I am writing to you in response to an article you recently published in Arena magazine - ‘Street Trash: Beggars of Britain’. It is poignant to know that humans, who have been made in the image of God, can have such a ghastly view; it is downgrading other human beings. This article is far too extreme and explicit!
For a start, over the last five years society has changed dramatically. As a result “beggars” may not be able to apply for jobs for various reasons: criminal records, lack of qualifications or they don’t match the criteria etc. As hard as it already may be for these less fortunate people, there are people like Tony Parsons who have titled them “professional leeches” .The very fact that he used animalistic imagery to express his negative views on beggars, reflects the cruel human being he has portrayed himself to be. Typically we
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They are left redundant and many of them feel helpless as well as hopeless, due to having no function in society anymore. They are tossed aside like trash despite being those patriotic heroes that fought for us. Imagine those beggars who have now been left on the street; isolated from society. Tony Parson has made it seem as if he has studied their background, back to front, which gave him the right to speak out against them. I’d like to see any proof of this.
Both of us would agree that Tony Parsons’s behaviour towards homeless people is crude and insensitive. It is like beggars are a possession to him that he must abuse in order for him to gain self-satisfaction. When was it ever wrong to help other people? Parsons had previously stated “he used to give”. In my opinion, it was a way for him to manipulate the public into believing, his actions were acceptable. The fact that he ‘used’ to give does not justify his actions because there were no good intentions behind. It was as if he was trying to get the public on his side to show he had done good
In the novel Trash, by Andy Mulligan, the poor often manipulate others to get what they need. There are examples of this in the real world around us, and Andy Mulligan decided to use that in his novel. In Trash, children and adults that live in Behala are poor. Kids manage to get by picking plastic out of nasty landfills. Some of the children do not even get to eat, for they are too poor and dirty to be sold food. Because of this, they manipulate people in better situations than themselves to get money, clothes, etc. In this book, Rat manipulates Father Juilliard multiple times, Gardo takes advantage of Sister Olivia, and Jose Angelico betrays the Senator’s trust and deceives him.
Lars Eighner's short essay, "Dumpster Diving," reveals the stereotypes about homelessness in America. In order to confirm these known stereotypes about American culture, Eighner includes autobiographical accounts of the economically inferior class, as well as revealing his elitist rules that governs the life of a homeless person. According to Eighner, homeless people fall into the following categories, 'can scroungers', 'Dumpster divers', and 'scavengers.' (Eighner, 1993). In addition, Eighner's blatant demonstration of his superiority to the people he scavenges from reveals his true character of snobbery.
People naturally look down on the homeless and think they can just go to Centrelink however Elliott proves this generalisation of the homeless wrong. She does this by using an expert from the National Welfare Rights Network, Gerard Thomas who explains that "these people don’t have photo ID, birth certificates, and a driver’s license." By using an expert the writer is able to portray to her audience that this is a problem where the homeless "just fall through the cracks." By the use of rebuttals Elliott is able to create a sympathetic mood towards the homeless that makes the audience want to make a change to the unfair
Statistically, over 670,000 Americans are homeless with a growing number. 48 million people go to bed hungry every night. Although we do provide shelters and opportunities in America, millions of people are homeless worldwide. Even on a more minor level there are still hundreds homeless within hometowns. Everyday we encounter the homeless whether by seeing them holding their personal signs at stoplights, confronts with beggars, or viewing them from afar under bridges. In her essay titled “On Compassion”, writer Barbara Ascher uses rhetorical techniques detailing some of her personal homeless experiences within the city life, Asher does effectively use logos, pathos,
Poverty and homelessness are often, intertwined with the idea of gross mentality. illness and innate evil. In urban areas all across the United States, just like that of Seattle. in Sherman Alexie’s New Yorker piece, What You Pawn I Will Redeem, the downtrodden. are stereotyped as vicious addicts who would rob a child of its last penny if it meant a bottle of whiskey.
As the number of people living in poverty increases every year, the need for assistance also increases. According to the National Student Campaign Against Hunger and Homelessness, the national poverty rate reached 13.2% in 2013. This means that one in seven Americans are at risk of suffering from hunger. The increased cost of living and high unemployment rate force about 3.5 million people to make the streets their home (“Overview). Although everyone living in poverty needs assistance, the general public tends to separate the homeless into groups towards whom they should or should not show compassion. In an article for Newsweek magazine, journalist Stuart Bykofsky divided the homeless into three groups: “(1) the economically distressed, who
In this essay there is pathos, ethos and logos used to demonstrate the growing problem that is going on all over America. The problem is that so many people are becoming homeless, and a majority of them happen to be our veterans that fought for our country and gave us the freedoms we have today. Our veterans are coming back after fighting for us trying make a life, but a lot of them are unstable due to what they have been through because of going to war. A lot of veterans have problems after they get back and are ending up on the street with nothing, no support, no help, just struggling to get by. The focus is on getting people 's attention to make them aware of what going on so that they can help, which would be by giving donations of living
People tend to believe that homeless individuals will beg for money, only to spend it on drugs. Contrary to this, however, statistics prove otherwise. According to a recent survey across the United States, “94% of panhandlers”, or commonly known as the homeless, use the money that they receive to solely “purchase the food that they need” (Gaille). People who follow the folkway of avoiding eye contact need to understand that their donations are often for beneficial use. They also need to understand that avoiding eye contact is a means of ignorance.
.... The homeless community is a growing problem that only worsens with time. If we don’t make an effort now, to help the most vulnerable among us, then we are only contributing to this problem. With our unsure economy, nothing is guaranteed, so just be considerate for others who are in an inferior situation, because who knows when you might need a hand.
Mr. Bransford interviewed the homeless people in different cities, and compare them to others. They had a different housing styles where om California they live near the train tracks, and there is where they set up their tents and they share a fire together so they can keep themselves warm for the cold nights. Most of the people that are homeless and Mexican immigrants. When they came to America, and they had nothing to sleep on so they decided to sleep on the street and work under the table to make a living. People are aware that this is happening and the populations of homeless people are growing slowly. It seems like they are just ignoring this situation.
By doing so he is stereotyping the entire homeless population. This is only one case and he assumes that all homeless people will respond in the same way. We believe citizens should help the homeless because if we were put in the same situation we would want all the help and support we could
So why shouldn’t people give money directly to pan-handlers? It is a common thought that the homeless will simply spend their hard “earned” money on cigarettes, alcohol, and drugs. It is debated whether or not this belief is based on any truth or not. One group in San Francisco decided to find out. They found that “25 percent are alcoholics” and “32 percent are addicted to drugs” (Keyes) thus they claimed that the homeless are spending the majority of their profits on food. However, other surveys say that approximately “80% of people begging do so to support a drug habit” (Doward). So here are two sources that disagree with each other. Which one is valid? The first results were come by after a team of GLS researchers to survey the homeless people on the streets and came up with the results by their answers. The second conclusion was made by looking at police records. In places where it is illegal to panhandle, police would arrest the panhandlers and, among other things, preform a drug test on them. The results of the second statistics were deduced from these ...
Begging in America has evolved into something to be abhorred and looked at with shame in the American culture. Research says that begging “… is associated with phenomena such as homelessness, unemployment, refugees… It is also stigmatized as involving crime … and a source of national shame.” (Arnold). When we see panhandlers on the streets we automatically assume that these men and women are deficient and have nothing better to do than to ask others for money. A majority of America will place people who beg as inferior to humans, as if we lived by an explicitly defined social class system, and not recognize them as an individual ─ America gives them little to no worth in society. Thus, panhandlers are given no rights by the citizenry.
Homeless individuals are known for taking hand outs and they prefer to plead for money rather than to go work for it. People assume most of the the money that is given to homeless people they spend it on drugs and alcohol because of the fact that many homeless people have drug and alcohol addictions. It is not uncommon to come across homeless youth and older homeless population that are known to abuse substances like drugs and alcohol. Because of the fact that homeless people have substance abuse problems, they tend face illnesses and infections. Many hard working Americans ask themselves “why don’t homeless people just get jobs?” The assumption is they are just lazy and unmotivated. Homeless people choose to live the life they live. Everyone goes through problems but not all people take the path homeless people do. The problems homeless people face is not an excuse for them to be helped and maintained by other hard working people. Although homelessness might be a choice to some, no one knows the hardships these people have gone through. Some assume these people are just lazy but in reality a lot of these homeless people have jobs of their own, they just can’t afford housing and a decent life. Everyone has their own opinion on homeless people, but that does not change the fact that one should still serve the homeless. Not because homeless people need help but because we are
According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, there are nearly 554,000 individuals facing homelessness. (2016) Personally, this number, as big as it seems, only accounts for the ones that want to be found; the ones we have access to. However, there are several that cannot be accounted for; several we don’t even know exist. The growing concern for homelessness is its presence. Not only can we see this locally in areas of Scranton and the surrounding cities, but when we travel to other places, it is just as evident. My biggest concern with those facing homelessness is the stigma and biases associated with being “homeless.” Too easily are these individuals are referred to as beggars, bums, addicts, lazy, etc.