Counter-scenario... let's say everyone has the capacity to succeed if they could only suck it up and go to work. We'll cut the current (and inadequate) social security net and let the fish swim... if they can't, then it must be because they don't have the muscle, not because the current is too strong. The tiny majority that escapes poverty will be able to tell everyone else who fails that it really can be done, and in this way we'll hopefully overcome the incentives to just give up and turn to liquor in despair. Mind you, with optimal competition in a shrinking labour market, everyone's working conditions will be driven down, including your own. We'll just have to figure out a way to pay for increased crime rates and healthcare... oh, and we'll need a solution for the collapse of the middle class and stagnation in our consumer-based economy. You seem to have it all figured out though, so I'll leave those questions in your capable hands.