A one time act of kindness like that lasts as long as the shoes don't wear out. Rather than that, why don't people admit that they would never consider working beside the likes of such a lowlife. Not saying he is, just stating the obvious thoughts that must go through the heads of people who do the easy act of charity. Else why didn't he go further and invite the guy into his car for a vegan meal in an expensive restaurant, discuss Proust, and find him a position of employment where he works. I'm no better than the blond guy either, by the way, and probably less giving, but I don't delude myself. Listen, I know we'll probably never be able to salvage more than half the lives of the homeless, seeing that many are mentally ill. Certainly the insane should be in institutions, but hey, that would be cruel and unusual, wouldn't it folks?
Just let them be themselves, no matter how self or outwardly destructive they are. The others we see are those that have given up on life, and the rest, slackers. I think at least the former have some shred of hope, but a pair of shoes ain't gonna do it. And no, the communist mantra of "Each to his ability, each to his need", ain't gonna do it. It doesn't work in Eratosphere, so why would it in the larger society. Gorbachev saw the failure of that belief over the years as he slowly realized that the manufacturing base of the Soviet Union was consistently fabricating inferior products which no one, not even his own citizens, wanted.
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