Culture of entitlement

Culture of entitlement is an expression promulgated by conservatives and meant to encapsulate the social norm whereby a society comes to expect government entitlement programs to provide employment opportunities, health care, or in general access to things that have come to be perceived by the common public as basic human right.

The expression is often used to criticize perceived abuses or expansion of entitlement programs as a result of the general expectation of government intervention in protecting access to basic services. Critics of a culture of entitlement often believe that the free market in general, or the rewards of personal responsibility, is the most responsible approach to correcting these inequities. The connotation of the phrase often implies that the recipients of government entitlements are individuals that do not deserve to receive such benefits or entitlements. The expression may be contrasted with a "culture of merit", where individuals are rewarded due to ability or achievement (cf. meritocracy). Advocates of a culture of merit state that the free market and individual responsibility for themselves and their community provide a culture of ownership whereby individuals take full responsibility of themselves, their family, and their community. In a culture of ownership, it is believed that there is a stronger relationship between cause and effect, between risk and reward, and between investment and return on investment. (See Market Forces)

In a political context, "culture of entitlement" is a conservative dog whistle phrase, a more ambiguously phrased variation of "welfare queen".

See also

• Corporate welfare
• Entitlement Theory
• Social welfare provision
• Universal Declaration of Human Rights
• Welfare (financial aid)
• Welfare state

External links

• Unchained Reactionary: Putting the torch to a culture of entitlement by Keith Urbahn, Published Wednesday, March 23, 2005
• Changing a Culture of Entitlement into a Culture of Merit By Dave Anderson