Morally they're equivalent, but practically they're not. While I would like those beggars to receive money, I don't want them to be the exclusive recipients of

Morally they're equivalent, but practically they're not. While I would like those beggars to receive money, I don't want them to be the exclusive recipients of cash aid, excluding the many poor people who don't happen to be actually begging on the street. I want an organized program that takes the available cash (donations or taxes) and distributes it in a "fair" way among the poor. What constitutes fair is difficult to answer, but I certainly don't have enough information available to make that decision right when someone asks me for money.