I'll take that jaundiced view of freedom as evidence that Hugo Chavez is closer to promulgation of the American Dream in his planning psychosis than boards of directors for various companies. Beyond that rather long rehash of trying to remake America into Sweden and some interesting speculation on to what I think of menial labor, where this "respect" for all manner of whatever is transmogrified into making sure that one only has to sit on the fanny eating ice cream cones and get the current pitch, with not much melodrama or questions any more, we have the following: So-called "free" medical care, free housing, free food, free social services for the kiddies, daycare for your child born out of wedlock, "free" job training, "free" washbasins and piss pots, "free" computers, "free" gardens, "free"....well, everything. Make it all FREE! But just as it is understandibly unfair to place on people ultimate blame and complete responsibility for all woes and situations of birth, so too it must ALSO be unfair and unkind and condescending to boot to place on people NO responsibility for their own station in life, or their personal outlook. I realize I'm outmanned here. Few people even use the word "individual" next to the word "responsibility" in order to forge a phase from the two. Certainly none of the current pumpkinheads vying for President. But then that begs the question whether the President or for that matter even hard core dictators should direct entire economies. We fought the cold war over the difference, or so we are told. The issue is not any slamming of menial labor. Hardly. I have only respect for people who shovel and grab and fix things in the blistering heat and bugs as I once did in another life working in places various as warehouses cleaning crap off the floor to golf courses listening to jackasses talking about getting back from Zurich and complaining about the staff. All the while cleaning pine cones out of sand traps for these man children babies. Yes, I dig your angle. Honestly. But the point I was making is that whether we like it or not, some positions (including my former one) are not ready made for high powered finance or for that matter upgrades to tile and granite in the kitchen for homes. We can't do it all. More often than government programs are the personal initiative and ideas that actually move people away from this and into the kinds of positions where there is more likely to be a connection in YOUR work and company performance. This is rare, and yes very difficult. This is not a slam of anyone's position, but just candor. No one is going to pay 50 grand a year to flip burgers. The market can't handle that. It won't. And we do no one any favors pretending there are easy, ready-made solutions from government to circumvent this reality. Nothing in this wretched world is "free." Now, having said all this, your railing at white folks being mostly of "privilege" with little reference to Appalachia where these kinds of whites (and most of all welfare recipients ARE white, come to think it) might bring dividends--politically. It always does. The aforementioned Sweden, with almost half of all kids born out of wedlock and a social and economic environment that encourages not only this but a divorce rate higher than even ours (!)is the dream come true for social planners. The white folks live in the very social distress actually caused by government that liberals like to advocate over here in their promotions of dependency. As to me personally? Yes, I have values that go FAR beyond mammon and things. But that was not being addressed here or in the article.