How much genuine advanced exposure have you had to welfare, the machine that feeds it, and it's recipients? You need to go down to the hood and find a hood rat and hang out with her for a year. Then come back and tell me welfare does not crush everything that is human.
You grew up in Chicago and you never heard or read about a single murder in the area? You must be living under a rock for sure. Chicago is in top 3 cities in the world (not in the us, in the world) in crime.
I am not convinced. If "free" money necessarily crushes, then societies that are even more generous with welfare should be crushed. The lucky who inherit (or win) wealth and a life of leisure should be crushed. (Ok, some of them are.) Even those who work themselves into financial independence should be, when the necessity for work stops, crushed. Unless there is something else going on...
It's the East Asians (Japan, Korea, Taiwan and parts of China) who are said to be the smartest, not Southeast Asians (Thailand, Cambodia, Indonesia etc.). The jews have invented things but they are not nearly as smart and inventive as you claim (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_inventors). As for Africans, countries such as Finland are home to quite many (specifically Somalians). It's definitely a welfare state with a great education system, stringent anti-racism laws and no nutrition problems, even still - the Somalians brought up in Finland end up in gangs, rapes and gun crime very often.
The act of working for the money changes the cultural paradigm right there. If hood rats are not your "flavor", then go and find the nearest trailer park, many of the women behave in a similar manner. People on generational welfare truly believe that the money will never stop, and that they are entitled, as victims. Working the system is their job. They have no idea about taxpayers, because they don't know anyone who has ever actually paid taxes.