You make it sound as if only the rich have personal responsibilities. The majority of this country is poor, and their numbers are growing by the day. Is the single mother who works 2 jobs everyday for minimum wage living up to her personal responsibilities? I should think so.
The majority of the country is poor because of decisions THEY MADE. Why is she a single mother of two, working 2 minimum wage jobs? Did she allow herself to get pregnant before she had a ring on her finger and a husband who could support her? Did she suddenly decide that being married was no longer "fun" and walk out on her husband? Does she even know who the children's father is, or more likely ARE (being more than one individual)? When one fails to live a good, decent, proper, and moral life ONE GETS WHAT ONE DESERVES!!!! A very large portion of the citizenry of this country make the residents of Sodom and Gamora look like characters at Walt Disney World.
Now, on the somewhat unusual occasion that her situation is NOT her fault (and there are some out there) I have less of a problem with helping her out. Providing that the situation isn't her fault and she is doing everything within her power to get her family into a position to no longer need the assistance.
Looking at your profile I see how you are a design drafter. That is a great job to have right now and I bet you hold a degree in it. The thing is that not everyone have the opportunity to go to college as you did. Many of this nations poor have to drop out of school to help support their family. They know that more than likely they will never be much better off than they are now. But they hang in there and work as hard as hell, teach their kids morals and values and do what they can. Responsibility has a lot more meaning to them than anyone.
It's a decent job. My skills are a little behind the time, as it's been 17 years since I graduated college, but I get by. I didn't go to a $40K a year college. My entire Associates Degree cost less than $38K and of that a little over half was covered by scholarships based on my academic prowess, my heritage (SAR), and other extra-curricular activities. A little more was dealt with by financial aid. I took one $3,000 personal loan and the rest my parents were willing to help me out with.
I was talking about this with my mother the other day.... When the hell did College become a requirement for being able to financially provide for one's family? A friend of mine who attended the local vo-tech high school now makes three to four times what I do as a plumber, without a college degree. Those people who are in these situations are generally there because THEY MADE BAD DECISIONS. Why am I supposed to support these people ad infinitum simply because they didn't have the values, brains, or common sense to do the right thing in the first place?
Are there good people out there who've been dealt a crappy hand? DEFINITELY, and they deserve a little bit of a helping hand; so long as they are working to correct the issue and get to a place where they no longer need that helping hand. The idea of this assistance as a perpetual thing is ludicrous in my mind.
You should take some time off work and instead of a luxury vacation go spend some time in the Appellation mountains and see the REAL AMERICANS.
You know what I tend to do on my vacations? I go to shooting competitions, or medieval recreation events or get together with friends of mine in Pennsylvania, or go visit historical sights around the Eastern US. There are no luxury vacations for me and never have been. Nor is there a luxury car, a 2000 square foot home, or anything like that.
I have great respect and admiration for the back-country people of Appalachia. They are the backbone of what this country was intended to be. The stock I come from were swamp yankees (the New England equivelant of rednecks) themselves. In fact it's only been two generations since my branch of the family left the farm, and there are parts of my family that still do make at least part of their living farming and raising livestock. These people have chosen the style of life they wish to live. From what I have seen, most of those Appalachian people would be appalled at the idea of taking money from the Government, just as I am.