Usually the recipient looks unemployable, but lately I've seen a lot of able-bodied beggars and I wonder if it's the economy or has moral hazard kicked into high gear.
And craigslist has spawned a cottage industry of begging that seems a little too shameless.
So I asked myself, "How can I help people and yet make them feel a little shame for relying on others so brazenly?"
But I don't want to lecture someone on the value of self-sufficiency, mainly because I don't need to justify what little I have in life.
Maybe the solution is not to preface a handout with a sermon, but instead put the sermon ON the handout.
Make the money easy to obtain, but more difficult to spend.
Here's my first attempt, which I threw out my car window while waiting to enter the freeway --
Imagine spending THAT somewhere -- hopefully the clerk found it amusing and held it up in plain sight for a few minutes so everyone could see it.
As I mentioned earlier, craigslist has a few beggars of its' own -- here's one that I decided to grace with my generosity.
And I couldn't neglect the backside --
Now one might think such cruelty as gratuitous because it won't really change the recipient's behavior. And maybe that's true.
But why should charity -- especially towards the able-bodied -- have some kind of sanctimonious window dressing when we allow working for money to be as tawdry as the boss desires?
