poker ethics: do you wonder about who you're taking money from?

[bigalt]

Sorry if this is an old topic, my searching skills are not g00t.

My dear mother is not worried so much about me losing my own money, but more about the people I'm taking it from. It's got me thinking.

Are we not, as habitually winning poker players, bigger leaches on society than people that abuse the unemployment/welfare program? We are taking money straight from the pockets of other people, granted a smaller population than that of the taxpayers of your given country.

That population obviously consists of many different types of people, some of which one might feel bad about taking from (pathological gamblers, bored housewives) and some not (frat boys, the guy on TILT).

But on the whole, do you figure they've put themselves at risk and thus are ultimately responsible? Are you providing them with entertainment, and your winnings off of them are the price of that entertainment?

If someone was walking down the street in front of you and dropped 20 bucks out of their pocket, would you pick it up and put it in yours?

I'm not trying to preach fire and brimstone or anything, I'm just wondering if this is something anybody's thought about.