Quote:
Originally Posted by Choro&Swing
When people call others “entitled” in a pejorative way these days, what they often mean is this: “believing oneself to be inherently deserving of privileges or special treatment.” The important word here is “inherently.” We all know people who ACT as if doing something is their “God-given right” (“endowed by their creator”), that is, inherent right, a right with which one is born.
But originally, many centuries ago, the word meant one “held the title” to something. If you held the title to a piece of property, you were “entitled.” It was yours by legal right! If someone borrowed money from you and gave you a contract promising to repay you, you were “entitled” to that money.
If you own a home in The Villages, you are legally “entitled” to live there. If you pay your amenities fees, you are “entitled” to do certain things that outsiders are NOT entitled to do, such as use the executive golf courses or swim in the pools. (Apart from the current emergency.) If you pay for special privileges at the country clubs, you are “entitled” to them. If you paid money to the Social Security Administration for decades, you are “entitled” to receive your Social Security check. If you are 65 or older and a U.S. citizen, you are legally “entitled” to receive Medicare. If you put aside money in your retirement fund for decades, you are “entitled” to spend that money after you retire. It is your legal right.
Social Security and Medicare, and also other programs like Medicaid, and welfare payments of various kinds, are classified by the government as “entitlements” because if one meets the requirements, one has the legal right to receive them, and the government has the legal responsibility to pay them. Some of these entitlements are partly covered by what one has contributed, and some are not—they are gifts, but gifts to which people are “entitled” by law.
So yes, if you live in The Villages and own your home and pay your dues (that is, what is DUE to someone if you want to enjoy that to which you are entitled), then you ARE “entitled.” You are ENTITLED to it, in the good sense of the word, and you are free to enjoy it without guilt. Likewise, people on welfare are also “entitled,” because they are legally “entitled” to the services and payments they receive.
You DESERVE the treatment to which you are “entitled”. Name it and claim it! Just don’t prance around acting as if you are INHERENTLY “entitled” to special treatment. That offends almost everyone. With “entitlements” come duties. Wealthy people who come from old money (few if any in The Villages) are taught from childhood that quiet politeness, courtesy, grace, cordiality, modesty, kindness, respect, are what one gives or shows to avoid being called “entitled” in the bad sense of the term.
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You had me all the way, TRULY, and I was ready to compliment you on an informative post (most of it still is
) until you wrote the following:
Social Security and Medicare, and also other programs like Medicaid, and
welfare payments of various kinds, are classified by the government as “entitlements” because if one meets the requirements, one has the legal right to receive them, and the government has the legal responsibility to pay them. Some of these entitlements are partly covered by what one has contributed, and some are not—they are gifts, but gifts to which people are “entitled” by law.
Many Americans (I limit it to Americans because our form of government is a Constitutional Republic and not a European "Social Democracy"), I believe, feel that helping those in need should be (as it once was) a function of charitable organizations, not a function of government. We all know this is fodder for a different discussion BUT, being
entitled to monies from the public treasury, solely because one belongs to a certain class or socio-economic group is "quite a stretch" … except in the mind of a politician. The other programs you mention are "entitlements" due to the contributions of the entitled individuals. "Gifts", being considered as entitlements, is, once again, "quite a stretch."
ENTITLED | definition in the Cambridge English Dictionary
ENTITLED | definition in the Cambridge English Dictionary
entitled meaning: 1. feeling that you have the right to do or have what you want without having to work for it or….
Fred