On Thu, 17 Mar 2005 13:14:35 -0500, in a place far, far away, "Ami
Silberman" made the phosphor on my monitor glow in
such a way as to indicate that:

1. The "masses" are overall more contented and less prone to rebel.
2. Since the bread and circuses are supplied by the government, as
opposed to individuals, it is harder to manipulate the masses by means of
the bread and circuses.
It's a pretty cynical view, but I think that, overall a rational one.

Could be. The point remains that given we have a welfare state, the
distortion of the job market caused by minimum wage laws remains a
catastrophe for underskilled youth, and those who would simply like to
do some work, though they don't need the money that badly.