With a small caveat

It should be clear where I'm coming from, but I'm guessing it is not clear to absolutely everyone. I also think, quite seriously, that there's still a chance for some confusion, so let me clear that up as well.

First of all, yes, we are all created equal and endowed with some inalienable rights. That part of the Constitution the founding fathers got right. However, ...

We don't all show up in equal circumstances. Some people have it a lot harder in life than others, and this for any number of reasons. We don't all have equal opportunities.

What is more, since we have ranked (rigged?) our priorities in favor of the economy over the society, this inequality of opportunities is a double hit for those left out. When it comes to economic forces -- which are valued higher than any other in our modern-day, consumerist, capital-driven, money-loving world, those without are at more than just a disadvantage: they've been shut out completely. Consequently, we can't judge them by our otherwise money-prejudiced standards.

Facebook, for example, abounds with sappy, pathetic drivel about how our lives would be better if we made better choices. That's vague enough to agree with, but it's too vague to be true. For all of those born with a gold, silver, or even stainless steel spoon in their mouths, talk is cheap. Before you disparage the poverty-stricken, the weak, the disenfranchised, the oppressed, and the have-nots (i.e., those without spoons, so to speak), you should give your personal pathos a second thought. I would like to see all those well-enough-off-to-think-they're-more-deserving-than-others manage under the same circumstances as those for whom they no longer feel responsible. Yes, we like to think that responsibility is a personal thing, but that's only part of the story ... a very small part of it actually.

In an age of unbridled, rugged individualism, too many John-Wayne wannabes like to think that they got to where they are by their own efforts. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Your social background, your skin color, your fitting or not-fitting into legislated categories, your upbringing, your diet, your family circumstances all play a part in which breaks you get and what breaks you. Recent studies have shown that even random determination of a privileged position leads quickly to the assumption that the benefiters are getting what is their due. Once "there", these people almost invariably tend to get less compassionate quickly as well. Could it be ... I mean, is it perhaps just possible, that you're not being objective about your stance on rights and responsibilities? Could it be that you're just opining from a rather privileged position?

Now, while I still believe everyone needs to make the best of what they have, there are still too many folks without enough for "good", let alone "best". This is anything but a one-size-fits-all matter.