Some good points here, however I would suggest the root issue is not cultural vis a vis producers vs rent seekers, the problem is the maths dont add up between public funded and private funded work, and the cultural stuff covers this up... Here's my thinking, rough maths to illustrate the point, UK data... 30m employees total 4m self employed 6m public sector total Ratio 34/6 or 5.6/1 So, the taxes of 5.6 workers pays for the cost of services (pay, pension, and facilities) of one public funded worker. In reality, its more complex, there are a million plus private sector jobs that depend on public sector contracts; and public sector workers still pay taxes! This isnt criticising public funded workers. We'd be stuffed without the work many do. But the maths will not add up... So, state funding via ever increasing nationalisation of the economy and debt financing backed by QE will have to make up the difference.
As the author of the post infers, the road to socialism is paved with good intentions...