Please tell us what well-paying-I-can-sit-on-my-butt-at-home job that you have? I keep hearing about this myth, but the truth is, there are very few such opportunities available. Sure, some call center jobs, but not many. Some editorial jobs, requiring a degree. Some medical transcription jobs - in high demand and also requiring training AND are few and far between with a high demand. Phone sex maybe. Oh yeah, and being paid to post on forums, fill in product reviews, process product rebates, etc. Oh and reselling, wholesale dropbox, etc stuff. I suppose ANY job COULD be a telecommuting job, but the days where that's the accepted norm, and not the exception, aren't here yet

So if you have a list of other jobs that you think someone can simply just apply themselves to (and the implication here is, if you can't, you're lazy), and make a decent living, I'd like to see it. Because otherwise, I'd have to disagree with you.

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Part of it might be the sense that with every generation, standard of living is supposed to increase, which isn't the case at least here in the USA. So when the expectation isn't met, they look towards government.

I think the younger generation is going to get a nasty wakeup call on entitlements sometime in the future. Basically, we won't have any entitlements lol. The projections for the future are like 3 workers for every person on social security. Most of my peers don't think social security is going to exist by the time they go to collect, and with good reason. So more than likely, we'll be paying an even higher tax in the future, while getting much less in terms of entitlements, because the older folks have sucked us dry. Gotta pay for SS, medicare, and the national debt somehow.

I hear excuses from many around me as well. It's been growing in the last few years. I have a very painful health condition, but I don't expect anything for free. I'd love the satisfaction of working 9+ hours and coming home all tired. I've been trying to find something I can do at home for the longest time (so if someone out there can help me obtain a home job where I can get the feeling of accomplishment, that would be great!) because I cannot have a set daily schedule because of the uncertainty of my day. I've gotten fired many times because of my health condition.

I look around and I see so many things people take for granted and on top of it, they still complain that things didn't work out for them.

For example, in a fantasy baseball league of mine a couple guys complained that they didn't win the money at the end of the year and how unfair the league was. They lost not because of unfairness, but because they took less than 5 minutes weekly updating their team. Again, wanting something for literally doing nothing. A bad example, but you get my point.

You forgot a couple more excuses: "they do it, why shouldn't I?" and "i deserve it."

I agree with you, and I, like you, wonder where has this sense come from? Maybe because problems in sitcoms are resolved in 30 minutes? Maybe because of societies quicker pace with things like the microwave, computer etc.? Maybe because victories in video games are easy once it's solved, but not in life? Probably a combination.

And some of you will think I'm scum for being on disability (I won't say what I have unless you ask me privately) , wanting something for nothing. No, the people on disability who shouldn't be--the fakers, they are scum. I had to fight for my "nothing." And hopefully, before I leave, I will have helped others like me, spread some laughs, taught some minds and opened some eyes --not lie around eating Cheetos.

As far as being ashamed...not a second goes by where it pains me that I cannot contribute in a working society.

Originally posted by Constitutional Scholar
Where has this sense of entitlement come from?

From the fact that, for a very long time, people who want to get elected have promised the moon in order to get votes.

"Jimmy Carter had put together the old formula of Franklin Delano Roosevelt: organize the minorities, promise them everything you can promise them and you'll get elected."
– Barry Goldwater.

Pride:

I have held highly paid jobs and owned lucrative businesses, but when I am not "working," even if I have money in the bank, I always get at least one job in the restaurant business. I could go today and get a job as a server or bartender and average $300/night, five nights a week. When I have done that in the past my friends have looked at me like I am crazy, as if I should be embarrassed to have to take such a lowly position.

Wastefulness:

I recently moved into a more expensive house. One of my neighbors commented, "How can a guy who was a server three years ago afford that?" Apparently he could not imagine such a thing as savings.

Envy:

According to one of my old neighbors, that same guy is having trouble sleeping at night because he can not figure out why I can afford a better house for my family and he can not.



People feel entitled because they are not willing to make the hard choices in order to maximize their incomes. They have the mistaken belief that dignity is something they are due, rather than something they project through their own humble attitudes.

Would I work as a greeter at Walmart? If the pay was the best I could get, you bet I would.

The O.P. and Buddhasystem are at opposite ends of the spectrum. Find a balance. A point in the middle of your two arguments is where you probably find both of your answers

Without debating the liberal v. conservative taxation ideologies or the constitutionality of welfare, I have a few comments.

I have been on both sides of this problem. I have been an employer and an employee. I have been a customer and a salesperson. The problem of entitlement lies on both sides.

I don't know if it has always been like this as I am relatively young, but people (in general) today that I have come across in my travels in the US and Canada do want something for nothing. They want a $500 Italian lamb leather jacket that was made in Canada for $100. They want a new car for a dollar down and a dollar a month. They want things they see in ads or in their neighbors' possession and just cannot get their heads around the fact that they cannot afford it. They just don't get it! They think that if they see it, then they deserve to have it whether they can afford it or not, just because it's within arm's reach.

As an employer I did whatever I could to find people who would do an easy, well paying job. All they had to do was show up every day and perform a repetitive task. If they finished early they could leave. They could take breaks whenever they wanted as long as they finished on time. They just had to clean up their mess and they could go home with a full day's pay - that's 8 hours' pay for a task that could be easily finished in 3-4. But I could never find a person who would show up for more than a couple days, outside of an illegal immigrant (whom I would not hire). With the work ethic of the Americans who showed up I sure did think about it though.

Then on the other hand, most employers do not want to pay anyone a living wage. Basically, they just pay the minimum you will work for. It may not be the legal minimum wage, but it's your personal minimum wage. Chris Rock said it best: "You know what it means when your boss pays you minimum wage? It means he doesn't give a f**k about you. He doesn't care if your kids have shoes on or if they got presents for Christmas. It means that if he could legally, he'd pay you less."

Employers expect you to give yourself to a company mind, body, and spirit. Eat, live, and breathe sales, productivity, company mantras. But they come up with some BS name to call your hours so they don't have to pay you full time benefits or overtime pay. They pay you the absolute minimum they can get someone for. They want you to spend at least 8 hours there, at least 1 hour in commute, tons of cash in gas, "appropriate" business attire, and the liquor or pills you need to put a smile on your face to deal with complete dicks for 8 hours every day for not enough money to buy a house before you're 40.

They too want something for nothing. They too believe they are entitled.