Dealing with Guilt at Not Helping Family

[Whiskey]

We hate watching people suffer, even the idiots.

Yes, it's tricky isn't it?

It's something I mull over often, when I see the growing homeless population in town.  Begging on corners.  Living in RVs.  Sleeping in tents on the beach (I see them during my morning runs).

I wish I knew an easy answer, but there isn't one. 

I don't want them here.  But where do they go?
Some of them have jobs and just cannot afford rent - and that is pretty common all over the country now.
Some of them have family, but I've spend enough time in the world and on this board to realize that family doesn't necessarily deserve to be burdened either.
Some of them are lazy and don't want to work.
Some of them are disabled and cannot work.
Some of them have limited mental capacity or need to be in a mental institution, but we really don't have those anymore.

So where is the line?  What is society's responsibility?  How do we care for people who cannot care for themselves?  What do we do for people who can, but WON'T care for themselves?  And how do you distinguish the difference?  Or do you even bother?

This!

[joonifloofeefloo]

They aren't going to end up dead on the side of the road.

?    Plenty of individuals do. It's not possible to predict which ones will and which ones won't. For those that don't end up dead, there are countless others who end up frostbitten to the point of requiring amputation; severely malnourished; navigating exacerbated symptoms due to stress, fear, and malnutrition; assaulted, newly addicted... 

A person with serious challenges (including undiagnosed ones) left to their own devices is often unable to access truly helpful programs, and does experience a worsening of circumstances and symptoms.

There are too many programs out there for people...

I don't know where the person quoted lives, but this isn't the case in any of the places I've lived. What's available "on paper" or touted in the media is usually inaccessible to the majority of people in need of that resource.

I don't subscribe to the idea that letting them go hungry makes them better at working or keeping a job.

+1.