> When you give a bum $20, is anyone gonna say you're a bad person for not giving him $100? No. One single minor action doesn't make a person good or bad. The

> When you give a bum $20, is anyone gonna say you're a bad person for not giving him $100? No. One single minor action doesn't make a person good or bad. The action may still be wise or unwise. If there is an old bum on the beach, one that will never be able to get out of such a situation, I don't see much harm in giving $20. If it is in a country without any welfare options, I would even call it a good action. If you give the money to a physically healthy professional adult beggar, (Maybe a member of the Roma people) I don't think it is a good action to give money. If you and enough other people continue to do so, you are contributing to creating a permanent beggar-caste in society. If you are relatively wealthy, and feel good after, I would even see it as a selfish action, as I would (in my opinion) be to pay $20 in a way that causes net, long term harm in order to gain some personal enjoyments. (Not too different from paying $20 for a BJ.) Now, for the really bad case, imagine if there is a kid in the street that had a limb cut off by a handler, to invoke pity. Giving $20 to that kid, that mostly end up in the pocket of the handler, can be a terribly destructive action. If enough people give money to that kid, the handler is likely to cut limbs off more kids to expand the business.