When we drive into a new town, we know, almost by instinct, that we can trust the hard-working carpenter further than someone permanently on the dole. It's possible that the guy on the dole is a saint, but the hardworking man shares our specific ethics, and we are tuned to them. Even if this carpenter is a negative exception, we'll be able to tell.

I've felt this kinship on multiple continents and among people of many flavors; not just on construction sites, but in truck stops, offices, grocery stores and trains. Productive people bear a specific ethic, and it's consistent not only over distance, but over time. If you were somehow dropped into ancient Rome, the people you'd want to join wouldn't be the Senators or the people in bread lines, but the people who build and maintain the aqueducts.

Even the old man, recounting his days of building, repairing and creating… He's not just saying, "I was once strong," he's saying, "I am a producer. And even if I'm too old to work, I remain what I was."