Entitlement

An entitlement is a just claim or right, usually granted by some authority to an individual. Entitlement may also refer to a personal attitude. This usage is common in therapeutic circles.

The attitude of entitlement is seen as an unconscious, narcissistic sense of being owed a certain deference without any rational basis for that belief. It is often a defense against self-loathing, but it can be the result of poor socialization or poor parenting. Part of healthy human development is the achievement of an understanding of the basic worth and commonality of all human beings. Added to that understanding, a rational, socialized human being realizes that respect and consideration are earned by respectful behavior and responsible action. The entitled person, in the psychotherapeutic sense, enters human interactions and social situations with a demanding or emotionally needy attitude which has no real or socially accepted basis in objective reality.

In the current American political landscape, legal entitlements, such as social security and unemployment benefits, are decried by The Right as frivolous waste of public funds. Their adamant railing against these social benefits imply that the recipients are milking the public treasury unnecessarily and unjustly. Ironically, this reflects an attitudinal entitlement in the holders of these views, who are often fortunate to be wealthy enough, while holding these opinions, to not need the benefits themselves. They feel entitled to live in a safe and comfortable society without paying for the social infrastructure that creates the conditions they obviously take for granted.

The iPhone and Blackberry seem to enforce this sense of general impatience and entitlement. Mesmerized by the power of a portable, compliant slave, which offers up demanded information with the flick of a thumb or finger, people could tend to be less patient with human servers and coworkers, whose clocking times tend to be less immediate and require a certain amount of social prompting to get the best result. Having slaves of any kind, historically, has bred the worst form of entitlement in their masters.

The culture of "we are all special" has contributed to entitlement in many who are not special and who are perhaps are not even average. This is the entitlement of the bling-encrusted felon, now a rapper, whose knowledge or understanding of the human condition is minimal. However, this individual strides from talk show to talk show and dispenses the wisdom of the ignorant with great hubris. The echo effect of this media barrage breeds entitlement in similar listeners, who feel themselves ordained by their rough-shod role model.

The pathological attitude of entitlement, in my opinion, is a reflection of the inequality and lack of education in society. I believe the most basic human entitlement, in a legal or ethical sense, is the birthright to a safe, well-nourished, properly housed, maximally educated and justly employed life span from cradle to grave. Who would be responsible for granting this birthright or entitlement? The state? No. I believe it is the responsibility of every person who brings a child into this world to provide this basic birthright to each and every child.

"It takes a village to raise a child!" I hear the frequent refrain. Yes, I agree. Just as no one of us has the ability to build a television set, a car or an iPhone, no one person has all the tools to provide that basic birthright to a child from cradle to grave. However, this does not excuse propagating the mindless reproduction by those who have absolutely none of the tools to provide that basic human birthright. Nor does it justify Tea Party or Libertarian rantings about denying any social benefits paid for by tax money.

The best treatment for pathological entitlement is the provision of the basic legal entitlement of universal rights to a quality lifespan to each and every human being who is born. This cannot be attended to exclusively with legislation or religious doctrine. Experiments in enforcing these ideals from the top down have failed miserably. This must come from educated and properly socialized individuals who decide to procreate and participate in a just society. The way to that ideal is not every-man-for-himself, the populist battle cry in America, covertly funded by corporate dollars.

The current humanist movement for universal human rights worldwide is an important first step to providing the most basic human justice for all human beings on the planet. Until all human beings are entitled to a quality life from cradle to grave, the plagues of war, greed and injustice will flourish.

Exploitation

It occurred to me recently that the great harm of the Catholic Church, exposed in the recent cases of sexual abuse, is its prolonged history of exploitation of the poor and rich alike. Religion, as we know it, is basically a form of exploitation. There is no measurable, concrete product offered by religion that is not available in many other places in society. In fact, the products and services offered by religions are generally inferior to those offered professionally in other segments of society. However, the political Right resents subsidizing quality services for those who cannot afford them.

The big push by capitalist exploiters on The Right in the last decade for faith-based initiatives seems a profitable way to direct the poor to these inferior services to free up public funds from providing higher quality social security services. Why pay a highly qualified, licensed child psychologist to counsel poor urban youths when an under-qualified urban reverend will gladly take a small Federal grant in exchange for setting up an ineffectual grass-roots after-school basketball team? Why provide tax-funded shelters with qualified social workers and medical personnel when a church will provide a soup kitchen and blankets?

Religion presents itself as philanthropic, as well as paternalistic. The leaders set themselves up as qualified to dispense wisdom, ethical advice and counseling. Their provenance comes from "The Lord", whichever deity they represent for their purposes. The wisdom they dispense fits the script of their own purposes. Frequently, those purposes are their own celebrity, income and bourgeoise lifestyle. Challengers to their authority are painted as disturbed and uninformed. Conformity within their followers is used as a weapon to isolate and victimize dissenters.

As we see in the Roman Catholic Church, these methods have worked very well for centuries. The recent wave of fundamentalist entrepreneurs in the U.S. have followed that well-worm model. It is perhaps the oldest form of pyramid scheme in the world.

The problem for these demagogues is simple. There is something inherent in the human intelligence that eventually resists domination and exploitation. Once educated or freed from unhealthy dependence, the human psyche rebels and reveals injustice. The truth will out.

The rage of the exploited is intense and infectious, as we have seen in the Roman Church. I would speculate that some of the rage tapped by the Tea Party movement is the rage of disenchanted born-agains. Once manipulated by The Right under the misconception that the "successful" were benignly pointing them in the correct or moral path through their religious leaders, former Moral Majority members now rally to Tea Party banner, also funded by the same Right Wing manipulatiors. Now, as we see, they are much more difficult to herd, because they are wary of being duped again. Their rage at government is pehaps displaced rage at their pastors, who taxed them and delvered nothing of value in return.

My advice to anyone who wishes to found a morality-based movement or religion is simple. Focus on the giving, not the taking. That is perhaps the only way to stay on course for the greater good. Encourage your followers to pay taxes and get involved with government. And, when presented with problems and issues outside the realm of the well-meaning do-gooder, refer your members to professional services.