Entitlement Is A Pandemic
By Jo Lorenz
Liberty. Freedom. Is our overbearing sense of entitlement feeding the coronavirus?
We discuss the notion of ‘freedom’ in the developed world. Is it responsibility, or is it simply privilege?
Entitlement (noun): the belief that one is inherently deserving of privileges or special treatment.
The notion of entitlement VS responsibility has been plaguing me for years. I wrote about it a couple of years ago with regard to feminism — deliberating how (mainly white) women who call themselves feminists smugly belittle other people online, aggressively debating their own narrow take on equality in order to bolster their own position. These faux-feminists label their “right to choose” as feminism — while blatantly disregarding that choice is something to which we should all be entitled. Feminism is not about choice — it’s about equality and responsibility.
This leads me back to the topic at hand today: entitlement. That slam-your-fist-on-the-table mentality — that, I am entitled to A, B and C without any inconvenience — that, you-can’t-tell-me-what-to-do attitude. Is our overbearing sense of entitlement feeding the coronavirus?
Public health officials have asked us all to stay home for one reason: to stop the spread of the infection and protect our most vulnerable citizens and health care workers. This is not rocket science. It is not a conspiracy to eliminate happy hour. It is maths.
Yet when you try to marry this common sense with developed countries’ cultures built on ruthless entitlement, you start pulling at the very fabric of those entire societies and the foundations on which they were built.
What is freedom in the developed world? Is it responsibility, as it should be — or is it simply privilege? Is it glorifying independence, while pushing a cancerous lack of empathy? Is it exalting a right to bear arms, yet not another person’s right to live in a country safe from massacres?
It is devastating to witness the impact COVID-19 is having. People are dying, losing their livelihoods and their homes. And yet I still see entire nations fetishising toughness, over fairness — mutating “freedom” into what they believe they are entitled — not for what we ought to be responsible.
Cultures of entitlement are perilous and parasitic, and no society can thrive with such a ubiquitous sense of privilege. Empathy is a muscle, folks - and it needs some flexing 💪
