I think were talking about slightly different things. There are many ways in which people control their own destinies. You’re absolutely right that sitting back and waiting to be provided for, like the woman waiting to be provided with a house, is a terrible abdication of responsibility.

On the other hand, there are all kinds of factors which make it more difficult for some people to pick themselves up by their bootstraps than others.

I’m not just talking about racism here. Education, intelligence, familial wealth and environment, peer groups, health, plain old-fashioned luck, all of these are factors in a person’s ability to succeed.

You and I are both, at the very least, intelligent, healthy and comfortable enough to be able to spend time discussing issues like this on the internet. We’re educated enough that we can talk coherently about them. Countless people can’t, and I don’t think it’s fair to say that it’s just because we had more get-up-and-go than they did.

Government isn’t a single person that people put their destiny into the hands of, it’s a system whose entire purpose is to create a stable baseline from which its citizens can maximise their potential. That’s why I cited education and healthcare and policing as things we rely on government for. When these things don’t work for people, it’s exponentially harder for them to find a way to thrive, regardless of their attitude.