Published on 12, July, 2020
Why do so many people have a sense of entitlement?
I was discussing this with a friend at the weekend and we couldn't really get to the bottom of it, other than perhaps it's just been a slow erosion of society and work ethic.
They don't work, but are entitled to (net) taxpayers money, so they can have things that taxpayers can't afford, to live in areas that those taxpayers can't afford, to have holidays, to not work a job they don't want to, to be entitled to an easy and well paid job. That they have "rights" that must be treated as gospel, but not any responsibilities that are tied to those rights. That rules are just for "someone else", a whole attitude that everyone else owes them a living etc.
What is the flawed mental process where people decide that they are entitled to things just because they want them? How can anyone even attempt to justify that "want" means "entitled"?
One word. Thatcher. She created it. Said 'Greed is good'. Said 'Let the rich get richer.' Introduced 'right to buy' for council tenants. It matters not if it was a Labour party idea. She introduced it for different reasons: personal enrichment. I'm now in my 60s, so can remember a time still when the post-war spirit of 'help each other out' was still there in society. The welfare state, brought in by the Attlee government in the late 1940s, was a good thing. It created a system in which those at the bottom of the ladder could be supported to help them through. It gave us a National Health Service, with health care free at the point of service for a national insurance contribution. It was a time when we were all pulling together for the common good. It was a time when we were all trying to look after one another.
Thatcher destroyed a lot of that. For her, it was every man and woman for themselves. She destroyed communities in the name of 'economic reform'. She created a society in which the over-riding ethos was 'look after yourself first.' The generations since then have grown up with the sense of entitlement of which you speak. 'I'm entitled to own my own home. I'm entitled to private healthcare. I'm entitled to look after myself, and sod the rest.'
People will be sold on the crap peddled by the right-wing media - that the sick and unemployed are the biggest drain on society. They'll believe crap TV programmes like 'Benefits Street', which portray benefit claimants as malingerers and scroungers, draining society - whereas the true culprits are those at the top, busting our banks but still taking huge bonuses because we're bailing them out, playing roulette with our savings, selling us [removed by moderator] and then blaming us for accepting it. Tax evaders and avoiders likewise. All they want is what's good for them - because they're somehow 'entitled'.
Turn your head around a bit and look at the agenda behind it all. Blame the unemployed. Blame the sick. Blame the immigrants. Keep your focus on blaming them. That way, the ones that are truly bleeding society can continue to get away with it.
[Edited by Ayshe Mod]
That’s an interesting idea, well said. However, it is imperative that people help themselves first. Even on an aeroplane, parents are advised to put the oxygen mask on themselves before they attend to their children.
The rich have always got richer, because of their mindsets and they will carry on getting richer. That doesn’t prevent poor people from getting richer as well though and many poor people do get richer.
I agree, there was much more social cohesion and support amongst neighbours etc in the pre war era. I am always working towards getting back to these times. I consciously smile and say hello to everyone I meet and stop and speak to those who want to chat. I get involved in local projects, either for my own benefit or as a volunteer or to get involved in some way, even if it’s only to say hello. I go to the dementia cafes and care homes, just to say hello to people, to get to know them. I grew up in a tight night community so this is what I know. I met a man today, at a job centre event, we chatted and bumped into each other twice. I love connecting with new people. I have to look after myself, too much human contact is not good for me but now I have my diagnosis, I can manage my energy levels better. But yeah, I love community spirit and friendships.
We are living in incredible times. It blows my mind how much help I’m getting towards starting my own business. Working in your normal typical work environment just didn’t work for me. I couldn’t sustain employment for stretches of more than three years and I didn’t know why. Now I understand why and can see that I would fare much better in employment now with adjustments etc, but alas, I’ve decided to work for myself anyway and the local council and other services are falling over backwards to help me and people like me who would like to work for purse but haven’t got a clue how to go about that. The country has been through some incredibly difficult years, since Thatcher came to power. Nobody can deny that. I’m from a mining family and mining village and was around when all the pits started to close. There was a lot of community support around still at that time though which is sadly barely noticeable now.
Certainly my local council are working towards a more preventative and community based model of support now and I’m truly grateful for their ongoing support to me. I found out today of many low coating comminity based activities such as yoga, music, art and getting active outside. So I’m very happy to see more and more community projects springing up and more and more people getting benefit from them. I don’t know where I’d be today without the help of my support worker, in bed still probably, provided they continued to pay my rent.
Governmemt figures, which are publicly available, show that there is more money going into the economy than out and that the scaremongering about benefits frauds etc, is just that. As someone said, it’s a great distraction technique to blame those who don’t have a voice to defend themselves.
Hi Arran, I don’t really know that much about trade unions and politics etc, I just know that I was brought up around the working men’s clubs era, and works trips etc. I came from a close knit mining community, and family’s/friends helped each other out a lot more then than they appear to do now. I still continue to live that way, wherever I live, but when I’m in my home town, where I am now, I like to actively go out and encourage community support etc in whatever way I can. More so to try and make sure the vulnerable people in our community don’t get forgotten and to encourage friendships etc. Social services etc can only ever do so much but if we work together to look out for our neighbours, we can make sure we all have at least comfortable lives where we get our basic needs met. My hometown now is very diverse but on the whole, we get along pretty well. More could be done to get rid of a lot of the unnessary fear, isolation and to build better relationships with the refugees etc that have come to live in our town but we’re getting there and there are many local support groups working hard with the local authorities to make improvements for all the residents so things are definitely looking up and the local authority are very keen to encourage a community spirit that seems to have got lost over the years since the end of the Second World War but we do still have a relatively strong community spirit here, we do tend to come out and help each other when we need it, no matter who it is that needs the help.
You make a very good point about the community spirit and social cohesion. Back in the decades of heavy industry we had factory sports clubs and coal miners brass bands etc. All history now.
I think the trade unions are also just as much to blame as Thatcher by failing to adapt to changes in the economy and employment. There are very big and strong unions for public sector workers but it's rare for people who work in the private sector to be in a union. The unions were able to create the miners strike in the 1980s but they are utterly clueless when it comes to the gig economy and would rather remain inside their comfort zone of nurses and teachers in full time employment.