tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5917430.post1831025026757464459..comments2023-10-31T13:15:07.875+00:00Comments on Subversive Puppet Show: Have I Become a Heartless Bastard?Jasonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01891504714516423410noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5917430.post-37801318484195533102006-11-02T19:06:00.000+00:002006-11-02T19:06:00.000+00:00No, you aren't a heartless bastard--you just reall...No, you aren't a heartless bastard--you just really buy into the ideology of capitalism, or you are at this moment and in the circumstances you describe. I can understand being annoyed by having people constantly ask for money--there are alot of homeless people in Gainesville who ask me for money quite frequently. My attitude is that I will help them if I can, but I don't feel guilty if I can't. <br /><br />But I think that your reaction is quite indicative of an attitude that homeless people are "lazy" or that they can get help but choose not to. In reality, things are much more complicated. Homeless people can, in fact, be employed, work in a shelter and still not get enough money or food to survive. I know you've worked with poor people, and you've seen people who "cheat" the system. But, you shouldn't be so quick to judge about a person's circumstances--or their motives--when you don't know them. <br /><br />If our government really cared about taking care of its citizens, you wouldn't have to deal with homeless people. "Pity would be no more/If we did not make people poor."--W.Blake. I think what you REALLY can't face is that you DO feel guilty, you do feel like you are a heartless bastard simply because you make enough money not to have to debase yourself by asking people--constantly--for help. But I also think that you are, at least partially, transferring that guilt onto the homeless person because s/he is an easy target. Give what you can, or what you want to give, and stop playing these games of responsibility with yourself and homeless people. True, there are services to help them, but there will always be people who either can't get help or simply don't want to get help in the way that you describe. They will always ask you for money, and you will be in a position to either give it to them (without knowing what they are going to do with it) or not.Roger Whitsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09728434263500252895noreply@blogger.com