Yes, indeed, I was angry. And still am. But my anger is not directed at the other posters here; those who have posted are examining questions that I consider to be very important. If someone has a point of view or experience that differs with mine it ought to be heard and considered. I'm not even mad at Troll, who I felt tried to discount my point of view, by writing me and some others off as, What? Children of the idle rich, who don't understand about paying a mortgage or meeting a payroll? I've done both.

As to John Hardly's question about the connection between behavior and poverty. . .It is true that hard work always pays off. But not always in money. And when it comes to another person's position in life, it is not our place to judge. There is no direct connection between behavior and poverty that holds for all cases.

Everyone has a different story. I've seen stupid and lazy people who, through accident of birth, will never have to work for a meal in their life. Sober, hard working people get washed out of the system through illness or through bad business decisions and bad personal decisions everyday. Businesses get ruined because the owner wouldn't pay off the right cops (it's still really easy to lose a liquor license in Chicago if you make an enemy in City Hall)or because the new landlord wants to upscale the building. I've got family farmers on both my Mom and Dad's side who work their asses off and barely scrape by.

Hard work is simply no guarantee of monetary success, particularly if you're not interested in participating in the dominant economy; or if you've been shut out of that economy due to color, national origin or a lot of other reasons. But that is hardly relevant to my point.

It is not for us to say that this person deserves help and that one doesn't. It is not "christian charity" to say I work for mine, so to hell with you.

The "Protestant ethic" that I was referring to is the belief that you can gauge a person's "holiness" through his/her earthly success. It's what allows all those evangelists to justify buying one more cadillac. When abused, it has justified all kinds of money grubbing.

Thanks to McGrath and Little Hawk for clarifying my points, and you also John Hardly, for giving me the benefit of the doubt. I may have let anger obscur my clarity. And if I offended troll, I apologise for that. I was not trying to belittle or dismiss his accomplishments or point of view, but I do expect the same courtesy.
As Art pointed out, the Bughouse Square tradition is one that deserves to be continued. It's a tradition that includes raving from atop a soapbox from time to time. Democracy is such a messy process.

Have a fine day
Bart