charities

[joanna bujes]

At 07:25 PM 01/28/2003 -0500, you wrote:
>I think giving to beggars is probably a net good, but there is something
>problematic about feeding the very dependencies that lead (along with a host
>of other variables) to homelessness in many cases.

They're not homeless because of substance abuse. They're homeless because 
they are poor. They are poor because they were born poor, and/or because 
they are disabled or mentally ill AND poor. Christopher Reeve is disabled, 
but he is not homeless. Kurt Cobain had a substance-abuse problem, but he 
was not homeless.

Sorry to be picky but the argument that the poor are poor due to moral 
failings makes me very upset.

Joanna