Is Begging a Free Speech Issue?

The Austin American-Statesman thinks it is.  In an editorial entitled "Whose sensibilities would be spared by expanded ban in Austin?" the paper's editors frame the issue of panhandling in the "progressive" sense, that is, it's a constitutional right.  Any rules infringing on someone's right to approach any other person and ask for money is a constitutional violation, and any way, we all know that the only difference between someone asking  for change to feed a meter and change to "buy food (or alcohol, or cigarettes)" is how well they are dressed and how good they smell.  As the editors put it,

With your unshakable belief in free speech, you support a stranger's right to say to you "Nice day, isn't it?"

You also support a person's right to ask for directions to the Capitol. Ditto for the well-dressed person asking for change for a parking meter.

But how about the shabbily dressed man, perhaps with a faint odor of alcohol, a clear air of homelessness and a general repulsiveness who asks for spare change to help him buy lunch?

But there is a difference and it has to do with care and concern for our fellow citizens.  When someone greets me, that's a social nicety.  When someone asks directions, they aren't going to ask hundreds of people a day and make a habit of it.  And we can safely assume they aren't going to use that information for self-destructive purposes.  As a general rule, if Austin gets a reputation for being hospitable to tourists, that is beneficial to all concerned.  But what about the "spanger?"

To cast the issue of panhandling as simply a free speech issue misses the point.   A panhandler asks strangers to support him in his daily life.  If the filthy clothes and the beery breath are any indication, this is a life of degradation and anti-social behavior.  It really is unethical to give money to someone who will probably use it to further his addictive, counter-productive "lifestyle choice."  It’s cruel to reward behaviors that further alienate these men and women from society, their relatives, and from a healthy life.

Ironically, also in today's paper is news of Leslie Cochran, Austin's peculiar poster-boy for the weirdness that is the source of so much civic pride.  The story is really tragic: Leslie was found unconscious in the street and was hospitalized.  He is not expected to recover from his current condition, which doctors think was caused by closed head trauma.  Leslie was homeless and a transvestite whose penchant for strutting downtown streets in high heels and thongs and little else made him easily recognizable, a symbol of kooky free-spiritedness.  He was welcomed in every business in town, because instant notoriety and negative press coverage would be the reward of any business that turned away the unwashed, uncovered Leslie.  In reality,  his life was one of degradation and exploitation.  While most good liberals patted themselves on the back for tolerating Leslie's behavior, he drank and spent weeks without bathing or getting medical attention.  He was in and out of jail for public drunkeness, and urinating and defecating in public.  But his alcoholic exhibitionism was good for business and for the consciences of the oh-so-broad-minded folks of Progressive Austin.

The fate of the hard core homeless is brutal.  In my area of town, we had two permanent panhandlers who met their fates within months of each other.  After years of holding up signs that said, "Why lie?  I need whiskey and smokes" at the Y in Oak Hill, one of the men was found dead, face down in a nearby bar ditch.  A few months later, the other broke  into a car, seeking shelter on a cold night.  He lit a can of sterno for warmth and immolated himself, apparently accidentally.

At the other end of the spectrum, and at the same intersection, there was a thirty-something woman, well-groomed and presentable, who held a sign that said, "Got Away from Abusive Husband- now homeless, 3 Kids- Please Help"  I watched for several days as she did very well for herself.  Then one day, about 4:30, I happened to be driving past when I saw her by the side of the road with a similarly middle-class-looking young man who was taking her roll- large roll- of bills and counting it.  It occured to me that she wasn't that down and out.

In the end, a stronger, longer ban on panhandling doesn't solve the real problem: the questionable ethics of handing money over to people who will use it for their own self-destruction, or who are taking it from you under false pretenses.  It's a cheap conscience fix, but it makes the problem worse.  Redirecting that money to the social service agencies and non-profits who specialize in caring for the homeless ensures that the client gets benefit, and the money is used well.  What is needed is less voyeurism and short-sighted do-gooderism and more real compassion that promotes the dignity of giver and recipient alike.

Comments

[anon]

"it's a constitional right"

Thoughtful comments.Check spellling. Then delete this comment. : )

[bbmoe]

Fixed- thanks anon! I always appreciate an editor.

[aelfheld]

Begging is as much a constitutional right as free health care.