Welfare taps into the darkest parts of human nature. The more you give somebody, the more they resent it. We are seeing that in spades after 50 - 60 years of uncontrolled welfare. You are absolutely right - self-esteem and self-worth only come from accomplishing something and you never get that on welfare. The country was so much better when local agencies handled the truly needy cases and the monstrous, uncaring federal government was not involved. Can we ever get back to that?
Likely not, not as long as self-serving politicians realize they can stay in office by buying votes with generous entitlement disbursements.
That's how grifters like maxine waters stay in office.