Good examples... You and your family knew how to, and were willing work your a$$es of to feed your families, and with any good luck maybe get ahead. It was up to you.

Today a kid in that same situation would not bother with that level of hard work. We are now several generations from a population that knows how to work and is not afraid to suffer if that is what it takes.

"Government at its best is a necessary evil, and at it�s worst, an intolerable one."
 Thomas Paine (from "Common Sense" 1776)