They will be praised...

....it has come to this.

The administration of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, in a blunt acknowledgment that thousands of young black and Latino men are cut off from New York’s civic, educational and economic life, plans to spend nearly $130 million on far-reaching measures to improve their circumstances. 
The program, the most ambitious policy push of Mr. Bloomberg’s third term, would overhaul how the government interacts with a population of about 315,000 New Yorkers who are disproportionately undereducated, incarcerated and unemployed.
To pay for the endeavor in a time of fiscal austerity, the city is relying on an unusual source: Mr. Bloomberg himself, who intends to use his personal fortune to cover about a quarter of the cost, city officials said. A $30 million contribution from Mr. Bloomberg’s foundation would be matched by that of a fellow billionaire, George Soros, a hedge fund manager, with the remainder being paid for by the city.

It was once believed that the provision of assistance services was, rightfully, a charity, an opportunity for those who provided rather than a right for those who received [1].

I blame Jesus.

" 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the Devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.' They will also answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick in prison and did not help you?'. He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me' "
Matthew 25:41-45

There are those who consider the need and misery of others as opportunities to be righteous. Charity serves this impulse. Social welfare rights do not care one lick about the opportunity for the taxpayer, or the gratitude of the receiver. As rights, they insist upon the dignity of the recipient, not the redemption of the provider. It is probably unfair to blame Jesus: the passage is pretty clear that the hungry, naked, imprisoned, stranger is not to be treated as a means but as an end. But Christianity is like Fichtian metaphysics. When what matters is your soul, everything comes to be about you.

So, when Bloomberg and Soros are being praised, let us remember who is not [2].

[1] Also, it was once considered the responsibility of the noble and the well-heeled gentle to step up their spending in times of hardship, to compensate for the loss of business and markets experienced during a downturn. Noblesse oblige and all that. Glad to see that that's back as well.
[2] To be clear.