If somebody wants to make it, they can. Especially in the U.S. People crying about being poor.....I just don't buy it. I see temps come in for their first day where I work, saying they just need a chance, then they don't show up the next day. I can go out and find a job in one day, yet I don't even have a high school diploma. If you want something, it's up to you. Even if you're just making $5.15/hr, you may be poor compared to the rest of the US, but you'd be in the 99th percentile of the richest people throughout history. For those that convince themselves that they can't make it, or they spend all their money on heroin and alcohol or whatever, I feel sorry for them. I really do. But I know they brought it on themselves. This socialist attitude of 'someone else is responsible for me (as in the government) if I don't take control of my own life' just doesn't fly for me. And no, I'm not rich. I'm starting out at the bottom just like everyone else.

As for welfare, nobody starves in America. You can have a meal for less than 50 cents. Ramen noodles only cost about 10 cents a pack. You can find free water almost anywhere. So if you're on welfare, you're living better than many people in the world. Even if you're poor and not on welfare, you're much better off than many people for the simple reason that you're free and have the opportunity to make something of yourself. The only welfare that I think would be appropiate is for serious disability and food stamps for really poor children. No able-bodied and sane human is incapable of taking care of themselves; they just choose not to.

EDIT: "pure capitalism doesn't work either, it creates too much misery for some people."

What do you mean by this? People start having nervous breakdowns? The US is pretty darn close to pure capitalism, although it keeps straying away. The only reason pure capitalism wouldn't work is because of monopolies. Somebody like Bill Gates would just keep getting more and more powerful and his sons and grandsons would keep getting more and more powerful to the point that they were more powerful than the entire nation and the govenment. They would in effect become a government. But that's why we have anti-trust laws.