Monday, February 13th, 2017 @ 12:00PM

Ask yourself this question: Since when did people who could work but don’t become “entitled” to financial support (read: welfare) paid for by people who do work?

Now ask yourself this question: Since when did people who could work in order to buy their own food but don’t become “entitled” to have their food paid for (i.e., food stamps) by people who do work?

Next, ask yourself this question: Since when did people who can’t afford a cell phone because they don’t work become “entitled” to a government cell phone (a.k.a. Obama phone) paid for by people who do work?

Ok, now ask yourself this question: Since when did people who can’t pay for the birth of their own children because they don’t work and don’t plan for their financial futures become “entitled” to have their medical bills paid for (Medicaid) by people who do work and do plan for their financial futures?

Angry yet? If you work, you should be.

Now ask yourself this question: Since when did it become acceptable for the federal government to take money from your paycheck with the promise of giving it back to you when you retire but, instead, spend it on programs you never supported in any way, shape, or fashion?

Or how about this question: Since when did it become acceptable for the federal government to promise you certain benefits if you served in the military, often at risk of life and limb, only to later reduce the amount of those benefits or deny them altogether?

Angry now? If you are approaching retirement age and are looking forward to receiving your Social Security and Medicare benefits, you should be. And if you ever served in the military and are looking forward to the benefits promised to you when you signed on the dotted line, or if you were partially or completely disabled as a result of military service, you should be angry as well.

Of course, the most fundamental question of all is this: Since when did people who don’t work become “entitled” to the fruits of other people’s labor? Further, how did we as a nation ever allow this inappropriate and utterly unfair redistribution of earnings to occur?

Though the historical definition of “entitle” is slightly different (to grant or bestow), in the modern vernacular, for a person to be “entitled” to something suggests that person has in some way earned it. Of course, liberals don’t see it that way. To liberals, being “entitled” to something has nothing to do with having earned it. To them, an “entitlement” is a program the purpose of which isn’t so much to help the needy as it is to substantiate unproductive members of society at the cost of productive members.

So see if this makes any sense: In a liberal’s mind (or, as my Dad would say, “alleged mind”), people who don’t work and, therefore, don’t earn money are nevertheless “entitled” to money earned by others. Weird.

Now here’s the really weird part – liberals refer to Social Security and Medicare (programs most recipients pay into, thus earning the benefits) as “entitlements” just the same as welfare, food stamps, Obama phones, and Medicaid (programs recipients do not pay into, thus not earning the benefits). This results in a strange dichotomy of meaning wherein the term “entitlement” can represent something both good and bad depending on its usage. So, in summary, according to liberals, “entitlement” means something bad if you earn it (Social Security and Medicare) and something good if you don’t earn it (welfare, food stamps, etc.).

In my opinion, that’s all liberal smoke and mirrors designed to deflect hardworking Americans’ attention from the fact that they are being scammed for the sake of buying votes. To me, Americans that pay into the system are “entitled” to the benefits they are promised such as Social Security and Medicare. Regarding welfare, Medicaid, and similar programs, these are “freebies” doled out to voters in return for their votes. One should never confuse the two terms, the programs to which they apply, or the purposes they serve – for “entitlements,” productive Americans trade their labors; for “freebies,” unproductive Americans trade their votes.

Posted by Spencer Price
Categories: Latest Columns