It's interesting to see the evolution of this thread and everyone has made good points.
Even though I was brought up not wanting for anything, I was friends with and went to school with people who didn't have two nickels to rub together and, in some cases, no clue where their next meal would come from.
My parents always made sure the 5 of us children were clothed and fed. I didn't realize until I was grown and away from home that we were probably considered "rich" by many in our community. My daddy was a physician. A country doctor, really. Being the doc made him smart and where I lived, being smart equated to being successful which, in turn, meant rich. What many people didn't know were the numbers of daddy's patients who never paid or weren't charged because they had little or no money. More often than not, he was paid with baskets of fresh produce, chickens, sides of beef, fresh eggs, and the like. I can still taste Mrs. Hettie Bowe's strawberry jam.
Now, having said what I just said, we were not indulged. Nothing was wasted in our house and we didn't live extravagantly. When I was in the eighth grade, I worked in the school cafeteria in exchange for my lunch. Every Monday, daddy "paid" me my lunch money for the week...$1.25. As soon as I could, I got a job for my spending money. Occasionally I would babysit to for more income. Not much babysitting work was to be had, though, because folks in my community simply didn't go out without their children.
My brothers worked in the summertime for local farmers doing hot, hard farm work. None of the 5 of us were/are afraid of hard work.
When I had my family, I followed the same practices I'd learned growing up. And, I guess, the lessons stuck because all of our children appreciate the value of a job well-done and, too, don't shy from hard work. As children do, they learned from example. There was a time when, together, Buck and I worked 8 jobs to keep the wolves away from the door. Sleep during that period was a luxury.
I guess my point is, sometimes it would be so easy to give up. I just can't. I stubborn that way. When I see someone struggling, I'll help them as long as I see they are making an effort and continue to do so. As soon as it becomes my job to take up the slack, that's when they are back on their own. I've seen too many people with their hands out as their job. The Washington, D.C. area was filled with them.