Help Government Approved Panhandlers Only!
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Saturday, April 25, 2009
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Amusing sign seen in Atlanta by a Tyler Cowen reader:
About James Joyner
James Joyner is the publisher of Outside the Beltway and the managing editor of the Atlantic Council. He's a former Army officer, Desert Storm vet, and college professor with a PhD in political science from The University of Alabama. Follow James on Twitter.
I just moved from Atlanta recently, and was there during one of the dumbest ideas I’ve ever seen. I lived two blocks from the Capital for years, so handling panhandlers became a necessary skill. They can be a pain in the ass, but this idea didn’t stop them from harassing me and probably didn’t do much as a charity activity either.
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It makes a lot more sense to distribute money through an organized program than by randomly giving out small amounts of money to people you know nothing about.
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Yeah, this is a great idea, now your spare change can go through a “middle man” who gets to take their share of the money too. We don’t want you individually helping out your fellow man, that’s a horrible idea!
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At first blush, it looks sound. Rewarding panhandling does create more panhandlers. I know this but still give them money from time to time; so much for the rational economic man.
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