Entitlement.
It seems to be a disease sweeping our country faster than that avian flu. It’s that sense that we deserve better than the hand we’ve been dealt, and I believe it’s a major contributor to the decline in morals and basic humanity that we’ve been experiencing.
We’ve all seen it. A friend of mine, as she purchased a fistful of lottery tickets, sighed, “I have to win this. I DESERVE it!” I said nothing at the time, but her remark haunted me She deserved it? This was a woman with a loving husband, a good job, and three average, normal kids. Sure, they had a couple of outstanding bills, but who doesn’t? She would be able to pay them eventually, maybe by cutting corners a little, but she probably wouldn’t learn any lessons about frugality from the pinch. Why did she deserve to win the lottery any more than anyone else?
During the holiday season we all hear the bell ringers, see the buckets and barrels stationed at every street corner and store entrance, asking for loose change and nonperishable food. Those collections are for the families who have lost jobs, homes, and dignity, surviving on the meager leavings of an overfed society. Many of those families have done nothing to deserve their painful fates, other than fall victim to bad luck or a blind national economic plan. Why does my friend think she deserves a windfall more than these people? What about those families with members afflicted with debilitating diseases acquired through unfortunate pairings in their genetic code? Did they deserve such tragedy? Wouldn’t they be better, more deserving candidates for a lottery win?
More than mere selfishness, it’s that latent sense of entitlement that bothers me. Lately it seems we are more and more suffering from that skewed viewpoint: people bring lawsuits against bosses who demand a day’s work for a day’s pay. Others slack off or pilfer office supplies, claiming they can do these things because they are not being paid what they think they deserve. On the other end of the spectrum, CEOs callously lay off workers to cut costs while at the same time accepting ungodly large sums as bonuses—money they claim they deserve simply for being lucky or devious enough to end up at the head of the corporate food chain.
This impaired sense of right extends to the streets: poor children steal from helpless victims because they feel they have been dealt an unfair hand and so deserve whatever they can take. Every power outage brings rampant looting, the thieves claiming entitlement simply because they don’t have something they want.
We have replaced hard work and honesty with laziness and greed: the desire for a better life is still there, but the means to achieve it have changed— children want—no, demand—good grades without working for them, fancy extras without earning them, jobs without being qualified for them. Our society has fostered this dangerous sense of entitlement. Many of our celebrities are talentless morons, revered for physical attributes or the ability to be as outrageous as possible. But, hey, they deserve their fame, right?
I would be happy if my friend won the lottery, but I don't think she necessarily deserves it. Better she give those dollars to a charity and thank heaven she could afford to do that. The only thing we deserve to get out of life is in direct proportion to what we put into it.
It seems to be a disease sweeping our country faster than that avian flu. It’s that sense that we deserve better than the hand we’ve been dealt, and I believe it’s a major contributor to the decline in morals and basic humanity that we’ve been experiencing.
We’ve all seen it. A friend of mine, as she purchased a fistful of lottery tickets, sighed, “I have to win this. I DESERVE it!” I said nothing at the time, but her remark haunted me She deserved it? This was a woman with a loving husband, a good job, and three average, normal kids. Sure, they had a couple of outstanding bills, but who doesn’t? She would be able to pay them eventually, maybe by cutting corners a little, but she probably wouldn’t learn any lessons about frugality from the pinch. Why did she deserve to win the lottery any more than anyone else?
During the holiday season we all hear the bell ringers, see the buckets and barrels stationed at every street corner and store entrance, asking for loose change and nonperishable food. Those collections are for the families who have lost jobs, homes, and dignity, surviving on the meager leavings of an overfed society. Many of those families have done nothing to deserve their painful fates, other than fall victim to bad luck or a blind national economic plan. Why does my friend think she deserves a windfall more than these people? What about those families with members afflicted with debilitating diseases acquired through unfortunate pairings in their genetic code? Did they deserve such tragedy? Wouldn’t they be better, more deserving candidates for a lottery win?
More than mere selfishness, it’s that latent sense of entitlement that bothers me. Lately it seems we are more and more suffering from that skewed viewpoint: people bring lawsuits against bosses who demand a day’s work for a day’s pay. Others slack off or pilfer office supplies, claiming they can do these things because they are not being paid what they think they deserve. On the other end of the spectrum, CEOs callously lay off workers to cut costs while at the same time accepting ungodly large sums as bonuses—money they claim they deserve simply for being lucky or devious enough to end up at the head of the corporate food chain.
This impaired sense of right extends to the streets: poor children steal from helpless victims because they feel they have been dealt an unfair hand and so deserve whatever they can take. Every power outage brings rampant looting, the thieves claiming entitlement simply because they don’t have something they want.
We have replaced hard work and honesty with laziness and greed: the desire for a better life is still there, but the means to achieve it have changed— children want—no, demand—good grades without working for them, fancy extras without earning them, jobs without being qualified for them. Our society has fostered this dangerous sense of entitlement. Many of our celebrities are talentless morons, revered for physical attributes or the ability to be as outrageous as possible. But, hey, they deserve their fame, right?
I would be happy if my friend won the lottery, but I don't think she necessarily deserves it. Better she give those dollars to a charity and thank heaven she could afford to do that. The only thing we deserve to get out of life is in direct proportion to what we put into it.
posted by J.B. Lee | 2:10 PM
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