who never worked outside the home (thus did not formally contribute) but receives SS for the last 30 years of her life; Paul Ryan, who got SS because of survival death benefits clause after his father died; my own graduate school fellowships; early retirement benefits for military veterans. It all comes from the same pot, just delivered in different forms with a socially "respectable" label. Folks who struggle with generational poverty? Families who now need to rely on unemployment or food stamps because of medical bills or lost jobs? They have been vilified as lazy welfare bums. It's a sorry state we're in when we fail to see how we're "all in this together."