Moments Are Enough?

[Amman, 7/4/25]

In Beirut 4 1/2 years ago, I saw quite a few beggars. It wasn’t surprising since Lebanon’s economy had been wrecked by Judeo Christian Satanists, with Beirut’s port explosion the latest episode. Dozens of hotels remained closed. Shattered traffic lights went unfixed. With most street lamps turned off at night to save money, there were many traffic accidents. Even those with cash could withdraw only so much from their bank.

When I mentioned these sad and often ragged individuals to a better off Lebanese, she said, to my surprise, that they were just scammers. But what about a decently dressed middle-aged man digging through trash cans? He’s just mentally ill, she answered. She had seen a similar man doing exactly that in Southern California. This lady lived with servants and never wandered Beirut streets, like I did. This charge that beggars are just hustlers, alcoholics, drug addicts or weirdos “who prefer to live that way,” you hear the world over.