[j42]

Because it has never been a question of who is deserving of what...

The poor have no leverage, and realistically, no one is going to give that to them.

We're not talking about an idealistic re-working of civic values, but the natural tension that already exists between private interests and the public sector.

One need only look to antitrust law to see why letting any single locus of control grow unchecked can wreak havoc on a market/economy -- I think we should appreciate the few checks & balances we have left, lest this notion of naive idealistic equality allows them to slip away unchallenged.