The comments I see on the list are curiously oblivious to Hoffer's point. It is DIRECT generosity that the weak resent. The fact that they can vote themselves the power to extract benefits is in fact a manifestation of that resentment. No one likes to feel beholden. That the government seizes on this aspect of human nature, and uses it to subvert generosity of the haves, while simultaneously preempting the thanks of the have-nots, is a big reason society has become as polarized as it is.