Oh I hear ya Funk, Like I said, I have no problem with helping others. Cutting it off, or pulling the plug would be a disaster. It would have to be some kind of program that allowed for the people to adjust or be able to make a living on their own.

talking about cheating the system, I had read the other day, about the vehicle tax over there in the UK, and how so many drivers are now listed as a Taxi, because it's cheaper. ( I believe it was something like 15 pounds a week or something like that to drive normally.) Things like that is just insane also.

Anyways, getting back to one of the points you made, here in the states, I believe if we let the States handle their own welfare programs, it would be much better than letting the Federal Government take the money, and then dole it back out to the state, to dole back out to the people. Anytime you remove a step, it reduces costs. In fact I would go so far as to remind people on the Fed level, the only powers of Congress as an example of this, and that any said power not mentioned, should be in the hands of the state.

The problem we face, is that no politico want's to give up their power over others. (Read as control.) another problem we face, is that I doubt any one in office even has a dictionary from say, the late 1700's to know what those words mean. Sure words evolve, but that does not mean you ignore the manufacturers warnings on that new solar panel you put up, when the word day now means night.

I really think, if people as a whole, started feeling a bit more respect about themselves, and learned what it is like to work hard for something, and then appreciate the fruits of said labor, take some pride in what they do, it would be a huge step in the right direction. But instead, we have 20+ years of divisiveness from our two party system, media telling us America is a horrible country all the damned time, and the smallest issues that are none of our business, effecting how we view our fellow man. It's just a shame that more people don't see it, let alone are incapable of having friendships, because they view the whole sum of a person by a political affiliation.

Bruce Lee once said, I am a father, a husband, a son, a teacher, a student, a philosopher, a bike rider, etc. etc. yet not one of those things is the sum of who I am.
The great divide starts by people who use their charisma to tear down one attribute of another, rather than to try and raise every one as a whole. I guess to be fair, it's been going on since the start of this country.

Stephen