It's more than 20 years since Margaret Thatcher put in train the Community Care reforms, which were supposed to put an end to that "poor law" mindset, with their rhetoric of consumer choice, control and involvement.
But that was just my "poor me" mindset talking.
But the electorate vividly remembers the "make the poorest worse off" mindset of Abbott's first budget, and not in a good way.
There has also been a change in mindset to poor care following the Stafford Hospital scandal.
Working smarter, in concert with the natural needs and strengths of our minds and bodies can be very productive, and at the same time keep us from misery, a constantly competitive mindset, and poor health.
The apparently increasing occurrence of extreme weather events in places like India, such as worsening problems caused by flooding, may be evidence of this point of view, and hence responsible, in part, for the changing mindset in poorer countries.
M. Seshadri, the assistant director of the Institute for Rural Health Studies summed up this mindset that leads poor farmers to choose treatment at private hospitals at all costs: "People who have a lot of money will go to corporate hospitals.
Though they were from different countries, different classes, and of different races, they all agreed that African-Americans and other minorities are poor more because of their mindset than because of race.
However, in a recent interview, Dave Gee, rape adviser to Acpo and the Home Office, admitted that Britain's appalling conviction rates were often due to poor evidence-gathering and negative mindsets, which he said too often led to cases being "undermined rather than built up".
If we want to change the mindsets of the poor, then we have to transcend mere dole-out into participation.
