After all the controversy about exclusionary language, gender-neutrality and so on, it seems that beggars are a different case -- I think the kind of stereotyping, de-personification would not be accepted for some other groups.

Quite right. But if you translate most objections to that kind of stereotyping into "I have power and I demand status privelidges" then things start making sense again! (This, by the way, is not to suggest that demanding respect is a bad thing. Just that it is in most cases completely irrelevant to any of the ideals that the demands themselves may make reference to.)

We need some good high status beggars to set us straight. Where's David Eddings when I need him?