Entitlement

What are we entitled to?

 

I’m working on a project in one of my classes on entitlement and it has lead me to think deeply about the things that I, as an individual, an American, a woman, a student, and all the other titles I could give myself, am entitled to. I did a little research and I found that we aren’t really entitled to anything tangible.

People of the younger generation today believe that are just entitled to certain things. Cars, a house, food, a free education, but are we entitled to these things or not? I say no! We have to work for the luxuries, the only things we have the right to are given us in the declaration of independence, and even those are just for Americans, Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Notice it is the “pursuit of happiness”, not happiness. We are not guaranteed anything, in other words, other than our own lives, the breaths we take.

So why is the younger generation so spoiled? They have to have phones, computers, cars, name-brand clothes, the best education, etc… What happened to earning it? I may be part of the generation but I do not see myself as entitled to any of those things I just listed. I did not get a cell phone even when I was doing after school activities. I didn’t get a car for my 16^th birthday, or even my 18^th birthday. I didn’t even get to start college right after high school. I paid for my associate’s degree myself and then I received some scholarships and federal aid to help me continue into my bachelor’s degree. The car I drive was given to me because I had worked so hard to graduate with honors.

 

(EBT card)

I am entitled to work for what I have,  my life, the freedom to practice my beliefs, to have my own, thoughts, ideas and opinions. I see people everyday who spend a couple hundred dollars in food stamps to buy food, half of them still dress nicely.  Once a person told me” I  got laid off, it took them six weeks to get the food stamps to me.” When I said that my store was hiring, she didn’t even look at me. People feel they are entitled to the free money just because they lost their job and don’t want to look for another. There are plenty of businesses hiring, maybe not the same job as one was in before, but it is a job nonetheless,  it will pay the bills. But people think they are too good for a job at McDonald’s or Wal-Mart or any “lowly” job, they just want free money so they can sit around and wait for the next job. I’m not talking about everyone here. But it is a harsh truth , a reality that I see everyday that I work. The bad thing is I cannot qualify for food stamps even though I barely make enough money to pay for my gas and insurance. It’s a sad cruel world.

I'm working to make a living, so I can finish school and start a career and a job I will love.