What do we deserve by virtue of being human?

This morning I saw a new meme on Facebook that had been shared by a couple of my friends saying something to the effect of, "Those who receive government benefits should have to be tested for drugs, since I do to be able to work and be taxed for said benefits."  On the surface, this is a relatively reasonable argument.  It makes sense that if I want to collect a "public good," a certain level of responsibility with the resources I do have should be expected.  However, on closer inspection, this sentiment reveals a troubling assumption about poverty, responsibility, and the human condition.

Before I go any further, I should lay my cards on the table.  I believe that humans, by virtue of being human in society, are entitled to a certain necessities for human flourishing.  Beyond these necessities, we are entitled to nothing.  What exactly these necessities include is constantly changing (and are different from society to society), and is extremely difficult to nail down, however, the basic principle remains that there is a basket of goods and services that every human living in society should have access to by virtue of being human.

In the past, calamity was viewed as a fact of life.  In any society, some would be wealthy and many more would be impoverished, and no one ever blamed the poor for being poor, in fact, in many societies, these assumptions about the lack of class mobility were codified.  But at some point around the Industrial Revolution, Western society (most strongly in North America) began to assume that wealth was primarily the result of merit, and by extension, the poor were responsible for their being poor, without regard to the systems in place that perpetuate generational poverty or the psychological differences that contribute to poverty.

What we are saying when we require a person to be drug tested before receiving public goods is that they are wholly responsible for their poverty, which is patently false.  A child born to a single mother, who abused drugs and alcohol during her pregnancy, whose mother couldn't read and therefore couldn't read to the child, who moved twice a year clear through elementary school, whose only balanced meals came on Sunday at grandma's house and free lunches on school days, who went to failing schools the whole way through, and who was abused by all six of her mother's boyfriends, the fifth impregnating her at age 14 cannot be held accountable for her poverty anymore than a privately educated child with two parents, who was cared for every step of the way can be fully accountable for perpetuating wealth.

In light of this, in 2014, in Dayton, OH by virtue of being human, we should be entitled to:

temperature controlled shelter
12th grade or equivalent education
transportation to place of education/library
2000 whole food calories per day
light
clean drinking water
hygiene products
world's most efficient method of communication, research, and leisure (smart phone)
Basic preventative and emergency health care

My guess is that some of you would want to add or subtract from this list, please do in the comment section and we can dialogue about what are the necessities for human flourishing in Dayton, in 2014.

Also, if you have creative ideas about the vehicles by which these necessities would be best delivered contribute them to the discussion.

Finally, if you think my basic assumption about poverty and what humans deserve by virtue of being human feel free to make your objection and we can dialogue on that topic as well.