I give to charity – but never to people on the street. Is that wrong?

palata

Is that written by an AI, or by a high-schooler? Next up: the trolley problem.

matteoraso

Charities can have economies of scale that let them spend your money more effectively than if you gave people money directly, so it's chill.

iberator

Yes. It is wrong. I'm was homeless in 2025/26 (now living on the project forbpast few months). Sadly in most countries homeless people have no access to money or adequate food. For example in my country(too 25 global economy) all i got was one plate of hot soup daily, and 1kg of bread(no extras). But just for 5 days per week. On the weekends: you need to steal, beg or seek for food in the trash. Apart from food: mobile phones, top-ups - you need money for it. Without it, you are stuck forever ... I know people who are saving for MONTHS in order to buy the cheapest used mobile phone. ps. government assistance is also silly. In my country its equivalent of around 5-10% of minimum wage monthly, depends on the month but ONLY IF YOU LIVE IN THE SHELTER. If you live on the street - ZERO forms of assistance.(I got one homeless programmer from USA who is forced to sleep in the forest as he can't access shelter legally as foreigner. Zero income, zero guarantees. He doesn't even drink beer nor smoke.) etc etc etc etc I survived only because I faked my persona and hid the fact that I'm ex programmer. I was finally able to land some minimum wage job only then and I'm slowly recovering. ps. ps. ps. Homelessness is also not about place to sleep but ULTIMATE loneliness: failure or social, partner or family connections in the critical moments... ps. ps. ps. ps. I swear that 60% of homelessness have ADHD!

coldtea

Means you prefer bureucracy and abstract causes over real people

h4kunamata

100% Charity will never use the money as intended, you are just making somebody more richer. Helping people on the street gives them 100% of the money and won't make rich people richer.

maerF0x0

It's your money. Not wrong. There's 2 meanings of the word. Incorrect, or immoral. I'd assume you'd know on the former, on the latter I cannot imagine a moral framework that says giving to Charity instead of unvetted individuals is "immoral".