The Disease of Entitlement: If you haven't Earned it, you don't Deserve it!

 

Nothing gets my blood pumping more than people who are completely and ridiculously inflated with a False Sense of Entitlement. It never fails to baffle me when I look at some people's lives and behaviours and see the extreme lengths they will go to take what they want, when they want it.. even if they don't DESERVE it, and especially when they haven't EARNED it.

The number one area I see this most in is FINANCES. I'm not sure how or when this started but it's now become the NORM that even if you can't afford certain things and your flat broke you THINK that you still DESERVE to have them anyway. I literally cannot believe my ears when I hear about the luxurious lives some people lead all on CREDIT. I've heard several stories, one in particular, where someone was not able to pay their Child Support yet could afford to go on vacations down south. How in God's name is this possible? Well, I guess for this to be possible you need two things: #1: CREDIT*  AND  #2 a huge false sense of ENTITLEMENT. (*or someone else's credit)

It's not just vacationing on credit that makes me crazy but people who are financially in ruins (or partnered with people who are in financial ruins.. how convenient) buying new cars, new homes, new furniture for their new homes, eating out constantly, having big weddings, having children, buying coffee everyday, getting pets, cell phones, laptops, ipads, make up, flat screen tv's, clothes, hot tubs/pools, huge snow blowers, elaborate gardens, smoking, partying... ugh. I'm exhausted just thinking about it.

How is it that these people who can't afford these items, or who are broke, or bankrupt think they deserve to have any of these things?

Maybe you're saying to yourself, "Sure Bootsy.. you're probably a big hypocrite doing the same stuff."  Actually, no. I'm not. If I don't have the means to go on vacation and travel, or get new electronics or eat out, or buy new clothes or procreate then guess what? I don't! And it's all because; if I don't have the money for these luxuries then I have not EARNED the privilege of acquiring these luxuries.

Why do people think that they have the RIGHT to live like rich people.. or even just to live like middle class people if they can't afford it?

Perhaps it's because I was raised from humble beginnings that I feel this way. When I was little a dollar symbolized a loaf of bread. Twenty dollars might as well have been a million dollars for me and my mom. I was raised by a single mother who was uneducated and had to work multiple odd jobs just to pay for rent and put food on the table. Sometimes, there was only food for me and she would go hungry. She did things the hard way. The honest way. If we didn't have money for something we didn't get it. Once we had the money, then we could enjoy the benefits of it. She taught me that being In Debt to others wasn't a good way to live. She taught me NOT to OWE other people; to make good on my word, have a strong work ethic and to NOT to have a False Sense of Entitlement.

Contrary to popular belief: Nobody owes you anything. And just because you are alive and breathing doesn't mean you deserve to go on vacations and buy expensive new cars and spoil yourself with endless luxuries.

You shouldn't feel ashamed that you can't afford what some other people can afford (or pretend to afford); You should feel ashamed if you're doing these things and you CAN'T AFFORD IT!

Besides the financial aspect of Entitlement there is also the general Behavior of Entitlement. For example, people who are educated in a specific profession or area of study. Let's say for example, where this person lives there are no current jobs in their area of work. Maybe they are a Computer Programmer and there is nothing in that trade available for employment but there are other jobs open in a lesser paying (or more humbling) position. I've seen it countless times where that individual says, "There's no work for me in my profession so I CAN'T work. There are no jobs." Oh my God!  NEWS FLASH!!! There are jobs! Maybe not ones you WANT to work at, and maybe you're over qualified for them BUT, in my opinion, there is NO REASON NOT TO WORK. If there were no Nursing jobs for me to work at where I live I would be putting my resume in at Tim Horton's, Mac's Milk, McDonalds, the grocery store... everywhere! You know why??? Because there is no excuse not to work. Not only that, there's no excuse to be sitting on your ass for 6 months crying that you've done everything possible and say that there's just "no work".

People like this don't mind 'putting others out', if you know what I mean. They don't mind holding their hand out for money, or a line of credit, or a place to live, or borrowing someone's car, or asking for rides constantly, eating other peoples groceries, or just bumming out in their parents home not cleaning up after themselves, taking and taking and taking! I would be mortified to do any of those things. I would be so ashamed of myself. Where's the SHAME in the world? Where's that feeling of GUILT? Where's that negative feeling when you put someone completely out of their way to DO FOR YOU? And to do for you constantly?

I'm tempted to say that the blame lies with those individuals who ENABLE these people. But I don't think that's entirely true. There are some obvious cases where the ENTITLED person is consistently getting ENABLED by a friend, or family member or parent; but I think ultimately, at the core of the issue, the onus lies with the person 'taking advantage'. That being said, I think people in general are so afraid to say 'no' to others. They are afraid to confront the ENTITLED INDIVIDUAL. "Hell hath no fury like a narcissist denied," (Sandy Hotchkiss, author of Why Is It Always About You?). I guess some people just need to grow a pair of balls, and other people need to lose them. Painfully.

These are, mostly, extreme examples... but I see this stuff a lot. I see it way too much. Sometimes I feel like I'm the only one who thinks behaving this way is super F-ed up. Am I the only one?

Cheers,
Bootsy