Once before I spoke of this: http://underlore.com/entitlement/
And setting aside the fact that corporate subsidies cost substantially more than these so called “entitlements:” http://thinkbynumbers.org/government-spending/corporate-welfare/corporate-welfare-statistics-vs-social-welfare-statistics/
Again I grow weary at this fresh round of whining about entitlement as the PR agents continue to tell they masses whatever it takes to get them divided and manageable.
Rather than digging into the specifics of why I am indeed entitled to many things from my government I just want to point something out.
Those whining about the entitlement of others in the context of safety nets and the like tend to imply that they are responsible productive elements of this equation and that those arguing in favor of “entitlements” (AKA Rights) are parasitic. But ironically it is the exact opposite which is true. The era of PR and the focus group learned that to gain the favor of the masses you had to encourage and then exploit their most selfish tendencies and concerns as individuals. This means that those portions of society which told you what you wanted to hear and absolved you most effectively of your responsibilities gained wealth and power and political favor.
But make no mistake, those who selfishly regard their own security while blatantly and even proudly dismissing their own responsibility in the fate or suffering of others are part of society only in the most indirect way and as a result it is they who are the exploitative and lazy is we are going to start tossing around blame. They pay lip service to hard work but think about which is actually harder, looking out for #1 or looking out for everyone else? The fact is that between the two general choices, one side willing to shoulder the weight of others and the other only willing to shoulder his own, it is the one willing to carry others that is the more responsible and productive.
They like painting an old world picture of grit and determination, as if the whole world is some cliche John Wayne movie down on the farm, but ask yourself what the purpose of a chore on a farm was but hard work done by the individual for the group, and ask yourself who in those cliche movies was always trying to take the farm away from that hard working family? The bank. Also ask yourself how those down on the farm dealt with the sick and the elderly when it was in their power to help?
No, it is not those of us in favor of protecting social safety nets and forcing those with more to help those with less that are the ideological parasites.
We are all standing on the shoulders of the dead. We are all direct descendents of the owners of the world. We are one species.
Make no mistake. Those among and above us encouraging society to be filled with purely selfish agents with no sense of responsibility are corroding the strength of our society and either knowingly or unknowingly are participating in it’s robbery. They hold the future hostage by aiding those who would export their wealth rather than accept being forced to spend a fair share of it on those with next to nothing.
There is a reason culture developed in the first place. It wasn’t luck. And it wasn’t the desire for power.
It’s because of a simple inexorable fact of existence. Those who work together go further than those who work apart.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tragedy_of_the_commons
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-storytelling-animal/201204/selfless-genes-new-revolution-in-biology
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nash_equilibrium
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economies_of_scale
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diffusion_of_responsibility
Agents working in only their own best interest will in some cases destroy the advantage of the group including themselves through no fault of their own. They must be forced to not engage in their selfish acts by the group, and that’s what government is. That’s what property right is. It is not to protect the holdings of the individual, it is to prevent the interests of the individuals from destroying the fortunes of all individuals.
It is they who forget (or exploitatively deny) this who are the parasitic, lazy, and irresponsible. That they are also hard workers is only a testament to who their real enemy is. And it is not the man on food stamps or the old woman who needs a hospital visit and can’t pay for it
