© Raw Story/Screen grab
In the video made by "fouseyTUBE," a man who appears to be homeless holds a sign that reads "No One Has Ever Become Poor From Giving" and offers cash to random passersby in the streets of LA. The responses he received were shocking.
"In today's society, it's socially acceptable for the wealthy to give money to the homeless. Is it acceptable because it's one individual helping another? Or because one individual is better than the other, so it's okay to help?" the man asks on camera.
Sitting on a sidewalk or walking up to people, he offers money to the unsuspecting.
"I just want to be a helping hand today. God bless," he says.
The people he approaches, many of whom are in suits, appear to assume that the man is asking for money. When they realize that he's offering money, many of them react with animosity.
"I don't need your f***ing money, you a**hole," a man on his cell phone replies, throwing the money back at the actor. "I could f***ing buy you."
"Does it look like I need your money?" another says. "F*** out of here."
"F*** you, prick," another man says.
The actor is told to "piss off" by one guy, and gets into an alteration with a man who has a Mercedes Benz — which cost him $50,000, he says.
Only a pair of people — a man and a woman — give money back to him and say positive things.
"Just because it's a good message man. So positive," the man says when he hands some cash to the actor.
The woman crouches down when she gives him money "for breakfast."
The project was an experiment to see "how people feel about themselves when someone classified as 'lesser' than them on societies class ladder offers them money," according to a statement on YouTube.
...what a depressing video.
People claim L.A. is it's own kind of weird, and I can't vouch for what neighborhood he's in, but I can say that the people he approached seemed well-off. I don't know all of the details surrounding the creation of this video, but taking it at face value, I'd say our society, or at least pockets of it, are in peril.
On the other hand, I know people in my community might not accept his generosity, but I doubt they would react as harshly. That's not to say that he wouldn't find some real sorry bastards, but I know people where I'm from would at least run him down politely.
In any case, it's still a question of values. These people have allowed themselves to be blinded by a self-serving concept of privilege = right. That IS something taught in our society, even if indirectly. I hope viewers who see this, and who sympathize with this man's cause, are also actively giving back to society when they can.