In an previous post,
I wrote about the problems with leaders who have a sense of
entitlement. Those leaders become self-serving, selfish, and
ineffective. But entitlement is not a problem with the leader alone. To
the contrary, the dreaded disease is infecting all levels of society in
many areas of our nation and the world.
In a
very general sense, entitlement typically means that someone is due
certain economic or similar benefits. The term is also used to refer to
massive federal and state programs that guarantee citizens income or
benefits.
Entitlement and the Federal Government
The
federal government, as the most obvious example, has 235 entitlement
programs that cost the taxpayers over one trillion dollars every year.
Those programs present the most serious challenges to the economic
future of the United States. The three biggest entitlement programs are
Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. In the most recent annual
reports of Social Security and Medicare, the respective trustees of the
trust funds said the funds are on an unsustainable path. Their very
solvency is in jeopardy.
When Entitlement Becomes Epidemic
Entitlement,
however, is not confined to certain leaders or government aid
recipients. It is epidemic and widespread at multiple levels of family
and society.
Have you ever supported someone in need?
Perhaps you have been on the receiving end of a generous gift. Many
people will be ever grateful, having expected nothing then or in the
future. But some people will be grateful for a moment. The gratitude
turns to resentment when more gifts are not forthcoming. They have a
sense of entitlement.
Have you ever known an employee
with a decent salary and benefits to complain because he’s not receiving
more? He feels entitled.
Entitlement creeps into our
marriages. We expect our spouses to serve us in a particular way because
they’ve done so in the past, or because our parents treated us that
way.
When the French government reduced the standard
workweek from 39 hours to 35 hours in 2000, many leaders and workers
lauded the move. They saw the change as a twofold victory. First, they
conjectured, the reduction in a workweek would cause businesses to hire
more workers to maintain production. Thus, unemployment would be
reduced. Second, the move would improve the quality of life of the
workers. The French unemployment rate in late 2000 was 8.8 percent.
Today the rate is 10.0 percent. Continue at
