A friend of mine who identifies herself as a liberal told me that welfare and other social programs for the poor are just minor handouts, the real ones being reserved for the middle and upper classes. It sounded like just tedious contrarian nonsense. However, after doing my 2002 taxes, I see clearly that she was right. "The system" was designed to benefit certain people and to allow the exploitation of others. It is all very philosophical though, not a simple case of an evil oppressor in the tower. The political right will quickly point out that profit is the motivator behind most productivity in the world. This productivity keeps our country rich, strong, and free. Another friend of mine, who doesn't identify himself as a liberal, told me that the tax-time handouts that are given to land owners and business owners are the only thing keeping many of these operations going. He says that if the handouts were done away with, that thousands of operators would consequently see their best option to be bankruptcy.