Chapter 23 grabbed my attention when I was reading on pg 503 about the various roadblocks people encounter. I was thinking about the recent debate over panhandling and whether or not to see it as a crime. While personally I wish I never encountered it, it can be weird sitting in traffic chewing on a candy bar with a panhandler standing 2 feet away, I can't see the end result of considering it criminal as a positive. I have no idea how much of that way of collecting money is exploited, are they in fact out of work or destitute at all as they claim? Seems to me that jailing someone like that will only contribute further to the problem(s) of over-run jails and poverty. I know I'm very "give peace a chance" about a lot of things but it makes more sense to have a cop get that person off the street and into a social worker's office instead.
I have been in the car of someone who used a handicapped placard to park closer. This person was not someone you would want to argue with but in hindsight I wish I had said something. It was an older woman with back issues but there are people who have much bigger issues who should have the spot. I never thought of the implicaitons of parking in a handicapped spot, when being handicapped sometimes becomes a discriminatory means of not hiring someone for a job. If someone sees them parking there, and they appear non-handicapped, they might reach the conclusion that the person is parking illegally and ask themselves if they want to hire a person who does illegal things or they might go the route of quesitoning what else that person may be hiding if they didn't mention it in an interview and don't appear handicapped etc. etc.
Ok ok ok, I'm getting the impression that I need to embrace the modern tech world more than ever in this line of work. I struggle, it's so unnatural that my soul get's tech overload and it wants to shut it out so it shuts me down. I think for me I just need breaks from it, I need to do something that feeds my soul for a bit then go back to tech. It totally makes sense that to reach EVERYONE possible I would have to invest time in the tech world too. Sigh~
A blog on begging:
http://blog.practicalethics.ox.ac.uk/2012/09/dont-give-money-to-beggars/
A response to someone judging a handicapped parker:
http://live.huffingtonpost.com/#r/segment/mom-responds-to-judgemental-note/521cf9a5fe344411c90000ec
I agree Karre. I don't think something as innocent as panhandling should be punished with incarceration. Are they threatening us? Are they physically forcing us to give them money? no. They are simply putting themselves out there looking for help. I do agree that they make me feel uncomfortable when i'm that first car in line right next to them, but I don't think putting them in jail will solve anything.
ReplyDeleteThis is a very timely post! As of last Monday, Portland police have agreed to limit enforcement of the new ordinance banning panhandlers from standing in street medians until the outcome of a lawsuit challenging the ordinance. The American Civil Liberties Union of Maine filed a complaint last month in federal court on behalf of three residents, claiming the ordinance infringes on free speech. Although it doesn't specifically mention panhandling, the ordinance bans loitering in medians and forces panhandlers who are seeking money from motorists to move elsewhere. The ACLU said while the ordinance was framed as a public safety measure, in reality it prohibits constitutionally protected speech. City officials announced Monday that the city and the parties in the lawsuit have agreed to hold a one-day trial on November 19th. Until there's a ruling, police have agreed to limit enforcement to people who are obviously impaired by drugs or alcohol and pose a safety threat.
ReplyDeletePanhandling does make the people driving by feel guilty about what they have and should they give the panhandlers food or money. I think the real problem is the panhandlers safety. They are standing around all day in unsafe intersections. There does need to be some type of rules restricting where they are able to stand around.
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