Lably
Skip to content

Begging

Demanding favors in public

  • 18 min read
  • 6 chapters

Related on Lably

Through Money, Public space and Internet

LabWhat is Money?LabWhat is MoneyLabMoney and CreditLab · Class 7–12Money, Banking & Credit

Internet begging is the modern practice of asking people to give money to others via the Internet, rather than in person. Internet begging may encompass requests for help meeting basic needs such as medical care and shelter, as well as requests for people to pay for vacations, school trips, and other things that the beggar wants but cannot ostensibly afford.

Beggars differ from religious mendicants in that some mendicants do not ask for money. Their subsistence is reciprocated by providing society with various forms of religious service, moral education, and preservation of culture.

Passersby often prefer to give beggars food or water rather than cash.

History

Beggars have existed in human society since the dawn of recorded history. Street begging has happened in most societies around the world, though its prevalence and exact form vary.

Greece

Ancient Greeks distinguished between the pénēs (Greek: πένης, "active poor") and the ptōchós (Greek: πτωχός, "passive poor"). The pénēs was somebody with a job, only not enough to make a living, while the ptōchós depended on others entirely. The working poor were accorded a higher social status. The New Testament contains several references to Jesus' status as the savior of the ptōchós, usually translated as "the poor", considered the most wretched portion of society. In the rich man and Lazarus parable, Lazarus is called ptōchós and presented as living in extreme poverty. Agyrtae (ἀγύρται) were wandering beggars or alms collectors in ancient Greece, often linked to religious practices and fortune-telling. They were generally seen as disreputable figures, sometimes offering to perform harmful acts for payment or to obtain forgiveness from the gods whom they served for any sins. Their presence extended to Italy with the spread of the cult of Isis, Cybele and other such deities, but Roman law tightly regulated their activities, Romans called them aeruscatores.

Great Britain

A Caveat or Warning for Common Cursitors, vulgarly called vagabonds, was first published in 1566 by Thomas Harman. From early modern England, another example is Robert Greene in his coney-catching pamphlets, the titles of which included "The Defence of Conny-catching", in which he argued there were worse crimes to be found among "reputable" people. The Beggar's Opera is a ballad opera in three acts written in 1728 by John Gay. The Life and Adventures of Bampfylde Moore Carew was first published in 1745. There are similar writers for many European countries in the early modern period.

According to Jackson J. Spielvogel, "Poverty was a highly visible problem in the eighteenth century, both in cities and in the countryside... Beggars in Bologna were estimated at 25 percent of the population; in Mainz, figures indicate that 30 percent of the people were beggars or prostitutes... In France and Britain by the end of the century, an estimated 10 percent of the people depended on charity or begging for their food."

The British Poor Laws, dating from the Renaissance, placed various restrictions on begging. At various times, begging was restricted to the disabled. This system developed into the workhouse, a state-operated institution where those unable to obtain other employment were forced to work in often grim conditions in exchange for a small amount of food. The welfare state of the 20th century greatly reduced the number of beggars by directly providing for the necessities of the poor from state funds.

India

Begging is an age-old social phenomenon in India. In the medieval and earlier times begging was considered to be an acceptable occupation which was embraced within the traditional social structure. This system of begging and almsgiving to mendicants and the poor is still widely practiced in India, with over 500,000 beggars in 2015.

In contemporary India, beggars are often stigmatized as undeserving. People often believe that beggars are not destitute and instead call them professional beggars. There is a wide perception of begging scams. This view is refuted by grassroots research organizations such as Aashray Adhikar Abhiyan, which claim that beggars and other homeless people are overwhelmingly destitute and vulnerable. Their studies indicate that 99 percent of men and 97 percent of women resort to beggary due to abject poverty, distress migration from rural villages and the unavailability of employment.

China

Ming dynasty

After the establishment of the Ming dynasty, many farmers and unemployed laborers in Beijing were forced to beg to survive. Begging was especially difficult during Ming times due to high taxes that limited the disposable income of most individuals. Beijing's harsh winters were a difficult challenge for beggars. To avoid freezing to death, some beggars paid porters one copper coin to sleep in their warehouse for the night. Others turned to burying themselves in manure and eating arsenic to avoid the pain of the cold. Thousands of beggars died of poison and exposure to the elements every year.

Begging was some people's primary occupation. A Qing dynasty source states that "professional beggars" were not considered to be destitute, and as such were not allowed to receive government relief, such as food rations, clothing, and shelter. Beggars would often perform, or train animals to perform, to earn money from passers-by. Although beggars were of low status in Ming, they were considered to have higher social standing than prostitutes, entertainers, runners, and soldiers.

Some individuals capitalized on beggars and became "Beggar Chiefs". Beggar chiefs provided security in the form of food for beggars and in return received a portion of beggars' daily earnings as tribute. Beggar chiefs would often lend their surplus income back to beggars and charge interest, furthering their subjects' dependence on them to the point of near slavery. Although beggar chiefs could acquire significant wealth, they were still looked upon as low-class citizens. The title of beggar chief was often passed down family lines and could stick with an individual through occupational changes.

Sign in to keep reading

5 more chapters are free with a Lably account.

More in Psychology

PsychologyStudy of mental functions and behaviorsAnxietyUnpleasant emotionCognitionMental process dealing with knowledgePsychoanalysisSet of therapeutic techniques established by Sigmund FreudAmerican Psychological AssociationScientific and professional organizationPsychotherapyClinically applied psychology for desired behavior change