Agreed, which is why I prefer to provide goods rather than money. Plus I usually don't carry cash anyway.
But the alcoholic might need the drink more than food, and the drug addict might need the drugs more than a place to live. Perhaps not being sick for a couple more hours is the best thing for them at that moment. I'm not suggesting that you are under some moral obligation to buy them drugs, only that not giving them anything is not a moral position in itself.
There are some "Managed Alcohol Programmes" that give out alcohol to the homeless (and encourage them to cut back).
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-02-01/ezard-homelessness-and...
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Did you know you can die from cold turkey withdrawal on some drugs, including alcohol? Do you consider that irrelevant to "need"?
I think you don't actually understand the needs vs wants of the people you're talking about.
Re:Moving Forward on Basic Income
by imtringued on Wednesday June 01, 2016 @05:09AM
(#11813024)
The only thing I've understood is that they don't want help.
I've had other experiences with homeless men turning down food when I offered it. I know that my father-in-law would be (and has been, in the past) happy on the street, using his money for cigarettes and gambling with his friends. There are a lot of different kinds of people that would need to be accounted for and different motivations.