Stop asking me for spare change! I ain't a-givin' anymore

Does it do any good to give money to people begging on the street, or does it just allow us to avoid facing America's deepest social tragedy?

Ranted by Cary Tennis

Aug 23, 2001 | Steeped in the rough-and-tumble spoken-word movement, boiled in punk rock, roasted in alcohol, pressure-cooked in American literature and turned like a newel post on the lathe of American journalism, Cary Tennis brings his angry oratory on arts, politics and culture to Salon every other Thursday.

This week, Tennis has an epiphany about civic order and just says no to a street panhandler -- whose persistence rivals that of a telemarketer.

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