Yes. He was smart enough to move to the center, unlike our present narcissist in office.

Good point. What difference does religion make to this issue?

One of my brothers married an Opelika girl in the late 70s. They live in Tennessee and one of their three daughters is married.
Thought I had a career for 7 years during the 70s up until 1980 when I got sacked in Mississippi. Being sacked made finding the same career job impossible with colleges cranking out more journalism and communications degrees than there were jobs for. Everybody wanted to be a reporter after Watergate.
I went through some temporary crap work jobs until I saw a DOC needs you ad in The Dothan Eagle. New prisons were being built. Went to the academy March of '82.
At first the job was a safe harbor in a storm until I found out what good benefits it had along with the retirement I'm enjoying now.
During the 80s I broke up more inmate fights than I could possibly count. During the 90s I was mostly on the back gate tower, and that was a tricky place.
I almost got killed by once. ( I think God was looking after me).
I also stopped two attempted escapes by popping as many rounds into the air, one during the 80s and one during the 90s.
I have the two attaboy letters framed and hanging on a wall to prove it.
I don't want to see that prison ever again.

This really has nothing to do with religion, but on the point you're raising about socialists' hypocrisy - that is correct, because all of socialism is based on lies. But remember, according to Marx, socialism is a temporary stage, to be replaced by social perfection - communism, where to each according to their needs and from each according to their ability. Translated: if you don't work - you don' t eat. Unless you're more equal than others, of course...

"It might embarrass those poor souls"
Yes. IMHO people should be proud to do any work and embarassed not to do work. People embarassed to do work have it backwards.

"this is caused by parents who continually espouse "I want my kids to have a better life than I had" "
Yes. As you say, giving kids free rent/transportation/etc indefinitely will *not* give them a better life.

There are two parts to this.
1) We need to take back the language of serving one another. You can serve under coercions or in a free trade, guns or money. If the context is making customers eager to pay your for work, that's not coercion. Really successful people, IMHO, approach work with an attitude of service, i.e. they charge a high price but provide amazing service.
2) I don't think all "Welfare" is like being force to live your life for another. If solving a public menace by punishing people with tax dollars is acceptable, I say solving a public menace by helping people with tax dollar is acceptable, if it works. This is a dangerous road b/c it can easily degenerate into people looking to the gov't to take care of them or people moralizing about how "good people put others before themselves". It's very simplistic, though, to say we can use tax dollars to solve problems as long as it doesn't in some way involve helping someone. At best that's being paranoid about well-meaning efforts degenerating; at worst it's just mean-spirtedness.

"they had the answer to get me out of the hole and up by my own bootstraps. "
Yes. I strongly agree with bootstrapping, but I don't think politicians are models of how to do this.

This is what I mean by "helping someone and making them eager to give you stuff for the stuff you give them." I'm not talking about politicians, alms, or helping people under coercion. I'm talking about figuring out something you can do that someone would love to pay for.

"Grace" be thy mantle...well shouldered.

Thanks for this post.
I find it amazing....of all the life on the planet, only sentients violate natural law. Growing pains!

I remember the early 80's in Opelika. Developing acreage for peecans (spelled for correct pronunciation). Uniroyal was laying off 2 to 3 thousand per week for a stint. Farm thing fell apart, friends provided a roof and a lead to work....washing dishes at the Western Sizzlin...$3.50 an hour. I had no safety net except the good relations I had developed. I don't feel sorry anyone who deliberately fails....PITY...the greatest disgrace.

And note that we're not prospering.

It might embarrass those poor souls, Oh my.

Welcome back.

Indeed!

Devastating to the economy. How can a nation prosper, let alone remain viable economically under these conditions? Even Clinton knew better and enacted a work for welfare program... The Obama gravy train has encouraged waivers for Clinton's enacted policies. Votes to rule over a bankrupt third world nation are evidently more valued than a prosperous solvent nation.

Actually, what makes the radically self entitled angry is being shown the truth, having their noses rubbed in it. I remember being "poor", and I was a registered either GOP or Lib at the time - because they had the answer to get me out of the hole and up by my own bootstraps.

Once I became successful, I toyed with the dark side - and it was when my conscience demanded I look at myself in the mirror, I found what I hated - was never those who spoke truth, but those who sold the lie of "social welfare" and "brother love" for their own gain. I hated myself for being just that evil. And it brought me back to being human.