Darren Wilson's Side of the Story

[finnbow]

Originally Posted by BlueStreak

That's "sense of entitlement", Finn, not actual entitlement.

There are things in this life we are entitled to. Convincing us we're not is the first step towards relieving us of those things. Demonizing those things through this "entitlement theft" bullchit and vilifying us for claiming them is a way to trick us into wanting to give them up.

Have you ever heard the term "generational theft"? It's a term created to make old people believe they are stealing from each others grandchildren and feel ashamed for doing it.

This is a variation on that meme.

Dave

Actually, "generational theft" (though indeed a pejorative term intended to evoke a reaction) is indeed occurring to some degree as politicians reward older folks (who vote in high numbers) with tax breaks, programs, entitlements, etc., at the expense of young folks (who don't vote in high numbers). An example of this is an unwillingness to adjust entitlement programs to reflect modern-day life expectancies and health care costs that skew the payment for these programs more and more to younger people in the workforce (who will, in the long run, effectively pay more for these entitlement programs than current recipients).

It's a real issue, as is the use of loaded words in politics to help evoke desired reactions. Both sides do it, Dave, though the GOP seems to do it better. What is clear that nearly everyone who receives some some of government benefit believes they're entitled to it, but that others aren't - just like Teabaggers who want the government to "keep its hands off of my Medicare."