The Inexorable Expansion of the Welfare Class

In one of his more imaginative moments, the German poet Heinrich Heine wrote, "Poverty sits by the cradle of all our great men and rocks them up to manhood." Despite its hyperbole this idea had great appeal to many social commentators and writers in the nineteenth century. The individual who lifted himself out of poverty and overcame his disadvantages through determination and strength of character became an archetype of Western culture, the stuff of fairy tales, novels and political essays.