The Problem with Entitlements

Probably the biggest problem with entitlements today is the very fact that they are called "entitlements." As George Orwell demonstrated in 1984, when you institutionally bastardize the language, you gradually control the direction of thought in the people that use that language. Since welfare handouts are referred to as "entitlements," people have come to believe that they really are entitled to them.

My family was on vacation at Disney World a couple of weeks ago, and we participated in one of their Dining Plans. I have to admit that I was somewhat disturbed the first time that we got a meal and the cashier informed us of how many entitlements we had left in our plan. My first thought was "We're not on welfare!" But then it occurred to me: those really were entitlements. We were in fact entitled to them because we had already paid for them.

How many government benefits actually get handed to people that really paid for them? Those are typically referred to as "services," and the money paid is "service fees" or "user fees." Ironically enough, benefits are only referred to as "entitlements" when the recipients have no moral ground from which to claim that they deserve the benefit. Why are you entitled to receive something that I paid for and you didn't?

We've got to stop worrying about the "dignity" of those who continually absorb every resource sent their way. Those resources are not entitlements; they are handouts. And we can no longer afford to hand so much out. So we need to stop the doublespeak and call them what they really are, not what some wish them to be.