Never give money to beggars on the side of the road...

[Reason]

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/aug/16/roadway-beggars-need-to-change-their-act/

Alan Nevin, a well-known local economist, sent me his unpublished interview with Maynard Schnorrer, the CEO of Beggars Inc. (The Dickensian surname should alert you to the Yiddish tongue in Nevin’s cheek.)


Schnorrer’s enterprise, Nevin explains in his intro, “is now active in more than two dozen markets across the country. His company was named among the fastest growing small businesses in the nation and has won several awards from the SBA for his entrepreneurial spirit.”
The high-flying company makes a healthy profit from franchising street locations and taking a cut of the take.


“Our clientele are small businesspeople who want to earn a living begging for handouts,” Schnorrer explains. “We do sophisticated traffic studies that lead us to conclusions on the appropriate corners to achieve optimum handouts.”
In the interview, Schnorrer describes the service Beggars Inc. offers: “We actually operate a school and have a wonderful website.



We teach (franchisees) how to dress for success. We prepare signs for them. We have conducted focus groups to learn what words on a sign produce the highest level of giving. We have acting classes so they can learn how to look and talk. They are given scripts to rehearse.”

 

[Kotin]

fucking disgusting.

 

[00_Pete]

Israel Inc. is still, by far, the best professional Beggar operation in the World. From threats of revealing pictures of politicians getting oral sex from brazilian trannies or 8 years old kids to threats of Worldwide thermonuclear armageddon those awesome professionals of beggary take the game to a whole new level.

 

[KCIndy]

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/aug/16/roadway-beggars-need-to-change-their-act/

Um... I kinda sorta think that the article was an attempt at satire.

 

[erowe1]

What a coincidence!
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/news/...dquot_producer_chooses_andquotbeggarsandquot/

 

[pcosmar]

I know some here have never walked that road.

YouTube - Everlast - What It's Like official video with lyrics!

Some have.

 

[Fredom101]

20/20 did an expose on traffic beggars a while back.
They followed a few of them as they left their street corner.
Nobody was homeless. One guy drove a nice SUV home after begging for a few hours.
Several said they could make $40k a year, and of course this is tax-free.

I would never give to one of these scammers, ever.

 

[VBRonPaulFan]

this is why i never give money as a handout. if i see someone on the side of the road begging, i'll ask if they're hungry or something and get them a hamburger or drink or whatever. there is a homeless guy near my work with a dog who i pick up some dog food for from time to time. but i never give money. there are better ways to help.

 

[RedStripe]

I know some here have never walked that road.

YouTube - Everlast - What It's Like official video with lyrics!

Some have.

And some people will look for any excuse to be stingy and disrespectful of the poor. It's just like using a few examples of welfare fraud to paint a broad stroke and label all the poor as lazy, careless, irresponsible, etc.

It's a convenient way for people rationalize their desire to hold these people in contempt.

 

[KCIndy]

Sadly, it's really hard to tell which people really need help and which ones are scamming.

There have been times when I've given people sandwiches only to watch them turn around and toss the food into the ditch.

Then there have been times when I've bought someone a couple of lousy McDonald's hamburgers and had the poor soul practically fall down and kiss my feet before tearing into the food right there and eating like a starving animal.... those are the ones that really tear me up.

I can handle being ripped off a lot better than I can handle the realization of how desperate and hungry some people actually are, right here in the U.S.

 

[RedStripe]

To be sure there are some scammers.

But I can't believe people use that as an excuse to never help out the homeless.

"God forbid my two dollars aren't actually used by someone who needs the money!" *buys crap from china at walmart*

 

[teacherone]

Libertarians Against Charity!!!

Start a facebook group!

This has potential!!!!!!

 

[erowe1]

And some people will look for any excuse to be stingy and disrespectful of the poor.

But following a policy of allocating 100% of one's charitable giving to recipients other than beggars by the side of the road does not make one stingy. Frankly, it's a wise policy.

 

[erowe1]

"God forbid my two dollars aren't actually used by someone who needs the money!" *buys crap from china at walmart*

Do Chinese workers not need the money?

 

[MelissaWV]

Asking doesn't guarantee you won't simply be buying a scammer their lunch (isn't that, after all, part of the scam?). I don't give to beggars or charities or whatever else who stand around at intersections because it's stupid and dangerous, and the money just encourages that behavior. I've given food and other things directly to people who seemed like they needed it, sure, but the road folks are such a bad idea.

When visiting my parents in Miami, I used to see kids collecting money for school athletics programs on the medians. When the light turned red, they'd make their way around through the cars and collect money. These high school kids were out there in the blistering heat begging for change, basically. There were not parents or chaperones of any kind. The potential for getting snatched, run over, heatstroke, or fraud (what's to stop the kid from "skimming" some of the cash being tossed their way?) makes me wonder who on earth thinks that's a good idea. No, giving money to them just makes it seem like a worthwhile place to fundraise.

The poor are in no better shape, and I have seen people deliberately throw change to see if the person would race out into unsafe traffic to fetch it. The ones scamming people give folks a grand excuse to treat the rest like dirt, or just utterly ignore them.

 

[pcosmar]

It's a convenient way for people rationalize their desire to hold these people in contempt.

For some.
I believe in voluntary charity. I have both given and received.
I hate the welfare state, and discourage welfare. But in times past I have had my feet in the street and needed assistance to get on my way. I have also done the same for others.

I see these "profesional" beggars as no different than those that make their living on the government dime.
Government Grants (to study stupid shit)
Government Job (that are useless or redundant)
Bureaucrats
Self help gurus

An interesting link, on stupid science. (caution pop ups)
http://www.besse.at/sms/smsintro.html

even more interesting is the pop up,
http://html3.usagc.org/step1landing_eng.html?afk=AdpepnewPMUSAeng

 

[RedStripe]

But following a policy of allocating 100% of one's charitable giving to recipients other than beggars by the side of the road does not make one stingy. Frankly, it's a wise policy.

Sure.

 

[RedStripe]

Do Chinese workers not need the money?

Oh yea, they need money - mostly because they aren't getting paid for what they are producing (and what stupid americans are buying).

 

[Fredom101]

To be sure there are some scammers.

But I can't believe people use that as an excuse to never help out the homeless.

"God forbid my two dollars aren't actually used by someone who needs the money!" *buys crap from china at walmart*

Giving money to people on the side of the road actually does not help them. All it does is teach them to keep begging. Giving them food if they are hungry is a step up. Giving them a job is really the only way to help them, but the vast majority of beggars literally do not want a job.

It sounds cruel but the facts are the facts. Charities, for the most part, do not work.

 

[teacherone]

^^^^

I thought the libertarian argument was that charities would take over for the welfare of the needy?