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Go ahead, give that bum
your change
Dallas Hansen
Thursday, July 27, 2006
Lately, it's seemed
that wherever I shop, I'm being solicited for money for the
homeless. Oddly, however, the people asking aren't homeless.
"Typically, seven out of 10 panhandlers will use your spare
change to buy drugs, alcohol, or cigarettes," claims a pamphlet
accompanying a collection box for the Downtown Business Improvement
Zone's "Change for the better" program. Never mind that the same
could be said for wages or unemployment benefits paid to the majority
of the population that actually has a home, "Change for the better"
invites you to "Give without guilt" -- because giving money to
the poor always puts a strain on one's conscience. Rather than
donating your coins or bills to the haggard men and women who dwell
amid alleys and sidewalks for a living, you are advised -- via
text displays at cashier checkouts and on ubiquitous bus shelter
posters -- to entrust your donations to the suit-wearing,
high-net-worth men and women of the BIZ board, who will prudently
dole out said funds to the directors of such deserving agencies as The
Salvation Army and the Union Gospel Mission, who will then in turn
ensure that the funds trickle down not just to paid employees of these
charities, but also to those in need of such charitable work as "a
jacket for a job interview" or "a place to warm up when it's cold
outside."
Don't even worry that the sport jacket was donated and the charity
would have no pretext to exist if it didn't offer refuge from the cold
at least some of the time. The Downtown BIZ would assure us that,
"The many social agencies in Winnipeg do such a great job of providing
the fundamental basics of food, clothing and shelter -- and are
so well-supported by businesses and the public -- that no one needs
to panhandle in order to feed themselves."
"Such a great job?" Then why are there so many ill-clothed,
ill-fed, and homeless people?
What is unfortunately true about our economy of abundance is that not
everyone can find a place within what sociologist Paul Goodman referred
to as the "organized system." And just as the organized system has
its bottom-feeders in the minimum wage market, so does the
underground economy have its entry-level positions.
Panhandlers and squeegee kids might lack a lobbying network, but what
they do is honest and defensible. Beggars sell pity, and with it
the opportunity for the donor to feel important by assisting. Often
their antics can comprise legitimate street entertainment. A few
years ago, while I was living in New York City, there was a
mohawked Filipino fellow from Hollywood known as Troll who stood amid
the bustle of St. Mark's Place in the East Village holding a long
stick on the end of which was tied a small plastic pitcher labelled
(with permanent black marker) "BEER FUND$." Troll's infectious
jingle -- "Beer funds for the drunk punks! Spare change for
alcohol!" -- was in reality just as disingenuous as the wino who
claims he needs money for food or the crackhead who claims to need bus
fare: Troll actually saved his money, stashing it inside the
abandoned tenement where he was squatting, so that he could ride
Amtrak home to L.A., for, as he described it, "It's hard to
hitchhike when you look like I do."
Professional sidewalk-dwellers such as Troll -- a frequent subject
of foreign tourists' photographs -- can maintain a presence that
benefits neighbourhoods. Being of the street, they will, when
asked (as they often can be) give superb directions or suggest a
good, cheap place to eat. Even the widely reviled squeegee kids can
be useful, clearing my filthy windshield even after I admit to having
no means of compensation.
An unusually large proportion of panhandlers and the homeless are a
symptom of downtown Winnipeg's problems, but they are not per se the
problem. Anecdotally, Vancouver has a much higher overall number of
beggars-per-block within the central business and main retail
districts, but they are so outnumbered by the working and middle
classes that they are not so conspicuous -- or intimidating.
What's ironic -- indeed, hypocritical -- is that the
pro-business types who schemed "Change for the better" would likely
support tax cuts, which would "put the money where it belongs --
in the hands of citizens." Thus, rather than drop my charitable
dollars in a box to be collected and distributed by some faceless
bureaucracy, I'll be putting it directly in the hands of those in
need.
Category: Editorial and Opinions
Uniform subject(s): Social problems
Length: Medium, 598 words
© 2006 Winnipeg Free Press. All rights reserved. |
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