I can't decide if it's sad or maddening to hear another doofus at the Toronto Sun use the old "why can't these hobos just get a job" argument. Today's article features a twist on that classic, yet completely absurd position: the "you can actually make a good buck begging" argument.

As I said in the Wednesday talkback concerning the murder of the man from St. Catherine's, I could get behind a ban on panhandling if someone had any clue of what to do with all the panhandlers once they could no longer inhabit the streets. Many North American cities just moved the problem around, as they did in Atlanta before the Olympics. There must be a better way to make the city more pleasant for everyone, not just the middle/upper class and the tourists.

Things like flyers on hydro poles, some forms of graffiti and sketchy neighbourhoods (an odd combo for an example, I know) are part of what make any city unique. Must poverty also always be part of that urban experience? And is keeping up face worth sacrificing a bit out our humanity? If we start thinking of the poor at 2nd or 3rd class citizens and keep trying to eliminate them for purely cosmetic reasons, then that's exactly what we're doing.