The first thing to note about those who are shiftless in America, is that they wouldn’t be so prominent in numbers, if the nation was not itself, quite wealthy. That is to say, to live within a society in which there is a lot of overall poverty and little possibility to escape from such, necessities that even the laziness amongst us, must contribute some form of labor or help, or else they will be entirely shunned, because there is plenty that is needing to be done just to survive, and those that are able, must thereby do their fair part, or suffer the consequences, for failing to do so.
On the other hand, Western nations, have plenty of money, and have situated themselves so that there is a social welfare system to help take care of the neediest amongst us, of which, to the degree that these programs and institutions do provide help to the disabled, the aged, the unemployed, and others of that general ilk, they have done so to the betterment of what that nation owes to its people. On the other hand, there seems to be a significant subset of Americans that are actually quite able, but just don’t want to work for a living, perhaps because the monetary compensation for a job is considered to be too low, or the job itself is beneath their dignity, or for various other spurious reasons, including the seminal fact that they typically lack ambition or drive.
So too, when there is seemingly plenty of money available to spend on welfare in a given nation along with valuable institutions specifically being structured to help provide for those that are disadvantaged, there are going to be plenty of shiftless people that are going to do what they feel that they have to do to “game” the system, so that they get food stamps, a subsidized apartment, and pretty much whatever that they can obtain, one way or another, without having to put forth any labor to get it.
For a fact, the shiftless lack motivation, and when unable to find a charity or government institution that will provide for their needs, thereby decide that they can mooch off of someone that they know, such as a family member or a friend, in which, they are quite willing to sleep on the couch, and perhaps in return do a chore or two from time to time, or take on some basic responsibility such as cooking, and exist within this construct, seemingly forever, in which they are forever broke, but at least have shelter, food, and an existence that appears to be acceptable to them.
The foregoing are the laziest and most shiftless, of which, they don’t show up in governmental reports about unemployment, because they aren’t looking for employment, for they are content to do as little as possible, day after day, without any real desire to improve their mind, by studying anything of merit, or of volunteering to help the society that they are a member of, because they aren’t engaged to do so. Indeed, the shiftless are parasitic in nature, and as long as they can find a host to accommodate them, they are essentially satisfied.