Entitlements...

[one_voice]

found on facebook.

[MADem]

1. Well, I call it an entitlement--I figure I'm "entitled" to it, since I paid for it! Also, the GOP

has done something VERY SNEAKY with the word "entitlement," and no one has bothered to call them on it. They've turned it into a synonym for "handout." In actual fact--and let's go to the dictionary--here's the meaning:


en·ti·tle·ment
noun \-ˈtī-təl-mənt\
Definition of ENTITLEMENT

1a: the state or condition of being entitled : right b: a right to benefits specified especially by law or contract


2: a government program providing benefits to members of a specified group; also: funds supporting or distributed by such a program


3: belief that one is deserving of or entitled to certain privileges

See entitlement defined for English-language learners »

Examples of ENTITLEMENT

my entitlement to a refund
celebrities who have an arrogant sense of entitlement
entitlements such as medical aid for the elderly and poor


First Known Use of ENTITLEMENT 1942

We sure do have a "right" to those benefits, because we paid into the fund. The government had the use of our money all those years. They made a social contract with us, and that's the bottom line.

[ProfessorGAC]

14. Absolutely Correct

They've polluted the word to mean something bad when it really means people who paid in are owed those payments.
GAC

[RC]

2. +1000 Right on!

They do not represent us, "We the people..."? That needs to be changed.
We are the 99%

[iamtechus]

3. An entitlement is something that you're entitled to.

I paid for my social security and I'm damn well "entitled" to it.

Look up the meaning of "entitlement" and please stop embarrassing us by misusing it.

[boston bean]

4. using the word entitlement when speaking of Social Security is a right wing meme

Because Welfare is an entitlement, in their world view, and the two words have become inextricably linked.

They use it as a slur. In other words, people think they are entitled to your money.

Well obviously with SS that is not the case.

I don't think we should be giving credence to right wing lingo do you?

[Lyric]

6. Welfare is NOT an Entitlement! Christ.

It used to be, before the 1996 reforms, but all that "entitlement" means is "if you qualify, then you are guaranteed benefits". That is no longer the case with welfare.

The right wing started saying "entitlement" instead of "welfare" because they were trying to brainwash people into believing that Social Security = Entitlement = Welfare. They reframed that word in an effort to KILL Social Security. When you perpetuate that false equivalency, you are doing EXACTLY what the right-wing WANTS you to do. You are HELPING them do it.

"Entitlement" is a damned important word. It means that the government CANNOT REFUSE to pay you benefits that you qualify for. We need to fight to reclaim that word, because it carries an enormous amount of legal weight. That day that Social Security ceases to be an entitlement is the day that Social Security DIES.

When you fight against that word, you are fighting the wrong effing battle. The word is not the problem; in fact, the word is IMPORTANT. We have to fight against the right-wing redefinition of the word, not the word itself.

[boston bean]

9. I understand, stop yelling at me please. My point was what the word has come to

mean in right wing political circles.

And why we should not use it when speaking of Social Security.

I don't like the word at all in any context, given how it has been twisted by right wing freaks.

CHRIST!

[SammyWinstonJack]

17. Pretty sure I've heard Obama use the word entitlement wrt Social Security and Medidcare benefits.

It's not just GOPers using the word in a negative manner

[MADem]

18. You sure he was being "negative?" We are ENTITLED to those things--we paid for them.

I'd have to see context.

[Lyric]

5. ....

For the last. effing. time--ENTITLEMENT DOES NOT MEAN WELFARE.

That's right-wing propaganda. Stop swallowing it. The word is a legal term and it's important. If they ever take that word OUT of Social Security and Medicare, we will ALL be fucked.

Jesus.

[dionysus]

8. do you think you'll ever convince people that don't believe the dictionary on this?

i've posted the merriam webster definition and people would still be in denial...

[boston bean]

12. the denial comes in when someone doesn't want to realize what the

word has turned into.

Keep it up and foist your merriams dictionary upon everyone. However most people who have any sense of history of the word know how it is right wing meme for lazy welfare queens.

[boston bean]

11. you can ignore what the word has turned into and try to reclaim it,

but doesn't mean the rest of us have to.

Entitlement to most people means today, getting something from someone else for free.

Go ahead and use it to your hearts content. However, when I hear and when many others do, it feels like a right wing slur.

[dionysus]

13. the problem is when you let the right wing redefine words at will.

[boston bean]

19. problem is, is that what it means today. read up on it. learn some history of it.

it has negative connotations.

I don't give a shit what merriams websters dictionary says.

It's sort of like Democrat Party. Instead of Democratic Party. They started using it to infer democrats were RATS.

And now I even see Democrat Party used here on DU.

[one_voice]

16. Well damn..n/t

[dionysus]

7. LOL, another well meaning person who doesn't know what the word means...

:rofl:

[boston bean]

10. yep, chalk up one more, the one I am replying too, for sure!

:rofl:

[starroute]

15. I'm not sure welfare isn't an entitlement as well -- here's why

I happened to be reading a book the other day that mentioned -- in the context of a discussion of a fringe religious cult, as it happens -- that in the 1920s there were people arguing that for the poor and unemployed to depend on charity was demeaning and demoralizing and that a better alternative would be government entitlements programs that could give help to whoever needed it without making them beg or prove their worthiness.

And it that's true, it would mean that the original sense of entitlement was not necessarily an insurance plan like Social Security but simply something that the government established you had a right to so you couldn't be denied.

I realize this is not a particularly useful point to make at the present time, when everyone has forgotten how things were 70 years ago and sees government guarantees that people won't simply be left adrift as immoral and destructive. But this is apparently how it was, and real history is always better than concocted talking points.