Church of No, Thanks Celebrating Personal Liberty since 2008

There have been a lot of issues floating around in the news lately, that got me thinking about the issue of entitlement.

The Israelis feel they're entitled to the land currently within the national borders of The State of Israel (which, in case you were not aware, did not exist prior to 1948). The Palestinians also feel they are entitled to the same land.

Similar disputes are ongoing throughout South-central and Southwestern Asia, and have been ongoing for millennia.

Europeans (and Canadians), generally, feel entitled to healthcare, employment and retirement.

Americans feel entitled to "security" (whatever that is), "credit", and, while they feel the need for a couple layers of obfuscation, government-subsidized employment at inflated wages.

All this sense of entitlement has to come from somewhere. People talk about their god-given rights, but never their god-given responsibilities. Assuming a god exists, and is marginally rational, it seems that a god which created a balance of "good" and "evil" (if you believe such a thing) would also create a balance of "rights" and "responsibilities".

Personally, I think there is no god, and the only way to deal fairly with the question publicly is to leave all assumptions (about whether or not there is a god, and whose got it is, and what he or she said, to whom, and on what mountaintop) out of the discussion, and focus on the observable reality.

If any of us has rights, they are either granted and guaranteed by governments or seized and defended by individual force. If any of us is entitled to anything, it is only so insofar as the local government is in a position to grant and uphold such entitlements. Intrinsically, without a society to support such a system of rights and entitlements, each of us has only one inalienable right: The right to die. Food, shelter, warmth and companionship may be essential to preserving human dignity (whatever that is), but they can easily be taken away. As hard as some may try to take away your right to die, or keep you from exercising it, ultimately it's yours til you die.

As such, I think it is in the best interest of everyone everywhere for each individual to pause, and reflect on what he or she has that did not have to be taken by force or barter. Those things were given to you, in most cases by an individual, or a small group of individuals; in some cases by a great society. If you choose to accept such gifts, while you may not be directly accountable for a debt, one should feel a moral obligation to return the favor, in kind, if and when the opportunity presents itself. This does not necessarily mean that if someone applies a life-saving tourniquet to your leg, the only thing you can do to "repay the favor" is to wait for that individual to require a life-saving tourniquet, and apply one. Perhaps you could volunteer one day a month at your local hospital's emergency room.

We currently live in a time when both the financial economy, and the social economy are in a shambles, and I believe the problem in our social economy is much more grave, and is at least partly to blame for the current financial meltdown.

American society is socially bankrupt, and has squandered whatever goodwill it had built-up in the early part of the last century. Personal entitlement has displaced personal responsibility. The only people who talk about duty any more are The Marines, and .. well... most of them weren't born with duty as their mantra.

There's been a lot of talk lately about Barack Obama, and the "change" and "hope" he brings to America and the world. Maybe... On Martin Luther King, Jr Day, he encouraged a day of national service, and it seems like a lot of people went along with it. That's great. If he can sustain the "togetherness" feeling, that will be a plus, but I fear we're facing a cult of personality. Assuming for a moment that good ol' American apathy doesn't kill the wind driving this new cooperation, can "hope" and "change" survive Obama's exit from office? Can he create something self-supporting, rather than something that depends on his charisma to keep it alive? Only time will tell.

In the mean time, each of us can make a difference irrespective of who's in office. Each of us can choose to advance society, rather than hinder it. Each of us can choose to be a force for the betterment of all, rather than the lining of one's own pockets. Each of us can be the change society needs.

Vote your conscience, oppose injustice, pay your taxes, and be the better citizen. ...or don't. It's up to you, every day.