You captured well in your post how most of us put on a disguise in life at some point, to integrate well in a collective while hiding what we truly feel or our financial situation. In the western world there is this saying "fake it till you make it". I guess many are forced by circumstances to take this route.

As for giving money to people on the street, I guess it depends on how things work in different parts of the world. The worst is when behind people (or even children) that need and ask for money, there are entire criminal networks that take ALL of their "earnings" at the end of the day. So, if you're giving them money, you're basically funding criminal organizations... Sad, but true!