On poverty
Lately I learnt that TAs at the U of C got pay raises--from $1500 to $3000 a quarter. Hurrah!
I was approached by a panhandler when I was sitting at a cafe on Michigan many years ago. "Uh oh," I thought. I was a poor international student. You should never bug a poor international student for money. But at least I had sandwiches on my plate. On the other hand, apparently the poor woman had not eaten for days.
Being talked to by a panhandler was a new experience to me. I rarely saw people living on the streets in the sanitized suburb I grew up. I have seen homelss people in downtown Tokyo, but they did not talked to ME.
Confused by the sudden appearnce of a talking panhandler, I gave her 20 bucks. I did not know how much was appropriate. I do not know if it was appropriate to give money. Perhaps not. The U of C police told us not to give panhandlers money because it does no good to them--they often waste money on alcohol and drugs. The police suggested that we give them "food stamps" (again, a new idea to me).
But there was no police around, and I had no food stamps. It was hard for me to tell her go away. So I gave money. She murmured, "God bless you!" many times. Thank you, but I thought she was the one who needs lots of blessings from the lord.
The woman and I were both living well below the poverty line, but me being poor was --fortunately, as it turned out--temporary and I was okay about that.
On other occasions, I gave muffins and fruits I just bought because I was stopped by panhandlers. Did I do something wrong by spreading the wealth? Did I contribute to perpetuate their misery (I know the good samaritan paradox, neo classical ecnomists can save their talk)? What was a better alternative?
If I had power, I want to create a world where no panhandler and graduate student live in poverty. But wait a minute, a graduate student is a graduate student, rich or poor. But what about a panhandler? Maybe she can stop asking for money and go to a grad school and can be miserable in a different way.


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