[SteveA]

I read an article from a guy in England talking about how socialism has affected the social mores there. People have become more accustomed over time, just as in America, to "let government take care of it". Abilities, including the work ethic decays (like, sadly, our more recent crop of youth here) and it becomes almost a "sane" option to do as little as possible and let other people do it for you. I'm joking somewhat on the sanity but I've found it interesting that if I had instead of working, gone on welfare, I'd be legally required under section 8 rules to live in a larger home and likely I'd have a larger TV and car, similar to others on welfare that I've seen but I'm an idiot and refuse to cave in ... though I am blowing off my savings now becaue I've realized it's more a liability now to save because they're getting hungry.

The good part though about sticking it out is that by keeping afloat on your own, when the ship goes down, you'll be a damn good swimmer :)