This purportedly describes the situation at the turn of the last century, but I'd say it's still true. I "learned" to always give to the poor from the example of my grandmother, who was dirt poor, but who always gave something. Because I adored her, I continued to do what she did. What I hear my middle class friends say is not that handouts encourage vagrancy but that the poor will use the money for drink. This savage application of morality to the poor drives me nuts. I mean so fucking what? If I were begging on the streets, I might want a drink myself.
Jack London makes the same point (the poor give more than anyone) in a little known but excellent book called "The Road." (Yeah, yeah, I know he was a racist etc. But this is a great book and it tells the story of his hobo days in the U.S. in the early twenties (I think). The first chapter is truly excellent and I'd say it's undergraduate proof; I used to teach it in my comp classes at UC Berkeley.
Joanna B.