, spivonious wrote

*snip*

I'm all for charity. Let people give to the causes they want to support. Just don't force it through taxation and government programs.

If charity covered the issue, we wouldn't need social programs.  The problem is, however, that charity seems to dry up right about the time that the economy goes south.

Education and healthcare are expensive because the student/patient is not the one paying for them. Back when patients paid for office visits out-of-pocket, the costs were much lower, because doctors wanted more patients to come in. College used to be very affordable until the majority of students were on financial aid.

Back when healthcare had much lower costs, we were using leeches to cure cancer.  Good healthcare, from a doctor who has a degree from a legitimate school has always been expensive.  The poor just do without. 

Same goes for education.  It's always been expensive.  If more students going to college is causing the costs to go up, then let's place the blame on student loans that put people into decades of debt.  Grants aren't that easy to come by.

There is a huge sense of entitlement these days where people get upset if they can't stay on unemployment for 99 weeks. That's almost two full years. If you can't find a job during that time, you're either not looking hard enough or not willing to take a paycut.

...you forgot to suggest that they "move to whar tha jobs iz".  Seriously, there are a host of reasons why being unemployed will make you less attractive to companies, and I'm pretty sure that ~12million people aren't just being picky.

Labor unions are pointless. Laws exist that protect worker's rights. Maximum hours, child labor, minimum wage, etc. Those are what unions were formed to get, not to ensure employment and get cushier benefits. Teachers are upset that they won't get as big of a pension? When was the last time you saw a private-sector job offering a pension? Oh no, the workers will have to pay some of their salary towards health insurance? Join the rest of the workforce.

Get ready to pay them more money.  You might believe that having a pension is somehow a better deal than having to contribute to your own retirement, but let's not kid ourselves that teachers are paid well.  The pension and other benefits make up for this.  

And labor unions act as enforcement of those laws.  I assure you that businesses would rather treat our population the same way they are willing to treat foreign populations.  In fact, that's a damn good example of why unions are neccessary.  As soon as businesses found a way to skirt these laws, they did so.  It's shameful.

I'm not looking down on the poor, I'm just saying that for the majority (at least in my experience), they rely on government assistance way too much, and are all too quick to blame "the man" for their lack of prosperity. The rest of us had to work to get that college degree, to get that well-paying job, to get that promotion, to buy the nice house. It's not like the non-poor are all living off trust funds.

Yes, kinda, you are looking down on the 'poor'.  And the unemployed.  And teachers.  And people who choose to contribute to society by working in areas that don't require a college education.  And people who aren't able to make it through college.  And the people who carry your garbage away from your house.  And the people who dig for coal to make electricity that powers your computer.

I could go on.

Everyone has an equal opportunity to live a better life. Some take it, and some sit around and complain.

</rant>

Better != wealthier.