Philanthropy

My neighborhood has a reputation as the most politically liberal area of the city. Hippies galore. Charitable groups find this reputation useful: The Nature Conservancy has an office down the street, and while I haven't seen a Jehovah's Witness or a Mormon yet, I've met more left-leaning door-knockers in the past ten months than I can count. Just today, I've declined to purchase a beautiful bracelet or a matryoshka from a young Ukrainian man (proceeds would have fought teenage drug use), and regretfully insisted that it wasn't possible for me to contribute "just" $20 to a GLBT civil rights group.

These door-knockers are trained to work the guilt angle for all it's worth, and bless them for that. I hope my neighbors give generously. But I'm really very poor. I'll listen respectfully to their mission statement, I'll express moral support for their cause, and I might even put their bumper sticker on my car. But I won't give them money. At this point, it's a matter of policy. After all, eating has to come first. Then changing the world.