You’ve missed my point about a beggar versus a peddler, Mike Schmidt.
The word “beggar” is about a person whose sole purpose is to elicit sympathy, guilt and pity from people in order to get money. And I tell you why what Richard Roehm suggested is really about begging for money.
First, the person is Deaf. That’s sympathy number one once the unsuspecting pedestrian figured out the person's is deaf.
Secondly, the person is selling Deaf cards with a sympathetic message that says “I am selling this ‘Deaf Education System’ card to make my living. Will you kindly buy one? Pay any price you wish! Thank you.” That’s sympathy number two. Or in this case an example of pity in the offering.
Thirdly, a lack of communication between a hearing pedestrian and the Deaf beggar will likely to occur on the street and it’d be the final catalyst for the Deaf beggar to take advantage of by getting the person to feel guilty and toss some money out to “buy” a Deaf card. Most of them do that just get away from that guy in the first place.
It’s begging, Mike. Let’s get real here.
There is a difference between a peddler and a beggar.
A peddler sells his/her wares on the street that have value to those who will *buy* them rather than just contribute a few cents to get that person out of his/her hair. It’s the value that stands out that makes the difference here. Not about using pity, guilt and sympathy that are squarely designed to elicit a response from unwitting pedestrians to give up some money for that Deaf beggar whether it's done aggressively or passively.
It's still begging.
Now, from time to time I go to the historic town of Santa Fe, NM and visit some real peddlers that sit or stand along the sidewalks and sell beautifully handmade Indian jewelries, cloths, potteries and such. Nothing about them that says we should feel pity for them. They have something of value to sell. And people are willing to pay good money for them. American capitalism isn’t predicated on using sympathy, guilt and pity as a way to collect money. Doing so is called begging. It's nothing about capitalism. Please note the differences here. The Deaf card idea is nothing more than another way of doing the begging business under the guise of "selling" something. Nothing legitimate there when it comes to business.
Now, you mentioned prostitution which is the selling of one’s body in return for money whether it’s illegal or not. It is a service that’s offered to those who want it. It is a service that some people are willing to pay and nothing about donating money. It has nothing to do with sympathy, guilt or pity like, “Aw, I feel sorry for you pretty lady. I’ll give you one dollar and we’ll do it in my car. Ok?”
It’s really about begging, Mike.
The selling of Deaf cards is predicated on the hope to elicit sympathy, guilt and pity from unsuspecting pedestrians in order to get money from them. It is not even a legitimate business to begin with even if they do get permits to, um, “sell” those Deaf cards.
Now, if that person has something of value to sell, then sure, he’s a Deaf peddler. But “selling” Deaf cards? I bet about 99% of the people who “bought” those Deaf cards threw them away in some trash can someplace or it was forgotten quickly because they don’t see it as something of value. Why? Because that Deaf person who was selling those Deaf cards on the streets used his/her own deafness along with the Deaf cards with a bit of pitiful messages in them as a way to elicit sympathy, guilt and pity from unsuspecting pedestrians in order to get money. And when that happens, it’s all about begging for money in a passive way and not about selling something of value.
Sympathy.
Pity.
Guilt.
It’s all about using people’s emotion as a mean to get money. There's no getting around to it.
It’s called “begging,” Mike.
As for hobos, it’s a word still being used today. It’s not about what era I’m living in but about whether America “failed” those who must beg for money by selling Deaf cards on the street. So I used the hobo example. In fact, in Britt, Iowa the town holds a hobo convention every year. So it is not lost upon those who actually know that hobos do exist today. What is a hobo?
Perhaps you need to learn a bit more of Americana and American history then? I know more about American history than you think lest you find your foot in mouth the next time you think I don't know about American history. The Dust bowl, 1929 stock market crash, the following depression, the CCC, and so on. That history is old, old stuff that I first learned when I was in middle school and into high school. Elementary stuff. But did you at all bothered to click on the link I put out connecting to a story of how hobos began but it was in the context of black hobos? ‘Outcasts among outcasts’? And why I used that in the first place to frame my context of my blog?
I’ll address more of this and your 2nd half of your vlog next week after the holiday break. Time for bed.
UPDATE: Looks like Mike Schmidt deleted his vlog post regarding his first response to my Deaf Beggar blog post (see the missing vlog post - http://drmzz.blogspot.com/2007/07/vlog-response-to-deaf-beggars-part-of.html ). If you go to his main page you can see that his July 3rd vlog response post is now gone and has only his recent July 2nd vlog post instead.
Why the removal, Mike? At least have the courtesy to tell your readers (and mine) why you choose to delete your vlog response post after I have linked your vlog in my rebuttal to your vlog reponse. Is this your way of saving face or what?
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