Yeah man, it's a pretty tough issue, and I am not sure what I think.

I /do/ think that the vast majority of the cultural problems in the USA stem from a dependence on the welfare state, all the way from the very rural poor to the very urban poor. I mean, when an able-bodied or -minded person only consumes and doesn't produce anything of value to put back into society, that is a non-sustainable situation. Why would a person bother to contribute back to society when they can just get on the dole and be lazy all day, right?

On the other hand, I think sometimes good people get into a bad situation through no real fault of their own, because the world is an inherently unfair place. And in those situations, I have absolutely no problem with our society and/or government helping them out just enough to work through the hard time and get past it. Not enough to cause dependence, but enough to kickstart a person in working towards a positive outcome, you know?

I guess I think the problem comes when the people become "addicted" to the welfare state. Because then the "free" money is used to buy votes from the people who have become dependent on it, and that is politically corrupt and culturally regressive, in my opinion.

At the risk of being cliche, I guess I think a "hand-up" is ok, while a "handout" is bad. Nothing is "free" (as in free beer), and when we oppress one group to empower another, by taking the fruits of their labors and redistributing it to a group who hasn't and will never do their duty to society to pay back that labor, well, that runs completely counter to the egalitarian ideas of equality of opportunity that are the linchpin of our western "classical liberal" ideas of individual liberty. And historically that goes nowhere good.

But yeah, it just makes me livid when lazy worthless people hold up their children and say, "But without a handout my children will starve! Think of the children!" Abusing their children by using them as a shield for their own worthlessness, when they have done absolutely nothing to try to provide for them on their own and just want to lazily leech from the fruits of the labors of others instead of working to create their own "wealth" (be that a material or socio-cultural or whatever "wealth") and take care of themselves, grrrrrrr..... :<

Phew! It must be rant day, LOL!

Ahhh, sometimes I don't know when to keep my yap shut. I do sincerely apologize if I say anything offensive. It is something I feel kind of strongly about, though. >_>