welfare is only needed if the labor market is allowed to create jobs that don't provide viable living wages. If given a choice, people choose well-paid work of reliance on welfare. The problems do start when full-time employment doesn't prevent a family from being poor. This happens because wages were allowed to drop to a level that doesn't support decent human conditions.

My guess that since addressing this angers people who would hope to see wages low so they can maintain their business that has grown to be dependant on cheap labor - it's much easier to talk about lump sum transfers (conditional or conditional) as those do not impact the cost of labor, unemployment or living standards.

I would rephrase you last sentence as spending other people's money to give someone else free stuff.

Our societies are already so hopelessly rigged that it's hard to feel too upset about these rather tiny wealth transfers to people who need it, even if they didn't "earn" it.

Your second sentence describes the entire concept of civilization.