Rich Beggars

Beixue Hong Priscilla
English 101
Professor Liz Derrington
30 September 2014
Rich Beggars
Nowadays, with the rapid development of the economy, people are better off; however, the number of beggars is also increasing correspondingly. Generally speaking, beggars are associated with poverty and sympathy, leaving deep impressions on people that they, dressed in rags and tatters, live under bridges or crowded shelters, relying on asking people for money. There is no denying that we who have the ability to pursue a higher standard of life are supposed to help these beggars, but what makes it sad is that some beggars are fake, even rich. There are a number of beggars, but most of them are not beggars at all. The former ones beg to survive, while the latter ones to live.
Typically when seeing a beggar in the street, I give money whenever I have changes in my pocket, but once there was a boy who grabbed my clothes, asking for money. Occasionally, I caught a glimpse of some beggars in the corner watching at me. That was the first time I have suspected the true identity of them.
The professionalization of the street beggars has become an important problem of the social security. They belong to different beggar groups, such as gangs, obeying leader’s instruction and coordinating group work. Usually, they are assigned to beg in public places and stage heart-broken tricks to take money from passersby, working in shifts. To become "rich beggars" some pretend they are blind, cripple, or sick and ask for more money. (“Fake Beggars Become Rich in Nanjing Subway.”). They also sing songs, write something that shows their suffering, or say some sentences of good fortune to make people happy. Astonishingly, their income is higher than most white collars and graduated college students, which leads to the fact that more and more people would rather take the job of begging.
There is no doubt that the temptation of huge profit entices many people into a road of cheating, which causes negative effects on society. I heard a story that a reporter who was originally asked to pretend to be a beggar in the streets of New York to have the experience of begging. Thinking methods of attracting passersby and making them willing to give money, the reporter decided to tell jokes as well as anecdotes based on what he had seen and interviews he had done. Dressed in worn-out jeans and a wrinkled t-shirt, he smiled calmly at the strangers, with a wooden bowl placed in front of him. If there was someone making eye contact with him, he would ask, “Do you want to hear my story?” Vivid description and exaggerated body language successfully drew people’s attention -- people stopped and saw what was going on there. Surprisingly, by virtue of his eloquence, he earned 200 dollars a day. Enjoying enormous benefit, the reporter finally quitted his job and turned to be a professional beggar.
For most beggars, money is the first driving force. And ironically, people ridicule poverty. They don’t care if you break the law or violate social regulations; instead, they only focus on how much you have earned. Beggars who are rich are respected and modeled after by others. Their lives, double lives, are tricky. Begging is part of their routine lives in the daytime, while sharing money and having great meals at night. An overview of beggars’ life is written in the influential newspaper, China Daily, “[Being] seriously ill, he was lying on the ground, watching his "sister" kowtowing and reaching out for alms from sympathetic passersby; hours later, he became magically cured, got up and stretched his legs, then went to a restaurant for a big dinner.” This piece of news reveals two professional beggars, who intend to make money by being ill. Sharp contrasts of their double lives astonish and confuse people. How come they do so?
The phenomenon of rich beggars reflects a negative society. Some people prefer begging to working, which not only damages to society and harms other people. By using various ways, professional beggars forge poor situations and make up stories to make money. They try to get sympathy by poor appearance, even sacrificing their dignity. These fake beggars have bad effects on city image and desecrate people’s benevolence. The fundamental trust between people is destroyed and ruined. If everyone in society chooses the “job” beggar, there will be no one else to donate money, let alone promote social progress.
Cheated by those beggars, people wonder whether they should give money or not. Youliang Miao, a traveller from Britain, writes his experience and feelings in blogs, “Each time when I meet or come across some of them in Baku, I have all kinds of feelings. I really don’t know if I should love them or hate them.”
People are easily moved by beggars’ appearance and their stories and give money from the bottom of their heart, but in some cases, they are forced to give money. People are willing to help the old, the disabled and homeless children instead of young people with the ability to earn money by themselves. But even the elderly and children sometimes do begging purposely--they pretend to cry for a family member’s death, selling themselves to save their sick parents and beg for their poor children. Most of them are young women, around thirty years old, with a little baby carried in their arms, they stand there begging and saying something sadly.
What can we do? How can we recognize the real and the fake beggars? There are two helpful tips. Firstly, smell body odor. True beggars do have some bad scent, for they live under harsh conditions and can’t take baths very often. Secondly, observe begging place. Fake beggars usually beg in crowded places, such as subways, parks and hospitals. We are expected to see through the beggars’ tricks as well as help those in need. Use good judgment, but do not be stingy. If we are not sure of the true identity of beggars, giving food instead of money is a good choice. No matter how developed the economy is, we can see beggars wherever we go. Although a great amount of poverty still exists and there are lots of beggars, some of those beggars are fake, playing cheap tricks for money. We should sharpen our eyes. For one thing, distinguishing between true beggars and fake beggars and, saying no to the latter, will help restrain the tendency of cheating. For another, giving love to those in need of help and letting them feel the warmth of society is of great importance. In this way, we can create a harmonious society and, people, filled with positive energy, will be willing to share love.

Works cited
AppleDailyEnglish. “Fake beggar becomes rich in Nanjing subway.” YouTube. YouTube,4 June.2013.Web. 21 September 2014.
“Double Life of Beggars.” China Daily. Society,17 September 2014. Web. 21 September 2014.
Youliang, Miao.”Beggars.” The Journey of Hearts.China. 16 Aug. 2006. Web. 21 Sep. 2014. http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_4a81c6d3010005ij.html.