Entitlement Blues
Oct. 11th, 2006 10:45 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
anigoOk, so is it just me, or is anybody else getting tired of all the whining in the world today. (Oh wait now, I'm a whiner, aren't I. Ok, let me rephrase that) Is it just me or is anybody else getting tired of all the whining about entitlement?
On my way to work this morning I heard a news article that said that the power company was going to raise its rates for the third time in three years. OUTRAGE! Apparently one of the rights in the declaration of rights is that everybody in the world is entitled to a reasonably priced access to electricity. WOW! Now, I've just looked it up and it does say this:
Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.
And this too makes me think WOW.
Yanno what? My first thought is that this is a stupid rule. My second thought is that maybe it's not a stupid rule, maybe my interpretation of it is stupid. You have a right to a reasonable standard of living. You have a right to it. You are not ENTITLED TO IT. Or are you. I guess... I guess that it annoys me to no end when people whine because electricity is so darn expensive. Yes, I know it's expensive. So stop whining and do something about it. Turn off the lights. Get a job. Yes, ok, I know there are people out there who aren't capable, but I'm sure that there'd be a whole lot less people who wouldn't be capable if we didn't enable them to be incapable.
Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying "Down with social safety nets", I'm saying that things like... I heard another thing on my way to work this morning. It was for a concert or something. They were giving the prices. $10 for general admission, $5 for students and (get this) the "wage impaired". PULEEEEASE! What in god's name inspires you to work if the rest of the world is going to accommodate you because you're "wage impaired"
Another thing that I'd heard was that there were some military men who had been injured in Afghanistan and were being medivac-ed out to a nice safe hospital somewhere. In doing so, however, they wouldn't be entitled to receive danger pay anymore - since they weren't in an area that was dangerous. They were protesting this $2000/mo TAX FREE cut in pay. Um... hmm... Guess what. YOU'RE NOT IN DANGER ANYMORE, WHY WOULD YOU POSSIBLY GET DANGER PAY? I could see getting compensated for being injured, but.. C'mon people.
Again, I don't want anybody to get me wrong. There are people on my friends list who are in situations that require social assistance of some sort or another. These friends are people who I KNOW would much rather be working. Who have gone that extra mile to make sure that they can stay away from being as wage impaired as possible.
Social safety nets are good. But when does a social safety net become a tool for enabling the lazy whiners of the world?
Discuss. And don't curse at me. It's bad manners.
On my way to work this morning I heard a news article that said that the power company was going to raise its rates for the third time in three years. OUTRAGE! Apparently one of the rights in the declaration of rights is that everybody in the world is entitled to a reasonably priced access to electricity. WOW! Now, I've just looked it up and it does say this:
Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.
And this too makes me think WOW.
Yanno what? My first thought is that this is a stupid rule. My second thought is that maybe it's not a stupid rule, maybe my interpretation of it is stupid. You have a right to a reasonable standard of living. You have a right to it. You are not ENTITLED TO IT. Or are you. I guess... I guess that it annoys me to no end when people whine because electricity is so darn expensive. Yes, I know it's expensive. So stop whining and do something about it. Turn off the lights. Get a job. Yes, ok, I know there are people out there who aren't capable, but I'm sure that there'd be a whole lot less people who wouldn't be capable if we didn't enable them to be incapable.
Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying "Down with social safety nets", I'm saying that things like... I heard another thing on my way to work this morning. It was for a concert or something. They were giving the prices. $10 for general admission, $5 for students and (get this) the "wage impaired". PULEEEEASE! What in god's name inspires you to work if the rest of the world is going to accommodate you because you're "wage impaired"
Another thing that I'd heard was that there were some military men who had been injured in Afghanistan and were being medivac-ed out to a nice safe hospital somewhere. In doing so, however, they wouldn't be entitled to receive danger pay anymore - since they weren't in an area that was dangerous. They were protesting this $2000/mo TAX FREE cut in pay. Um... hmm... Guess what. YOU'RE NOT IN DANGER ANYMORE, WHY WOULD YOU POSSIBLY GET DANGER PAY? I could see getting compensated for being injured, but.. C'mon people.
Again, I don't want anybody to get me wrong. There are people on my friends list who are in situations that require social assistance of some sort or another. These friends are people who I KNOW would much rather be working. Who have gone that extra mile to make sure that they can stay away from being as wage impaired as possible.
Social safety nets are good. But when does a social safety net become a tool for enabling the lazy whiners of the world?
Discuss. And don't curse at me. It's bad manners.
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no subject
Date: 2006-10-12 12:54 am (UTC)The price is horrible. In many cases the price actively prevents you from moving off the system. (Mandatory meetings with your caseworker every week or every month, during work hours? What a shock when you're canned for absenteeism.)
no subject
Date: 2006-10-12 08:31 am (UTC)If I had it to do all over again, I never would have allowed myself to get into it. I never would have allowed myself to be convinced that it was the way that we had to go, because it really wasn't. What that man did was his business, and my stupidity was that he convinced me that, as his wife, it was my job to go there with him.
Of course, the stupidity was hooking up with that man to begin with! ;-) But the fact is that I spent the entire decade of my 20's selling myself to one person, one entity, one lifestyle or another, when I was perfectly capable of making my life different for myself. And when I go back there, and face the single biggest flaw in myself that kept me from living the way I should have--the way I DESERVED to--was my inner, secret desire to be taken care of.
That's what my first husband promised. That's what Social Services promised. And maybe those promises, in their twisted ways, were kept--but the price I paid for the fulfillment of those promises was a horror. And people need to be aware of that side-effect of financial dependence, whether it be reliance on another person or on a government entity, BEFORE they get into it.
The only thing that worked for me was to lose the idea that it was anyone's job to take care of me except me. And I really hated giving up that idea.
But when you place your security in the hands of another human being, you're putting not only that security but also your own autonomy in jeopardy. And if that's OK with a person, then that's fine--but it isn't OK with me anymore.
no subject
Date: 2006-10-12 01:17 pm (UTC)I think if all of the "wage impared" people of the world - hell even the wage unimpared - had your kind of work ethic... well... Yeah.
no subject
Date: 2006-10-12 01:52 pm (UTC)I'm on the side of providing those services to all who need them, and giving careful thought to how the "system" can/should reward and encourage hard work, initiative, and self-sufficiency. (Hint: it doesn't look like "Okay, in the past five months I've managed to increase my earnings by $5.5k/year, but the net effect after losing various subsidies and state services is that I've got $6k/year less after health insurance, rent, and student loan payments.")
I really do think that every person has a right to food, water, basic medical care (not talking cosmetic surgery, but if my cancer comes back I'd sure like to get it treated), and decent living conditions. When working at WORD I saw hundreds of people who were working their asses off, dropping with exhaustion from working two full-time jobs while raising kids, and not making it. Two-parent families with both parents employed who ended up homeless because they couldn't pay rent.
So no, I'm not offended by your post. I do, however, disagree with it. :-)
no subject
Date: 2006-10-12 02:22 pm (UTC)Second. I think we might be closer to the same side of agreeing... Because I do agree with what you've said. I do agree that every person has a right to water, medical care, etc. Life, liberty and happiness etc. I guess i just find that every once in a while I get overwhelmed with the "system" needing to take care of all who are under it, and in doing so... Taxes go up... There are times when it seems that the leveling of the playing field is only dropping the level all the way around... Agh, I'm not doing a very good job of explaining. How about...
Um...
Nice shoes?
no subject
Date: 2006-10-12 07:06 pm (UTC)Another part of the problem is our perception of where tax money goes. I don't know how it is in Canada, but in the US a very small percentage, as in single digits, of the nation's budget goes to social services. But what do they cut whenever they need more money for building pork-barrel projects or bombs? Social services. Why? Because poor people are too busy trying to feed their children, get medical care, and keep their jobs to fight back. Poor people don't contribute to political campaigns. They're an easy target with precious few advocates.
no subject
Date: 2006-10-12 07:07 pm (UTC)