Entitlements

To the Editor: 
For some reason, it seems that the term “entitlement” is being steered and restricted by the right to refer to welfare for the needy or government expenditures on public health and the like. But, that’s not the core meaning of entitlement.
That core is “what you are entitled to” and one is “entitled” to anything the laws say they have a right to lay claim to. Look it up in the dictionary.
So, let’s think about some of the things one has a right to in this country and thus, have an entitlement.
One is entitled to keep their property as trashy as they wish, impacting their neighbor’s property values as long as they don’t violate local ordinances.
One is entitled to keep as much money as they can get through inheritance and trusts, and various lotteries, and gambling and keep all that money without ever sharing any of it with anyone.
One is entitled to try to get even more money and keep it all, even if they are rich beyond most people’s wildest dreams.
One is entitled to voice their opinion, regardless of how foolish, detached from reality and facts, or just plain stupid it is. In fact, they are entitled to accept and encourage such opinions in others.
One is entitled to have as much land as they can buy and not let anyone on it.
One is entitled to go on wild spending sprees, run up massive debts, not pay them, have them forgiven through bankruptcy and have the creditors take the loss, which of course flows through to their fellow citizens.
One is entitled to claim that something is right because 2,000 years ago some man may or may not have said that it was right.
One is further entitled to claim that 2,000 years after his death, they and that man communicate on a daily, perhaps hourly basis.
One has the right to vote even though they are intentionally and admittedly politically and economically illiterate.
One is entitled to allow their children to watch 10 hours of TV or play 10 hours of video games a day.
One is entitled to become so obese that they can’t fit into ordinary furniture.
One is entitled to give birth to a child even though they knew in advance that the child had an incurable, lifelong condition that would cost taxpayers millions of dollars.
One is entitled to be intentionally scientifically illiterate, yet make claims about scientific issues and claim to know which scientists are right about issues.
One is entitled to use as much fossil fuel and water as they can afford, and as many pesticides as legal regardless of their environmental impact.
If they are a business person, they are entitled to make a wide variety of intentionally misleading or false claims about products or services they sell under the umbrella of “commercial speech.”
Likewise, they are entitled to knowingly produce shoddy products and services as long as they don’t produce defined damage.
One is entitled to think that kneeling during the Pledge of Allegiance, national anthem or flag ceremony is disrespecting the U.S despite those who do so repeatedly saying they are protesting police violence.
Needless to say, that is just a partial list of entitlements that each of us has, but it’s a good place to start; a far better place than a limited focus on food stamps, Medicaid and subsidized housing for the poor.