The turning point, for me, was in 1980 when an older colleague of mine responded to my complaining about some trouble I was having in getting the last 1 or 2 unemployment checks that I was supposed to have gotten before starting this new job.

He said "What makes you think the government owes you a living?"

Now, granted that's not 100% applicable in the case of unemployment insurance, but the gist of the message hit me like a ton of bricks.