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More Cities Are Making It Illegal To Hand Out Food To The Homeless

Anyone Feeding The Homeless Should Be A Crime

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iacardsfan said:
While I agree with you when it comes to a government handing out to the homeless, if individuals wish to feed the homeless, it is there right to do so. What kind of government restricts how their citizens can and cannot spend their surplus money and time?
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No, it's not as simple as that. And it's the kind of government that is doing it's duty. Yes, charity can be good, but the homeless still are to be protected from people giving them unsafe food or food prepared in an unsafe manner just liked all the rest of us. Businesses must still be protected from their doorways becoming urine soaked beggar collection central. People must still be allowed clean and safe use of their public parks and playgrounds.
 
The reason I deplore government programs is that they remove humanity from charity. Individuals taking a moment to help someone they don't know is exactly what we need in this country. The only reason to ban that is to create the need for more government programs there by forcing more people into servitude and creating an ever growing voting bloc that must.....MUST vote for the one party that will "take care of them"...aka Democrats.
 
Dittohead not! said:
Feeding the homeless makes us feel good, but what does it really do for the homeless? Give a man a fish.....
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Well, it keeps them from dying. Many (most?) Of the homeless here in San Diego are obviously mentally ill. I would say runaways outnumber substance dependency without mental illness.

I don't think the majority of homeless people are capable of responding to "Prodding".

So it ends up being mandated hunger.
 
clownboy said:
No, it's not as simple as that. And it's the kind of government that is doing it's duty. Yes, charity can be good, but the homeless still are to be protected from people giving them unsafe food or food prepared in an unsafe manner just liked all the rest of us. Businesses must still be protected from their doorways becoming urine soaked beggar collection central. People must still be allowed clean and safe use of their public parks and playgrounds.
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It is a personal choice whether to accept food or not. As for businesses being affected by it, that is rubbish. As for safe public facilities, not only are you implying that homeless people are dirty and dangerous, you are also missing the point that this is about trying to help people. Whether or not you like it, it is a shameful thing to prevent one from helping another. At this rate we may as well ban giving each other gifts on holidays too.
 
Dittohead not! said:
The rationale is about food safety as well as where the feeding is taking place. Partly concern for safety, partly NIMBY, partly keeping the homeless dependent on handouts like the bears.
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With that rationale, food banks should also be illegal. I feed the homeless the first Saturday of every month, I know for a fact that all of our food is safe and that we feed in designated areas that have been approved for use. We do not hand out anything but the bare essentials, nobody is becoming reliant upon us. I would rather there be measure put into place to safeguard your worries than ban it all together. There are people out there trying to do good in this world and it is shameful for a government to be against such a thing.
 
Ockham said:
Well, if I for example pass out food to 10 homeless people and feed them one meal a day I'm competing with the government. Government feels THEY should be the one's who feed people, via social programs that house, feed and otherwise supplement them. Government doesn't want competition so they outlaw it. Hell, I don't even think government likes approved charities to feed the poor as the one I used to go work at from time to time received little to no help from government. It was funded primarily though community support.
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Just another excuse to spend more and take more.
 
TeleKat said:
I may be misunderstanding where you are coming from, so help me clarify please. Are you arguing that we shouldn't help the homeless because that would make them "dependent" on us?
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Simply feeding people unable to acquire food for themselves does not fix the issue.
 
It seems we're rapidly reverting to the days it was illegal to not work, which is ironic since not having a job or food practically guarantees someone will resort to actual crime. Perhaps we should bring back feudalism while at it.
 
TeleKat said:
I never claimed it would. Doesn't mean you shouldn't stop and grab some homeless guy a burger or something.
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I agree.

Any law that prevents such makes no sense to me - seems like it's designed to effectively force the homeless persons to leave the area and thus "out of sight, out of mind".
 
iacardsfan said:
By not allowing them to use their surplus time and money to help others.
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Okay. Can you tell me which government where is not allowing citizens to use their surplus time and money to help others? Please provide a link too.
 
90-year-old Florida man charged for feeding homeless - CNN.com

(CNN) -- Arnold Abbott handed out four plates of food to homeless people in a South Florida park. Then police stopped the 90-year-old from serving up another bite.
"An officer said, 'Drop that plate right now -- like I had a weapon,'" Abbott said.
Abbott and two pastors in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, were charged for feeding the homeless in public on Sunday, the city's first crackdowns under a new ordinance banning public food sharing,
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Damn that 90 year old evil spawn of the devil......damn him..... :roll:
 
If I have extra food, and see a starving homeless person in the street, I have every right to offer him some food. To say otherwise is not only to deprive the homeless man of dignity, but to deny me my most fundamental property rights.
 
Dittohead not! said:
Feeding the homeless makes us feel good, but what does it really do for the homeless? Give a man a fish.....
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Depends on if the homeless person is competent or sane. Many aren't
 
Dragonfly said:
More Cities Are Making It Illegal To Hand Out Food To The Homeless : The Salt : NPR



:shock:

What???



Helping people eat could be a crime??? With Fines?

Does this make sense?
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Yes, it makes perfect sense. Feeding some homeless person because you have a selfish need to feel special doesn't address the homeless problem, nor does it provide a vehicle to steer the homeless towards programs that could help them.

The self centered nature of people who think a handing out a sandwich makes them enlightened and caring goes against all the available evidence about homelessness and how to truly help those who are in that position.

Controlling where food can be provided allows those services to be concentrated, and assistance rendered more efficiently. Blighting public areas without any control and coordination allows the self serving set to ignore the needs of the surrounding business owners and residents so they can pretend they are doing something positive.
 
ocean515 said:
Yes, it makes perfect sense. Feeding some homeless person because you have a selfish need to feel special doesn't address the homeless problem, nor does it provide a vehicle to steer the homeless towards programs that could help them.

The self centered nature of people who think a handing out a sandwich makes them enlightened and caring goes against all the available evidence about homelessness and how to truly help those who are in that position.
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Jumping to some abstract conclusions just a wee bit are we???? :roll:
 
Dragonfly said:
Jumping to some abstract conclusions just a wee bit are we???? :roll:
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Are you talking to yourself? I have to assume that is the case.

If not, what I wrote was not my conclusion, but the conclusion of people on the front line trying to address the real problem, and not trying to do some feel good mission that accomplishes nothing but propagating the problem.
 
ocean515 said:
Are you talking to yourself? I have to assume that is the case.

If not, what I wrote was not my conclusion, but the conclusion of people on the front line trying to address the real problem, and not trying to do some feel good mission that accomplishes nothing but propagating the problem.
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Individuals feeding the homeless does not create more homeless, nor does it entice people to stay homeless.

Feeding somebody who is homeless means that person is not hungry for a small time. Maybe it gives them hope.

It's obvious the "real problem" is larger than those on the front line can handle.

Feeding somebody accomplishes at least one thing. That person is fed.
 
Dragonfly said:
Individuals feeding the homeless does not create more homeless, nor does it entice people to stay homeless.

Feeding somebody who is homeless means that person is not hungry for a small time. Maybe it gives them hope.

It's obvious the "real problem" is larger than those on the front line can handle.

Feeding somebody accomplishes at least one thing. That person is fed.
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Do you think it's possible the "do-gooders" are partly responsible for the "real problem" becoming larger than those on the front line have been able to handle?

Without addressing a more realistic and focused strategy, the only thing accomplished by those just arbitrarily handing out food is the placing of a gold star in the fantasy of someone's mind so they can parade around their "awesomeness" to their friends.
 
ocean515 said:
Yes, it makes perfect sense. Feeding some homeless person because you have a selfish need to feel special doesn't address the homeless problem, nor does it provide a vehicle to steer the homeless towards programs that could help them.

The self centered nature of people who think a handing out a sandwich makes them enlightened and caring goes against all the available evidence about homelessness and how to truly help those who are in that position.

Controlling where food can be provided allows those services to be concentrated, and assistance rendered more efficiently. Blighting public areas without any control and coordination allows the self serving set to ignore the needs of the surrounding business owners and residents so they can pretend they are doing something positive.
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If there were adequate shelters and sources of food for these people, do you really think they would be begging for food? Of course not.

Although I am against a huge welfare state, I am 100% for making sure that every city has large and easily accessible shelters/'soup kitchens' that are federally government funded and never run out of food.
With the huge number of obese people in America, it is inexcusable that any American should have to beg for food.
And I do not think there are nearly enough food options for the homeless at this time...so giving food to them is perfectly fine, IMO.

My only agreement with you would be that - having been an ex-drug addict (though I had plenty of money at the time - I knew a lot of addicts you didn't), you never give something to an addict that they can sell to feed their addiction...and many homeless are addicts of one kind or another.
So, you make sure you do not give the homeless a food product they can easily sell...give them opened products (like a loaf of bread with a slice or two removed) or buy them a Big Mac but just as you are handing it to them, cut a small piece off of it to make it unsellable (you might be surprised what an addict will sell for addiction seed money).
 
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If I see someone starving and some police officer attempts to prevent me from giving them some food, he's going to have one hellhound senior citizen on his hands .. not to mention really bad press if he throws me in the pokey.

If cities don't like the "feed a stray cat" syndrome blight on their hands, then they had better go to their federal representatives and demand federal relief to create some shelters and food sources, not to mention systemic changes to eliminate out-sourcing many of these homeless peoples' jobs to wage-slaves in other countries, etc. that the Multi-Cultural Internationalists and Corporate Global Expansionists have caused.

This is disgusting.

Hopefully the new Congress will actually legislate in do-something fashion on this and other pressing issues of our time.
 
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