If you want to get technical about it, graffiti is simply writing on other people's buildings without their permission. The practice has existed since ancient times; there are some remarkably-preserved instances of ancient Roman graffiti, for example. However, aside from some value to archaeologists, it Just Isn't Cool.
If you are talking instead about the artistic style we commonly see in modern graffiti, there's some amazing stuff out there. 90% of it is crap -just like with anything else- but you can find some really good artwork in modern graffiti. Now, if only they'd stick to their own canvases, or those which they had been authorized to paint, a lot of people would be a lot happier.
Actually, except possibly for the police. More than once, graffiti has proven valuable in tracking gang activity. From that standpoint it has some value, but generally not to the one who originally painted it.
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