The point being we should have to earn the things we want and need.
I was told at a very early age the world does not owe me a living. I took it from there
Many years ago people came to this country for opportunity, they came here knowing they would have to work, but that hard work would be rewarded. They ran away from places where socialist or communist ideas oppressed them and kept them down. They came here with a skill, some knowledge and the intestinal fortitude to stand up and take a chance.
Some made it, some didn't be each and every one of them knew the meaning of hard work and did not expect a handout to make it happen.
How times have changed.
As my favorite President said:
"The things that will destroy America are prosperity-at-any-price, peace-at-any-price, safety-first instead of duty-first, the love of soft living, and the get-rich-quick theory of life." - Theodore Roosevelt
That's all good in theory. But the hardest working people in America are broke as ****.
Hard work does not translate into financial success.
The guy who carries the shingles to the top of the roof gets paid the least, while the guy who does no more than to talk gets paid the most.
Ever heard the term "It takes money to make money"?
Those who "have" simply squeeze money from those who "have not". Then they label those same "have nots" as lazy.
And they scream like banshees if the government tries to regulate them in any way. But let the free market speak up against them, in the form of a labor union, and watch them run begging for government regulation.
And, because they can afford to buy the law, they get it.
Yet they still move the jobs overseas so they can pay less for the labor that they NEED.
Then they have the nerve to call the guy they put out of work lazy.
And do I think that the government should be helping people who are in need? Well... "By the people, FOR THE PEOPLE" Yes I do.
The vast majority of those who are "in need" don't want a handout. They want to be able to work for their needs.
But with fewer jobs that can meet those needs than there are people with those needs, there is a guarantee on millions of Americans being unable to make a living.
greed (grēd)
n. An excessive desire to acquire or possess more than what one needs or deserves, especially with respect to material wealth
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/greed?jss=1
Main Entry: greed
: a selfish and excessive desire for more of something (as money) than is needed
greed - Definition from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary
A wise and frugal government, which shall leave men free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned - this is the sum of good government.
Thomas Jefferson
If you are happy being that guy that carries the shingles to the roof of the house, then be that guy. But don't be angry when that job does not pay as much as you need to live.
If you are unhappy about it, then pick your butt up by your bootstraps, go back to school, study, get some skills and go out and do something else.
That is what is meant by being lazy. Face it, it doesn't take much knowledge, investment in time, or risk to be the guy that carries the shingles up on the roof, but we need those guys out there. It isn't going to pay you $100K per year though, simply because you are not worth that much, any monkey can carry shingles to the top of the roof.
Now, if you also have the skills then to start a row of shingles, getting the proper layout, knowing how to interweave the shingles in the roof valley and you know how to cap it off, then you are worth more. If you want more money, go out there and get those skills and prove to your boss that you can do those things.
But to site there and moan and complain about woah is you that you are not getting enough money for carrying shingles is not going to get it done. If anything, it will only create a situation where you feel resentful and that the world owes you something. Oops, looks like you are there already.
You need to change you attitude and get out there and make it happen.
This is somethign I know from personal experience. There was a time when I had to go out and dig ditches for minimum wage, but I did it because I knew that I needed to have a job. I worked hard, I paid attention and every opportunity I had to learn something, to get on a backhoe, or a bulldozer and learn something about it, I took it. Before long, I was moved up because I was WORTH more, then moved up again, and at each step I learned more about what it would take to make that next step.
About three years later, I was a foreman for the construction company and was in charge of million dollar projects and up to 12 men at a time.
After realizing I could not work in construction all my life, I changed careers. Again I started at the bottom of my new chosen career, I went back to school and studied hard, learning everything I could.
6 years later, I am now in charge of multi-million dollar software development projects, I have anywhere from 6 to 10 developers working on my projects at any given time.
You can do it, but the defeatist attitude has got to go, step up, change your attitude and get out there and work hard, you will be successful.
Or you can site back and complain about how life is so unfair, your choice.