Beggars´ Belief
There really isn´t much difference between any city or town across the world when it comes to beggars and those who have fallen on hard times or never had the chance to hold some silver in their hands. They are there, you are there, and the gulf that is so apparent between rich and poor makes you stop for one moment and ask – ´what if I were in their shoes?´. Of course we´d hope that someone would give usmoney if it were the case, but the rights and wrongs of giving money when you have it bear some thought……
Bolivia is, as I understand, South America´s poorest country. 70% are below the poverty line [but let´s be careful to remember that these figures are some World organisation´s definition of being poor, probably corrupted by some 1st world country´s own interests]. But poverty is quite apparent here.
Hands held out from doorways down the streets we´ve walked, little children running up to us as we cross Plazas, families waving hats as our bus drives by, choking them with engine fumes and covering them with dust, and the sad sight of Campesinos congregating outside the plushest hotels in town, hoping for the odd Bolivianos to be tossed towards them.
But what should you do? Give, and encourage more begging? Share with them and make them smile? Question their motives and wonder whether behind the sad facade is a good family home built on the efforts of begging? Or merely cross the street and pretend they aren´t there, banishing them from your thoughts?
Here we´ve given, and liberally too, at least by their standards. Perhaps it´s been easier because we haven´t been hassled like in other places we´ve visited. Not trailed, not jeered at, not had our clothes tugged at, not spat on, not anything. Just a quiet respect between each person that makes giving almost inevitable.
But should we give in any case? Eons of history have shown how the rural folk have come to the town to seek the streets paved with gold, only to find a harsh reality far from their glittering dreams, and so have fallen prey to begging and other salacious activities to make ends meet, afraid to return home without anything to show. By giving, do we not only encourage a greater migration from the countryside and a greater expectancy on those who can give, which surely can never be a sustainable means of supporting a society in this capitalist world that we live in?
By giving, the message is clear – come to town, be persistent, and you will be rewarded with money, without the need to work in the fields tending animals and growing crops. Money for nothing as the song goes.
Not quite. Not in my opinion in any case. The relative wealth between us is too huge to even contemplate. Where would our principles be if we didn´t give to those who have so very little and ask for so very little in any case?
Begging in Bolivia is different, at least for the time being. It isn´t in yer face and it isn´t done with menaces. It´s there as a fact of life. And while we may well encourage more to come to town and try their luck in the future, in the search of the streets of gold, for the time being we have no qualms about giving relative fortunes to the honourable people we come across.
Are we wrong?
Tags: Side Diversion: South America
mihai