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It happens quite often, these days, to give a few coins to a person selling tissues or cleaning the windshield by sticking your hand out of your car. It is an easy and quick act of atonement, a good deed without effort and cost, in the spirit of the days \u2013 if there is such a thing and as one understands it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In such cases, the person waiting at the traffic lights may insist on giving you tissues, even if you don\u2019t want them, or cleaning the windshield even if it is already clean, so as not to be treated like a beggar, to save his or her sense of honor \u2013 as much as it can be saved.<\/p>\n
You have the choice not to succumb to the temptation of giving and to be indifferent, because you have heard about the criminal rackets that put supposedly disabled people and desperate mothers out into the street to profit by emotionally pressuring passersby. You are free to ignore them because you believe that by succumbing to their pleas you are supporting the exploitation of children and the deception of gullible citizens who, unwittingly, contribute to the commercialization of humanity.<\/p>\n
If someone absolutely wants to give something these days, without doubting that their offer will be used appropriately, they can reach out to a social integration body and be sent either directly to a soup kitchen or to a non-governmental organization that cares for vulnerable people, as long as they are accountable for the use of every euro they receive as a donation.<\/p>\n
In general, there are many ways to offer something to someone who needs it, as long as you feel compelled to do something, because there are many people who do not even have the basics.<\/p>\n
There are also those who have the basics, but do not have what is necessary for a decent everyday life, and who were shocked when they saw the news about a traffic jam in the upscale winter ski resort of Arachova, where several electric cars and other holidaymakers who didn\u2019t have snow chains on their cars were trapped for hours.<\/p>\n
They are the ones who do not take Christmas vacations, or any vacations for that matter \u2013 even though accommodation units at popular tourist destinations are full \u2013 because their salary does not suffice, because the rent they pay for their home is absurdly expensive, because the children\u2019s expenses for free education are high, because the grandparents\u2019 expenses for free health are also high.<\/p>\n
They are victims of \u201csubjective poverty,\u201d according to Health Minister Adonis Georgiadis, people who feel poor without actually being poor, based on Eurostat\u2019s criteria. Perhaps they are also victims of the \u201cpsychological hegemony of the Left\u201d (another quote by Georgiadis), which sees misery everywhere instead of \u2013 why not? \u2013 drawing pleasant conclusions from the packed bouzouki venues where a bottle of whisky costs anything from 180 to 500 euros for four people and a little more if the drink is premium (for those who understand the difference).<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n