Fighting Poverty

This post is largely a response to a post by Mair about poverty. In the post, she's upset about a law recently passed in a county in Virginia prohibiting (homeless) people from asking for money on public roads and highway medians. She has this to say:

"The law upset me because I feel like there is nothing wrong with homeless persons reaching out to their fellow man/woman in this way. To me, asking strangers for money is a beautifully heart-breaking example of humility and yet dignity. I think the ability to ask for help is one of the most dignified acts we can do."

What worries me about what Mair's said is that it romanticizes poverty. I think poverty is a terrible thing that few people choose and some people are forced into, and that society should focus itself on giving the disadvantage the advantages they lack; to providing the opportunities and support required to end a person's homelessness. While I agree that admitting your need and honestly asking for help is incredibly dignified, I also have the perception that where homelessness is concerned this is often not the case.

As I see it, when it comes to poverty and homelessness, there are generally two positions. I hate to oversimply things so please tell me if I am, but in this case I think it's valid. On the one hand, the right, you find the opinion that homelessness and destitution are the result of irresponsibility and poor choices. On the other hand, usually the left, you get the opinion that homelessness is the result of bad circumstances and that the disadvantaged show heroic degrees of humility in asking society for support.

In a very un-innovative fashion, I suggest the neither and both are true. There are people amongst us who are horribly disadvantaged and those who are ridiculously irresponsible. The irresponsible refuse to join society economically and socially regardless of what programs or opportunities are given them. While this in and of itself is a perfectly acceptable decision, they should absolutely not be allowed to prey upon the dignified compassion for the disadvantaged held by the rest of us. The truly disadvantaged should be respected and cared for, but the irresponsible who would pretend to be so should not.

So while I think laws preventing panhandling are a little unjust, I don't think they're completely unjustified. There is something very wrong with homeless persons begging for money with signs describing all sorts of terrible situations if they're not true.

note: please notice that I have not said the decision to live apart from our capitalist wonderland is evil - it's perfectly fine and possibly very good. It's only when one chooses not to maintain the role of a functional member of our society and then publically and vocally begs it's charity with false claims of tragedy that I take issue with it.