The Entitlement Syndrome
Children learn bad behavior from witnessing bad behavior of other children. When a child see’s that bad behavior goes unpunished. They emulate the bad behavior thinking they can’t be punished for it. When they are, they cry foul, throw a tantrum. It is becoming a trend in adults today in just about every environment of society. We now face an “Entitlement Syndrome” where people feel they are entitled to exceptions to their bad behavior. They deserve to be given a break or special deal based on what other public figures or influencers have been given. When you look at those public figures especially those in political office whether it is a low office or the highest office who demand special treatment sets a standard for others to follow that they are equally entitled. When our society accepts that entitlement. It is now a norm because of those public figures getting entitlement on situations based on special deals such as exception to the laws on the books. You are teaching members of society that they too deserve the same entitlement when they face the same situation. Like children learning bad behavior from other children and expecting they too can get away with it. We might excuse a child’s bad behavior chalking it up to peer pressure and bad influencers. We help that child to understand what good behavior is, based on what is right and what is wrong. A teachable moment for any parent. When those teachable moments fail to happen, a child is most likely to grow up with some bad habits.
Is it too late for an adult with bad behavior say, along the lines of entitlement behavior, to teach them what is acceptable behavior, the difference between right and wrong. Have we reached a point in our society that individuals believe they are entitled to bad behavior, special treatment, or the right to skirt the law to behave badly, because certain public figures with political power, social media influencers, or people with wealth, have set the bar so high that bad behavior is now a norm. What goes around comes around to haunt us when we fail to lower that bar to ensure that bad behavior as in entitlement, has never been acceptable in this nation's society. Is it time for us to see that those who believe they are entitled to do as they please because they hold an elected position in government, are influencers with a million followers, or extremely wealthy. That it gives them the right to do as they please and there is nothing you can do about it. Those individuals' questionable behavior is influencing a new generation of individuals to feel entitled to believe they can also do as they please. Including emulating questionable social ethics, poor judgement, and defying rational social norms of behavior.
Like behavior bordering on sedition against human rights established by the UN for all UN member nations to observe. We have a state governor on our borders who believes they have the right to ignore those human rights, that they were elected to do as they please, set their own rules and laws, because they have the power to do as they please as an entitled elected official, even if it cost the lives of others. The “Entitlement Syndrome” is not limited to ordinary individuals but is found in all levels of our society, all economic levels, and in the political arena. When did this Entitlement issue appear in our society? Has it always been present just dormant from time to time. Or did one individual's behavior of feeling entitled as the highest public elected official who felt because of wealth, and intelligence (questionable intelligence) and the office they were elected too, made them entitled to all kinds of immunity from bad behavior in office. The kind of behavior you would expect from a petulant child who just learned their bad behavior was immune to punishment by observing another child get away with it. Like a Boomerang, what goes out will come back to hit you in the head. That Boomerang does not have any entitlement to stop hitting you on its return flight when your bad behavior catches up to you.
One political party in congress voted no impeachment to protect the president they elected, then turned around a few years later to threaten to impeach the new president elected by the opposing party. The opposition cries no way is that going to happen. The party wanting to impeach the new president now act like they have every right to impeach since the other party did previously impeach their elected president. Forgetting the opposition used the same claim of entitlement three years earlier. The political arena now appears to believe impeaching is a norm now when you disagree on the oppositions policies that in essences have no impeachable weight or law to support impeachment. The same argument the senate used to vote no on impeachment three years earlier of a president they elected, then now get upset when opposition says you can’t impeach you have no valid reason to impeach. It all goes back to you can’t do that, but later I can, then get mad when it doesn’t go the way you want it to go. Like two teams of children and one loses at dodge ball and has a royal tantrum as a team who thinks they were entitled to win because they always won at dodge ball. Give it up, arrogance always loses eventually.
On the impeachment rules and laws an impeachment must be proven a president or official has violated a law with evidence, not innuendos with no merit or weight of law behind it for an impeachment. Example to impeach an official because a member of his family has been indicted on a crime. If the member of that family is convicted, it does not mean all his family members are equally guilty unless the indictment names them as well. In the last presidential impeachment not once but twice, the House in congress wins a vote to impeach the sitting president, not his family members were impeached by the vote. Yet the senate then votes no impeachment. Then three years later the senate wants to impeach the president because a family member of the setting president now may be a bad apple. The Senate vote three years ago was based on a majority of votes by members of the same party the setting president then was a member of, and in the House the vote was a majority of members from the opposing party. In a situation where both the House and Senate say yes. It would mean both agree the impeachment is valid based on law and rule to impeach for an impeachable crime. When the political arena today gets to the point one member disagrees with a statement or policy of another member or president, that members shouts impeach the person. Such a rally cry can take growth even though it is really not an impeachable offense under the law for disagreeing between party lines. In this case it comes down to revenge politics for past insults, or failed policy changes, or failed laws to pass or a law vetoed by the president of an opposing party. This behavior has become a norm in congress, as if they are children playing dodge ball and every throw of the ball that puts a team member out of the game is an impeachable offense toward the person who threw the ball.
Maybe entitlement should be an impeachable offense. We might see some real bi-partisan progress in congress and adults stop behaving like children when one of more don’t get there way. When does the teachable moment come, after our Democracy fails, or before it fails. What goes around does not have to come back around when we put a stop to Entitlement behavior and make people observe the laws of society and human rights. No double standards. Maybe we should all be impoverished like younger siblings, living under the same roof, sleeping in the same bed, wearing a single set of clothes, eating and sharing the same single bean, and having no universal rights. Except there will always be a big brother or sister with 10 sets of clothes, 10 beans to eat, and have a 20-room house with 10 beds all to themselves, because they don’t want to share the wealth like a spoiled brat. And when you rebel and demand more, they have an entitlement hissy fit. Is this what we are allowing to happen, are our elected officials reverting back to their childhood. Maybe some not all, and one bad apple shouldn’t spoil the barrel of apples. You remove the legitimate bad apple, maybe apples, and save the rest from spoiling. It is not to late or is it to send misbehaving children to a corner for a time out indefinitely.
I am Robert D. Vergeson, and I have been writing for Medium.com since 2019. This is my 75th. posting on Medium.com. I also write and publish eBooks under my penname Rowlen Delaware Vanderstone III available at Smashword.com, some 47 eBooks to date in the genre of Non-fiction, Fiction, Mysteries, Sci-Fi Fantasy, Teen adventures, Essays, Plays and Poetry.
