[aquadrop]

I don't think you should blame yourself about beggars, it's not hypocritical. I don't usually give any money to beggars too, because most probably they are related to some crime groups (someone takes away most of donated money from them) and/or will just spend the money on booze and that's it. On the other hand, I've bought stuff I don't need from beggar-like old women here (babushkas), who just knit socks/hats etc and stand on the street trying to sell it and get some money (there were times in Russia when old folks had very low pensions after retirement). It's two different stories, when you give money to someone who'll just drink themselves to death or to someone who need a little help right now. So I wouldn't say it's hypocritical.

[j45]

I sometimes think about how people with homes drink alcohol for pleasure and sadness.. and wonder how much more they'd drink if they were homeless, especially if they needed to stay warm, etc.

Alcohol isn't my coping mechanism of choice. I'm also not in other people's shoes based on what they might be able to access to get through a few hours or just a day.

Sparked from "..and/or will just spend the money on booze and that's it."

[Fnoord]

> because most probably they are related to some crime groups (someone takes away most of donated money from them)

Why is that "most probably"?

Btw, you can give other things than money to beggars as well. Bread or a cup of coffee, for example.

[aquadrop]

Because that's how it is here (Russia). It's wide spread scheme - crime groups "cover" some territory (usually where there's a lot of walk traffic) and take money from all the beggars which stay on that territory.

Here you can see how beggar gives money to his criminal supervisor: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TrRI1QyQ8g

There's a lot of info about it on youtube, but it's mostly in Russian. Beggars in good places can get 2-3 average salaries per month and most of those money goes to criminals. It's really ugly criminal business. As an example - there's such thing as "renting" small babies - because women with babies can gather more money. They drug babies so they would lie still in the hand of beggar women. So giving money to beggars is often same as giving funds to criminals here.

[Fnoord]

Thanks for the info, it had not even occurred to me that you could possibly be from Russia. I'm curious, do you agree giving a bread to a homeless person (in general, or in Russia specifically) makes sense?