In a shelter, the single mothers who stay nights with their kids because they can’t afford to rent even though she’s working is what I see. I see kids running away from homes because of abuse and sometimes what you said. I also see your kind but that are not the majority. And vast majority of these homeless people aren’t jobless. BTW they only get free health care, just a visit to the doctor. Prescription drugs to visiting dentist cost money. Learn the facts before you talk.

BTW for a single person the welfare is $500 a month roughly, rent in the shittiest part of Toronto go for $650 for bachelor apartment. If you are making $400 a month from a job, you will only get $100 from the government. If you are making $501 from a job, u won’t get any money from the government. Now do you get how our welfare system works?

he kind of aggressive street vending shown here is pretty foreign to Canada, (not too sure about the US), handing out free leaflets is the limit. Most kids around here are too damn lazy to run around like that (not Dave who shovels my snow, yer a champ guy!)and no there aren’t children begging on the streets either. I do find the occaisional sullen teenager downtown with his hand out, and of course the older drug and booze bums. The last teen I ran into asked me for 5 bucks, while wearing $300 Doc Martens. I offered to buy his shoes for 20, but he didn’t take that well…

Dear eric,
I worked volunteered in shelters before and trust me, they are not “drug and booze bums”, you just proved DB’s post.

Just something for you.
http://www.toronto.ca/homelessness/2000/appendixa.htm

If you are interested in this further, I can give you even more info.

Although it’s probably not.

M.M. states above that ignorance is the key here. Ignorance is definitely a large piece of it, but I think the self-pitying sympathy is also a part. No doubt, sympathy can be a strong, positive human emotion when it means a real connection with someone outside oneself. I have sympathy when my son falls down and knocks his head…nothing wrong with that.

But sympathy can grow in a bad direction if it becomes routinized. I have sympathy for those poor, poor (fill-in-blanks), which makes me feel good-bad about myself, which causes catharsis, which means I don’t have to think about poor, poor (fill-in-blanks) any more. If I ever thought much about them in the first place.

I, however, think that compared to ‘liberal ignorance’, this kind of ‘liberal sympathy’ is a better choice and probably a step forward towards proper, balanced analysis. And, I feel that the main idea of the caption, though probably not supported by the above pic, is still valid: “don’t pay attention to the less fortunate, and they will turn into grave threats.”

I’m fond of telling people that the folk in the countryside aren’t necessarily poor; they just don’t have a ton of STUFF in their houses. They have a great diet, lots of fresh air, plenty of time with their families, and the water in the wells is generally quite good. Hell, I use well water too. Since when is wealth measured in 52″ TV’s, PSP’s, and designer clothes?

I’ve been visiting my kids in the US for the past couple of weeks. They’re here studying and working on the east coast, and while I’m so happy to see them for a while, I find myself feeling like a deep-fried double-stuffed Oreo in my country of birth. I can’t wait to go home to the simplicity of a life where food is edible and real and you aren’t beaten over the head constantly to buy, buy, buy things that you don’t really need, need, need.

It’s hard to complain about people who basically mean well, but really it is a form of racism. Maybe it’s also a way of persuading oneself that a rather empty life has meaning? Time to turn off the 52″ TV and go visit some friends and family like people do in Egypt.

What has happened to humanity when we can watch children begging to Americans in a tour bus for food and money.

As you said, these kids look like they are far from beggars. You can tell by their clothes and facial expression as well as the paper stack that they are trying to either sell or advertise for something, and plenty of kids do that everywhere. Even if they were beggars, what does she imply by “begging to Americans in a tour bus”? Beggars don’t differentiate between nationalities or whether you’re a tourist or not. If they’d beg, they’d beg to anyone.

Secondly, there are beggar children in every single country of the world. There are probably millions in the USA, too. I don’t see her taking pictures and bringing 9/11 and other weird stuff into the problem.

I understand that she is well intentioned and, like everyone else, is just trying to “save the world” or whatever. But sometimes this kind of ignorance is harmful. If she wanted to talk about poverty in Egypt, she would’ve done her research and visited the insanely poor areas of the country instead of roaming around in a tour bus making false claims about some kids trying to do their job.