The applicable definition in The Oxford dictionary for the word ‘entitlement’ and more particularly ‘a sense of entitlement’ is: The belief that one inherently deserves privileges or special treatment:
But the question might be asked: who feels this way? The answer is simple: everyone in the western world - from what I see - because it is a fundamental part of a consumer society. Look around. Everyone, these days seem to think that they deserve every single thing there is to own that’s out there, from the big shots to the ‘average folk’ simply because they saw it on a TV show or heard about it from some dickhead acquaintance of theirs who did.
Probably everyone else in the world with access to a television and/or the Internet feel they deserve a piece of the pie too. Third World countries, especially in the Far East, Africa and South Asia are beginning to get the idea. ‘Greed is good!’ as Gordon Gecko said. It is certainly the mantra of every corporation. Profit - provided it can be made just within the proven legal limits is the sole and only objective without regard to any other considerations. Where money is to be made pump up the production and forget the pollution. As for the poorest on the planet that don’t buy anything, well they don’t really count do they? “I gave five bucks to some charity at the office! Now hurry up with my tickets to Vegas. Besides, I work hard - and I’m worth it.”
But maybe they’re right; DT would say so, because the system allows those like him to get away with everything from cheating on their taxes to climate change denial allowably and justifiably. Sophistry works. It is a code of ‘honour’ to take as much as possible and a part of a long enshrined fiction generally acknowledged as accepted behaviour, proper in the blessed halls of big time lawyerland. That’s all there is to it. They believe they have the right to flex the muscles of commerce and capitalism as rigorously as possible without giving a shit who gets fucked. Hey - it’s just business - survival of the fittest, natural selection, in the genes and all the rest of that BS. And when the little fishes in the pond look around they consider every extravagant piece of conspicuous consumption or waste politically correct because - ‘Everybody else is doing it.’
So all are sucked into it. Multitudes of unnecessary and whimsical products, services and other assorted rubbish appears on the shelves or on the net annually at this time of year in one big hustle. Marketing departments, paid to be adept at convincing the public of where their real holiday needs are and where the best buys can be found know their stuff and earn bonuses by using all the usual gimmicks, like creating crazes, offering free giveaways through the media, the best shopping ‘tips’ and other typical fictions spread since advertising began on the air. It's not called TV programming for nothing and it begins at a very young age when toddlers first see what’s out there.
Of course this is Canada so it’s a bit tamer or at least more polite than in other ‘developed’ countries. But it’s bad enough. Good thing people have or find all this money (or credit) to spread around lavishly through the holidays to help keep their minds off the unseen but real problems elsewhere that they don’t wish to face.
But the question might be asked: who feels this way? The answer is simple: everyone in the western world - from what I see - because it is a fundamental part of a consumer society. Look around. Everyone, these days seem to think that they deserve every single thing there is to own that’s out there, from the big shots to the ‘average folk’ simply because they saw it on a TV show or heard about it from some dickhead acquaintance of theirs who did.
Probably everyone else in the world with access to a television and/or the Internet feel they deserve a piece of the pie too. Third World countries, especially in the Far East, Africa and South Asia are beginning to get the idea. ‘Greed is good!’ as Gordon Gecko said. It is certainly the mantra of every corporation. Profit - provided it can be made just within the proven legal limits is the sole and only objective without regard to any other considerations. Where money is to be made pump up the production and forget the pollution. As for the poorest on the planet that don’t buy anything, well they don’t really count do they? “I gave five bucks to some charity at the office! Now hurry up with my tickets to Vegas. Besides, I work hard - and I’m worth it.”
But maybe they’re right; DT would say so, because the system allows those like him to get away with everything from cheating on their taxes to climate change denial allowably and justifiably. Sophistry works. It is a code of ‘honour’ to take as much as possible and a part of a long enshrined fiction generally acknowledged as accepted behaviour, proper in the blessed halls of big time lawyerland. That’s all there is to it. They believe they have the right to flex the muscles of commerce and capitalism as rigorously as possible without giving a shit who gets fucked. Hey - it’s just business - survival of the fittest, natural selection, in the genes and all the rest of that BS. And when the little fishes in the pond look around they consider every extravagant piece of conspicuous consumption or waste politically correct because - ‘Everybody else is doing it.’
So all are sucked into it. Multitudes of unnecessary and whimsical products, services and other assorted rubbish appears on the shelves or on the net annually at this time of year in one big hustle. Marketing departments, paid to be adept at convincing the public of where their real holiday needs are and where the best buys can be found know their stuff and earn bonuses by using all the usual gimmicks, like creating crazes, offering free giveaways through the media, the best shopping ‘tips’ and other typical fictions spread since advertising began on the air. It's not called TV programming for nothing and it begins at a very young age when toddlers first see what’s out there.
Of course this is Canada so it’s a bit tamer or at least more polite than in other ‘developed’ countries. But it’s bad enough. Good thing people have or find all this money (or credit) to spread around lavishly through the holidays to help keep their minds off the unseen but real problems elsewhere that they don’t wish to face.
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