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If you were homeless, would you ask people for money? For me, the answer is probably yes, and so it makes sense for me to give money to folks in that situation

If you were homeless, would you ask people for money? For me, the answer is probably yes, and so it makes sense for me to give money to folks in that situation.

ninetyninenine 2y ago
I would ask people to give me money, but I don’t care to give other people money. I don’t need any moral justification to help me sleep at night.
- jacknews 2y ago
  Indeed a percentage of the population have low empathy, and some none at all. The later we label sociopaths.
  - ninetyninenine 2y ago
    The sad truth is that I live in the city with the most homeless people and I see the same thing everyday with not just me, but everyone who lives in the city. They walk by homeless people and not care. Sociopaths are something worse. What I describe is normal people.
fluoridation 2y ago
It does not follow that because you would ask for money that you should therefore give people money. There's an implicit assumption that most people who ask for money are in the position you imagined yourself to be in that case.
- PittleyDunkin 2y ago
  > It does not follow that because you would ask for money that you should therefore give people money. Of course it does. If there is any logic to ethics is that you should behave towards others how you would like to be treated in their position. > There's an implicit assumption that most people who ask for money are in the position you imagined yourself to be in that case. Well, yes. To assume otherwise, or to fall into such deep skepticism that you think you cannot assume anything about how other people pass through the world, is to give up on empathy.
  - fluoridation 2y ago
    >Well, yes. To think otherwise is to give up on empathy. Please expand on that. How are you becoming less empathetic by not assuming things about other people?
    - PittleyDunkin 2y ago
      > How are you becoming less empathetic by not assuming things about other people? Because there isn't a single situation in existence where this isn't a valid excuse to not care about the needs of others.
      - fluoridation 2y ago
        That doesn't answer my question.
dazc 2y ago
The best way to become homeless is to not ask for help when you need it. Your notion that asking for money from strangers would be a natural response suggests you are unlikely to ever become homeless.
- hackeraccount 2y ago
  My experience with homeless people - and I admit it's limited - is that they aren't people who didn't ask for help. They're people who have run through all of the help that was available and it either wasn't enough or didn't work.

If you were homeless, would you ask people for money? For me, the answer is probably yes, and so it makes sense for me to give money to folks in that situation.

ninetyninenine 2y ago

I would ask people to give me money, but I don’t care to give other people money. I don’t need any moral justification to help me sleep at night.

jacknews 2y ago
Indeed a percentage of the population have low empathy, and some none at all. The later we label sociopaths.
- ninetyninenine 2y ago
  The sad truth is that I live in the city with the most homeless people and I see the same thing everyday with not just me, but everyone who lives in the city. They walk by homeless people and not care. Sociopaths are something worse. What I describe is normal people.

fluoridation 2y ago

It does not follow that because you would ask for money that you should therefore give people money. There's an implicit assumption that most people who ask for money are in the position you imagined yourself to be in that case.

PittleyDunkin 2y ago
> It does not follow that because you would ask for money that you should therefore give people money. Of course it does. If there is any logic to ethics is that you should behave towards others how you would like to be treated in their position. > There's an implicit assumption that most people who ask for money are in the position you imagined yourself to be in that case. Well, yes. To assume otherwise, or to fall into such deep skepticism that you think you cannot assume anything about how other people pass through the world, is to give up on empathy.
- fluoridation 2y ago
  >Well, yes. To think otherwise is to give up on empathy. Please expand on that. How are you becoming less empathetic by not assuming things about other people?
  - PittleyDunkin 2y ago
    > How are you becoming less empathetic by not assuming things about other people? Because there isn't a single situation in existence where this isn't a valid excuse to not care about the needs of others.
    - fluoridation 2y ago
      That doesn't answer my question.

dazc 2y ago

The best way to become homeless is to not ask for help when you need it. Your notion that asking for money from strangers would be a natural response suggests you are unlikely to ever become homeless.

hackeraccount 2y ago
My experience with homeless people - and I admit it's limited - is that they aren't people who didn't ask for help. They're people who have run through all of the help that was available and it either wasn't enough or didn't work.