The Homeless as Human Beings
From The Atavist:
On a street corner, a homeless man is offered a sandwich. He turns it down. The offerer is shocked, even offended. “You don’t want a free sandwich?” he’s asks.
“I don’t eat ham,” the homeless man replies.
The exchange raises several questions: If I offer a sandwich to a homeless man, does he have a responsibility to accept it? Does he, by virtue of his circumstances, forfeit choice? And do I, thanks to my laudable generosity (born of luck, hard work and some level of privilege), have the right to be offended?
I do not raise these questions theoretically. They come as a response to a post I saw on Facebook and the comment string that followed, one that essentially boiled down to the old saw, “beggars can’t be choosers.” This series of posts echoes conversations I’ve had over the last few years as I traveled back and forth to the tent encampment (now closed) where the homeless in Ocean County, N.J., found shelter, conversations focusing on what is appropriate to contribute and whether the homeless in Tent City have a right to turn down some of these charitable handouts, and even whether they have a right to turn down help from local government. And it has ramifications beyond individual charity, influencing the larger political landscape and efforts to address what is a systemic economic problem.