aja8888
Moderator Emeritus
I don't know the cultural background of the folks at Jamestown. But there are whole cultures who expect to "eat free" off those who are more prosperous. If that was the case at the founding of Jamestown, John Smith was pointing out that it was no longer in effect - by law (decree, really.)
I attended a meeting where a missionary was reporting on his work to aid a group of folks who were in abject poverty. Many of the folks were relatives to others in a subsistence farming community. The missionary described one of the built in problems preventing these folks from ever getting out of poverty.
The missionary arranged for a farming expert to work with one of the farmers, showing him how to increase yields. It wasn't through intensive "chemical" means, but through well known sustainable methods. The farmer's crop that year was bountiful beyond any expectation. So his relatives stopped farming, moved in with the farmer and ate his bounty. The "enlightened" farmer went back to his old methods and his free-loading relatives had to go back to their inefficient farms.
My point is that work ethic or whatever we want to call this portion of our discussion is as much cultural as it is economic opportunity. I doubt most of us would dispute that there have been significant cultural shifts, generation to generation in our life times. Not saying that's the whole story of the age-old "youth vs age" phenomenon. Just sayin'... It IS a factor whether we like it or not. Of course, YMMV.
This the exact results of Russia's socialism and 5 year plans.