In the past we've discussed human rights and whether we get what we deserve, which are related ideas to entitlement. If we have a right to something, like education, we can say we are entitled to an education. If we perform a service and deserve payment or reward, we are entitled to that reward. However, the noun "entitlement" is most often used in a negative way. Somebody with a feeling of entitlement expects reward, deference or respect unreasonably, without fulfilling any conditions that would ordinarily mean deserving those things. Entitlement is a selfish and self-absorbed way of viewing the world, since feeling entitled means everything you want is what you should get, no matter how other people can be inconvenienced.
The trick is being able to accurately judge what we deserve from other people or from life in general. Some people are trained to expect more for themselves by parents who spoil them, others seem to develop the idea of being "owed" for their existence on their own. Older people often consider the young to have a sense of entitlement because of greater choices in acquisition that they (usually) have. I have to have a new phone, I should be able to buy what I want, I deserve to live however I want to. Again, what is necessary is being clear about what it means to live adequately and without undue duress; the requirements for a "good" life evolve over time, and the standard of living of 50 or even 25 years ago is not acceptable to many people today. Do we deserve the most advanced technology at every moment? Are we entitled to gourmet food on every corner? Should we expect every person we meet to automatically be in awe of our intellectual brilliance before we even open our mouths? Are these the rights we deserve, or are we suffering from an unreasonable feeling of entitlement?
As somewhat expected, there was a good deal of focus on rights rather than entitlement or deserving things, although I did try to head that off in the beginning by saying a right did not require any action for its bestowal upon us, while being deserving of or entitled to something does mean we have fulfilled some requirement first. The Normal Organizer was away with other duties, so we had only his written thoughts to go on.
First, there was some discussion about the translation of the word "entitlement", since there does not seem to be a direct translation that covers all the meaning and nuance. Our Doctor insisted that there is no equivalent in Spanish, German, French or Italian, while our Mathematician tried out "merecimiento". The problem with that suggestion, as pretty much everyone agreed, is that it does not quite deliver on the negative aspect that "entitlement" can carry. The Doctor began his contribution by saying the existence of our group was extraordinary, possibly trying to imply that we should not take it for granted, or feel entitled to such opportunities to exchange ideas. He then focused on rights, giving them form as a recent invention in human history, and themselves are not well-defined. This makes them difficult to distinguish from entitlement. Furthermore, our given rights and our possible entitlements are constantly changing in time and place, being expanded or restricted based on the cultural circumstances we might find ourselves in. One clue to the sense of the word "entitlement" is found in its etymology; this time, at least, it is a useful examination. It comes from Latin, naturally, referring to giving titles to nobles or important people to the authority or government. With the titles comes certain wealth and power, as well as some responsibilities, although most people will focus more on the former. The idea of the feeling of entitlement being the source of abusive behavior by people in positions of power came up repeatedly in the discussion.
The Mathematician, after the terminology suggestion, mused on inherent rights and entitlements, a concept raised by the True Philosopher. The Mathematician was uncomfortable with rights in particular being inherent, as that means we will not feel the need to examine, create, and defend them. Inherent, or inalienable, rights almost by definition cannot be taken away, although they may be denied. However, we can easily see that the number and extent of rights are not equal in different places, even when there is a certain overlap of culture. He later noted humanity's constant desire to simplify and optimize, for a relevant example in legal codes. A number of our laws are meant to codify entitlements of citizens and others, who abide by the expected behavior of the society. He then wandered a bit into the realm of the hypothetical, saying rules should be thought of proposals for experiments, possibilities to improve society and social behavior among humans. He pointed out that when systems break, we change them, or at least try to before throwing them out. Our rights and entitlements are within our own power to expand or modify, but we should be aware of the effects of these changes on our fellow citizens. The Mathematician has a certain fascination with social experiments.
The True Philosopher answered the doubts about inherent, saying he was using the term in the epistimilogical sense, as a philosophical modifier rather than legal or biological. He also presented us a good example of entitlement in the literal and figurative sense: a good many academics in his country of origin earn degrees, but in programs that do not actually require a great amount of effort, or based on publications that are poorly researched and plagarized. After acquiring the "title" of MA or PhD, these people feel entitled to pay raises and better positions. The requirements for entitlement exist, but they are poorly defined, allowing for a certain amount of abuse of the system. He also firmly reminded us of the cultural differences in rights and permitted entitlement; countries exist in which citizens are not even entitled to their own lives.
Several other participants gave other examples of situations that result in a feeling of entitlement. For one, arriving at a position of power. Especially when that position is seen as permanent or untouchable, people may develop an attitude of superiority and believe they deserve more respect, money or attention than they have actually earned. Another sector of a society that might demonstrate entitlement is the young. Small children in particular may be coddled, because of their physical weakness or because of a cultural tradition of venerating children. In most cases, hopefully, the rising number of responsibilities stamp out the overwhelming sense of self-importance, although there are always some that never quite "grow up".
No comments:
Post a Comment