Topical begging
Back in the early 1980s, when there was a major famine in Ethiopia and huge efforts were made globally to raise money to support the victims, an Irish journalist reported seeing a young boy begging in central Dublin, shouting ‘Help the starving in Utopia’. I was reminded of that this morning when I saw a man sitting in a doorway with a piece of paper next to a paper cup reading ‘Support my 4-year recovery plan’. I gave him some funding, though it will not have very significantly front-loaded his recovery.
There is of course a serious side to this, as we must now expect to see an increase in the number of those on the streets and homeless, and we must hope that we are able, as a society, to give some protection to those who become completely marginalised. We fail as a community if we are unwilling to address this.
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November 25, 2010 at 1:22 pm
“I saw a man sitting in a doorway with a piece of paper next to a paper cup reading ‘Support my 4-year recovery plan’”
Why 4 years?
November 25, 2010 at 1:27 pm
have a look at the Irish Times.
November 25, 2010 at 1:31 pm
The Irish government, as part of the national bail-out, published a four-year recovery plan yesterday.
November 25, 2010 at 3:15 pm
I should have asked, why only 4 years.
November 25, 2010 at 8:34 pm
Ah, because the IMF would not approve a longer period….
November 25, 2010 at 5:22 pm
Hodges Figgis have a table of books categorised by a sign bearing, “Recession Obsession”.