Can’t beggars choose?

Though every human might have an intrinsic or learned desire to lead a life of choice and abundance, only a few dare to take action and make legitimate efforts to achieve it. There are those who break free from their long-held inertia of inaction and resort to self-made and self-funded efforts. Then there are those who exploit the skills of others and build empires of deceit on the trust, interests, tears, blood, and bones of others. Their cunning and deceitful nature often leads to individuals in this category being misperceived as most intelligent and accomplished in the country.

And yet, there is another often overlooked category: the beggars. Individuals perceive this latter group, unlike the other two, as having the least influence over their personal or communal matters. This general perception stems from the fact that beggars are always on the receiving end, seemingly unable to make independent choices. Their subservient status appears to bar them from choosing what’s good for them. However, this isn’t always the case. Choosing to be a beggar is, in itself, a choice. Moreover, a beggar’s choice of having no choice is, paradoxically, a choice. Isn’t it? Furthermore, not all begging stems from cognitive constraints. If that were the case, there wouldn’t be ‘white-collar’ professionals building their fortunes on the backs of the public. In other words, begging can be a veiled form of choice or a choice made by other means.

A beggar’s decision to deprive their dependents and family of a decent standard of living is, in itself, a voluntary choice. Those who find refuge in the quote ‘Beggars can’t be choosers’ conceal their inability or unwillingness to achieve self-sufficiency. Also, it’s a ploy to avoid accountability for one’s inefficiency. Beggars are not merely victims of circumstance but also the architects of their immediate surroundings and, in fewer cases, of whole society. They possess agency and the capacity to make choices. However, a beggar’s pretext, framed around their supposed inability to choose or make self-made efforts, is often a bid to exempt themselves from social responsibility and legitimacy. Giving up begging would demand legitimate and exhausting efforts — something they are least capable of or acquainted with.

Although begging may risk the well-being of a society, it is undoubtedly a means of survival or even a way to a way to thrive for both the beggars and their patrons. Quitting begging would not only jeopardise the livelihoods of beggars but also impact the patrons, their policies, and their influence. Nevertheless, eradicating the culture of begging could lead to a more self-sufficient society.

Even if they can’t or don’t want to choose, they willingly choose not to make a choice. Perhaps because insisting on their independent choice would end the support of their patrons, on whose behalf they make money, and exempt themselves from social responsibility. Even if they weren’t the ones, what good could they have served in our society?

Had beggars not been beggars, they could have been something more demanding and responsible, yet detrimental. They could have been part of media trading on public interests; judiciary, selling justice; feudal, unleashing barbarism on people; bureaucracy, plundering the public; politicians, plundering public wealth; deep state, installing itself in the social fabric and imposing despotic dynasties on the public; clergy, issuing fatwas, capitalising on public sentiments, romancing with power and prestige; social and rights activists, trading others’ rights; stakeholders buying offshore assets worth billion from public exchequers; (un)fortunate ones who, after shifting their plundered wealth abroad, seek foreign investment in the country; self-proclaimed scholars and intellectuals preaching xenophobia and discrimination.

They could have been the reincarnations of Chahat Fateh Ali Khan and Mashooq Shar, playing havoc with music; convicts running state affairs; healthcare professionals trading people’s health with pharmaceutical companies; and faith sellers selling promises of divine salvation to people in return for dispossessing the latter of scarce worldly possessions. However, beggars choose not to conceal their acts of begging.