Entitlements

"ENTITLEMENTS". That's the majic word that has us all up in arms nowadays, particularly if you happen to be politically oriented, and even more particularly if you happen to be a conservative. Precisely what, other than life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, are we entitled to?

Not much, probably, if even that. And, truth be told, we are entiteled to nothing other than what we say we are, and what we are willing to fight for.

The three big entitlements of the day are of course social security, medicare, and medicaid, initially intnded only as a supplement to our existing private resources, whatever they might be.  Private entitlements depend on the employer. When an employer refuses to entitle anything to anyone, government sometimes steps in and takes up the slack.

But we modern arrogant americans act as if we feel entitled to much more than all that. We seem to think, or at least we act as if we think we are entitled to drive our cars as much as we want, as closely to the car in front of us  as we wish.

We seem to think we are entitled to earn as much money as we can, keep it, and reward ourselves with lavish quantities of material wealth, particularl;y cars and machines, regardless of the impact these things, and their manufacture, has on the environment.

Perhaps most alarmingly, the united states has entitled itself to police the world in whatever way it deems best, regardless of the opinion's of mankind. A decent respect to the opinions of mankind might alter or adjust our sense of entitlements.

Again, we are entitled to precisely whatever we say we are, and can successfully fight for. Nature owes us nothing, except death.