Recently, I have talked about Burna Boy's altercation and how that is tantamount to entitlement
But let us examine entitlement in a broader perspective
What is Entitlement? The Oxford dictionary defines it in three ways
1. the fact of having a right to something.
So we could give an example like:
* I paid my rent so I am entitled to have light and water flowing in this house
2. the amount to which a person has a right. It further went on to list grants, allocation and inheritance as entitlements.
3. the belief that one is inherently deserving of privileges or special treatment.
These are very clear and succinct definitions of the word
What scenarios can be seen as entitlement?
This is my take
RAPE
This alludes to the third definition of a belief that one is inherently deserving of rights or special treatment. Simply put, rape is forced sex or sex against one's will.
This means there is always an unwilling party and the "willing" party decided they had to have this person or nothing else matters.
It exhibits itself as a high form of entitlement, because what gives you the right to think you can have carnal knowledge of someone without the person's consent. Why do you feel that body is owed to you? Is there a sign or document bestowing that right on you?
PARENTAL CARE
A lot of people want to get married and have children and that is beautiful. But do not forget that having children means preparing yourself to have a multitude of responsibilities. Some people just have children and complain everyday. What were you thinking was going to happen? The children would come and everything would be perfect? It is your job and your responsibility to take care of that child till they can stand in their own. You are the first teacher, girlfriend, boyfriend, mentor, protector, etc that they would have before they leave to experience the world on their own. They exhibit the things you have instilled in them. I used to love a particular saying that goes "a child tells in the street what its parents say at home" and if this isn't the truth, I don't know what is.
EMOLUMENTS
Salariés, rémunération, bonuses, recognition, whatever you want to call it, these are entitlements. When someone works for you, they are entitled to get paid. If you must owe them, that has to be clearly communicated so they have backup plans. They have fulfilled their part of the contract, it is your duty as an employer to ensure your staff are not working for free.
HEALTH
This is one thing a lot of us take for granted but do you realize as a citizen, you are entitled to good health? That should be something your taxes cover. You pay taxes because you want the services that come with it. You are saying to your leaders, I put you in charge of my life, here is my contribution to make that possible. If this does not happen, you are losing out on your rights
ASSAULT
I don't even know if this is the right heading for this but let us keep it going. Have you noticed that people do not know how to handle rejection? All their lives, they have been told they deserve everything and anything they want, they should go for it. When reality hits them, they respond negatively and what happens? They go to extremes to ensure they get what they want or no one gets it. This is why we have an abundance of serial killers, this is why people get killed on a daily. It is another reason why a guy or girl would crash a wedding because he or she doesn't understand the word "NO". It is why kidnaps happen and people get beaten up because they said "NO".
There are probably more scenarios that express how harmful entitlement feels. Entitlement also occurs in a positive way so there is that. But in all, you should educate yourself on what you really deserve and drop the load of what you think you deserve.
Having a better understanding of what you are entitled to and what should not be an entitlement may very well aid our society to achieve some form of sanity
But hey, I may just be yapping and not making sense.
Did this make sense to you?
Let me know in the comments
What other scenarios are examples of entitlement?
ENTITLEMENT
By
Queensley Okon