It's interesting to me that God prescribes social welfare in the Old Testament.  When people harvested their fields and their vineyards they were directed to leave a portion unharvested for the sake of the poor and the widows.  What is challenging to me is that God didn't tell people to harvest their entire fields and show generosity to those in need.  It seems that God's plan was for those with need to work and to put in effort in order to find provision.  There were no free lunches: whether rich or poor, people worked hard to eat.  I can't help but wonder how our culture would be different if we established the same system.