Are we lumping welfare benefits and unemployment benefits into the same group? Because here in the USA they are not the same. Welfare has become a lifestyle for some. And even in some cases, unemployment benefits are abused.

I work in power generation. After the Enron scandal in 2002, the industry went belly up and I lost my job. A lot of my friends whose wives work made no effort to find a job until their benefits ran out. They could have worked, but they didn't want to. I remember hearing some of my friends' job search stories.. in which they sneered at the offer the employer made, and turned it down. THen they complaied about "oh how cruel this life is to me, that I can't find a job that pays what I'm worth "

The day after I was laid off, I had two jobs (granted, they were both really crummy jobs... jobs nobody else wanted.) I have often wondered whether it was stupid to do that.. to work to earn barely more money than I could have collected for nothing. But at least I got to keep my dignity. What price tag goes with dignity? Also in subsequent job interviews, that portion of my work history has always raised eyebrows. Employers say they don't see that very often. Hmmmm

My point is that desperation is relative. We are not usually talking about TOTAL lack of opportunity... we are talking about people who have options, but despise them. In so doing, they have chosen to be helpless rather than choosing to help themselves.

And THAT is where I divide the line between misfortune and missed opportunity

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ey71h8ep047758h/AAC12jNM0Hz9Q8zsh5iDeqNHa?dl=0