a world gone mad

It has been shown time and time again that we feel more compassion for an individual than for a group of people. But, now we are seeing a slightly different dynamic. Why do we feel more compassion for a homeless man who plays the piano brilliantly than we do for a 90-year-old man who has been arrested three times for feeding homeless people?

In both cases, the plight of the homeless is at the center of the controversy. Yes, this particular homeless pianist has been through hell and back, but he’s still homeless, though that’s about to change with the gofundme campaign on behalf of this man with a $50,000 monetary goal to buy him a house, a car and tuition for the three classes you need to complete your music theory degree.

I feel deep compassion for this man, but no more than I feel for the hundreds of hungry and homeless people who gather on a Fort Lauderdale beach every Wednesday afternoon at 5:30 p.m. to be fed by a 90-year-old man, who does not solicit donations from anyone, and whose only crime is trying to eliminate hunger in his community.

It’s strange to see people rush to the aid of people who have been hit by a natural disaster, or whose houses have burned down, or children who are sick and dying and would like one last thing before they die, and then to see these same people who make it a crime to feed the homeless or even be homeless.

Some cities have gone so far as to make it a crime for homeless people to sleep in their cars or on the street. One city even makes it a crime to smell bad on city property. And, yes, homeless people can smell bad if they don’t have access to showers and washing machines and the clothes they are wearing are the only clothes they have.

In many cities, it’s illegal to sit or lie on sidewalks, dig through trash cans, feed the homeless without written permission, sleep in public, ask for help, not just money, and some cities even have a hotline. to report homeless people begging for money on city property.

Where are these do-gooders who make speeches about eliminating poverty but then make it a crime to be poor? Where are the politicians who make impassioned speeches about helping those in need and then enact laws to penalize these same people for being in need?

This is definitely a world gone mad when we can punish our neighbors for sleeping in their cars because they are homeless, but we can rush to help people in other countries who are in the same circumstances.