ROB:
“The arguments of some of the posters here defy logic and they will always find a way of twisting the facts to justify their opinions. “
Funny, I was about to say the same thing.
“If this were so, then why didn’t the chachomim over the many centuries insist on kollelim everywhere for everyone?”
Because it simply wasn’t possible then.
Let me put this as bluntly as I can: Do you, or do you not, believe that the bad things that happen to us are (often) punishments for our aveiros?