Government spending makes things worse by picking winners and losers. They are both jobs programs for the politically active and social programs for the poor. The winners are organized in political parties and unions. They cop the attitude, "I got mine, now you get yours". While the rank and file feel as if they are victims of the poor teachers, cops, and social workers who plague their lives and make them more miserable. That's why Sharpton can organize a protest against police brutality even when the cops are black.