Beggars in Spain

The question of what the strong owe the weak is central both to Leisha's character and the broader world Kress builds throughout Beggars in Spain. Moreover, virtually every moral or economic philosophy espoused by the characters seeks to answer this question. Under Yagaiism, Leisha's first philosophy and a rough analogue to Ayn Rand's Objectivism, individuals owe one another nothing except what is freely negotiated through contracts in a free market capitalist system. Given Leisha's own intellectual and material privilege, it makes sense that this philosophy would appeal to her, for she has plenty to give and receive in such a system. Just because the poor are ignored under Yagaiism doesn't mean they go away. This is what Tony means when he asks Leisha, “Now what about the beggars in Spain?” (56). Citing society's need for compassion and kindness, Leisha says she would give the beggars money, but Tony coldly yet rightly expresses the contradiction this poses with Yagaiism and suggests that the class warfare resulting from it will be bloody: “What if […] they're so rotten with anger about what you have that they knock you down and grab it and then beat you out of sheer envy and despair?” (58).