Replying to Welfare

I don't like arguing politics.  I try to listen to other people's arguments and then ask them questions, that will hopefully lead them to a point I want to make.  kind of like a socratic type thing.  anyways...

there's a lot of hate on government "handouts" like social security and welfare etc.  my friends are all about private savings accounts.  I don't know much about them, but I do know one thing.

as a first world country, and also the most powerful nation in the world, the united states can't have its disabled, elderly, and psychologically unfit to work citizens starving to death.  this is vitally important.  we can all agree some people are incapable of working for some reasons.  therefore, somehow we have to take care of them.  right?

so how do we do it?  like I said, I don't know much about private savings accounts.  but I'm pretty sure that any type of program like that has to have one or two aspects to work properly.  either the rich have to pay more into it, or the current generation pays for the retiring generation.  otherwise it just doesn't work.

also, I don't know a lot about welfare.  but anyways, lets say for the sake of argument that 9 out of 10 people who get it don't deserve it.  but that one person who does deserve it...see where I'm going?  reread the 3rd paragraph.

I just see a lot of hate on safety-net type programs, and it leads me to believe these haters want to abolish them completely.  I never hear anyone suggest any alternatives.  please, I invite anyone to counter any of these arguments.  I don't know that much on the subject, but that's the impression I've gotten as to how our country works.