'Welfare' is cake, and the cake is a _____

I like analogies, and not just because they were the part of the SAT I didn't suck at.  They are a powerful tool for bringing about understanding, and also for pointing out the absurdities that often slip by undetected in everday life.  One of those absurdities that annoys the ever-loving bacon out of me is our state and federal welfare system.  I know that a lot of people get the help they need, and that rarely gets the pub.  I also know firsthand that there is an amazing amount of fraud, that many people that need help get none, and that many of the systems in place neither encourage success or demand it.

The analogy I'm thinking of today is between real life, and the World of Warcraft.  WoW has a term- 'Welfare Epics.'  The term describes epic gear that is handed out without the requirement of accomplishing the defeat of a raid boss.  There is one major difference between WoW's system of welfare and the one that government employs:  In the World of Warcraft, you still have to work for your pay.  It might be exciting, or challenging work, but you still have to earn your way.

To me, that's what's missing from our federal, state, and local welfare.  You might have stacks of paperwork, and a lot of hoops to jump through, but you're never asked to do any real, productive work for what you're handed.  The designers of the video game, Blizzard, realize that for the health of the game world, it's best to keep as many people actively engaged as possible.  Why haven't our various branches of government figured that one out?

I realize the difference in the difficulty between coming up with a great idea and putting it into practice.  Another thing I've realized is that the system we have in place isn't working.  It's slowly bleeding our country to death from two different wounds- the money we toss down the welfare pit, and the loss of productivity from the citizens in the system.  

We need a new system.  The system needs to be designed around two pillars:  

*You work for what you get.  There are no free rides.  Help should be available not to anyone that needs it, but to anyone who needs and AND is willing to work for it.

*There needs to be a training program in place to get people into a better position, whether the training offered is job training, life skills training, etc.  

If our people are our greatest asset, it is in all our best interest to develope them as well as possible.  I'm not saying that I have the answers for how to bring such a system to be, but I'd be very interested what the folks at Blizzard would come up with.