> >Examples ...
> >
>
>of "the sins they [the poor] must necessarily
>commit to survive"
Ah, I follow you now. The most widespread offenses are working on the sly while collecting welfare (because welfare payments alone are purposefully almost impossible to survive on, while high effective marginal withdrawal rates makes it impossible to openly declare extra earnings.)
The poor are subject to draconian penalties if caught. Employers who pay welfare recipients below minimum wages are never prosecuted, of course. In fact the employers usually co-operate with authorities.
Welfare fraud is almost universal. This is aside from more traditional criminal activity, which is not quite as common.
Bill Bartlett Bracknell Tas