I think it's easy to take that view, and I used to think that way too. But on closer examination, there seem to be plenty of people who rely on the government

I think it's easy to take that view, and I used to think that way too. But on closer examination, there seem to be plenty of people who rely on the government for their lifestyle, have higher status than most people, yet do not contribute. There's a huge number of boondoggles that "employ" hordes of people who pretend to do useful things. To me this is a bigger problem than your usual chronically unemployed person, because mom and pop have already spent plenty of time warning the kids against this situation. People who end up there are probably not there voluntarily, and it doesn't offend my notion of fairness as much as the above group.