The homeless must learn to help themselves
By offering assistance to homeless people, we prevent them from helping themselves.
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The Argument
In modern society, homeless people have countless opportunities to improve their situation. The homeless can find a job, gain a stable source of income, and work their own way out of poverty. If we continue lending them outside assistance, the homeless community will never feel compelled to take responsibility for their circumstances. A passerby's independent donation is rarely large enough to provide long-term assistance, and thus only enables their lifestyle. Ultimately, outside assistance transfers responsibility from homeless individuals to the larger community and never encourages them to take responsibility for their lives.
Counter arguments
It is wrong to assume that homeless people have many opportunities to improve their situation. Our job market is competitive and navigating the hiring process is even more difficult for homeless people, who lack the resources to make the best first impressions. If private donations are rarely large enough to support a person's livelihood, this would provide even more incentive to improve one's situation, it would not compel homeless people to rely on charity.
Premises
[P1] If a homeless person accepts private donations, they will not feel responsible for their living condition.