Happy Thanksgiving! Hopefully you have plans to celebrate the event with family or friends. I have many things to be thankful for but then there are many things that leave me unthankful, if that is even a word. The past 50 years in United States History has become one of I, me, and self, rather than we, us, and whole. I witness this behavior scrolling through social media at the keyboard trolls with their closeted fascism and lack of understanding of how anything really works in the sociological or political realm. This entitled form of binary thinking take’s me back to this speech by President Reagan. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Unb7tzd-JkQ In my opinion this was the point where American cultural entitlement begins, “Government Is Not The Solution To Our Problem.” This well crafted speech infers metaphorically that government is the problem and being intellectual is a danger to society. The entitlement problem is…

“MY RIGHTS!!!”

Lol, I’ll be frank. You don’t have any rights. You have opportunities and responsibilities. One’s supposed rights are simply opportunities created and protected by governance. You have the opportunity to share your opinion, worship if you wish, own a firearm, vote in an election, travel where you wish without a permit on state paid roads, rail, or through air travel, and live free (not enslaved.) These are all opportunities available to you without fear of persecution, prosecution, etc. by the federal and state governments you seem to hate so much.

We are responsible for paying our taxes to fund the governance that offers us these opportunities. Without those taxes, ummm, you have nothing… except that firearm with a limited supply of ammunition, a loaf of bread, and whatever you can survive upon… This entitlement will lead us to destruction.

Let’s expand this to the business owner. You may think you have the right to refuse service to anyone. Incorrect. If your business is in an enterprise zone, TIF district, or receives any tax breaks or assistance you have the responsibility to give everyone else equal opportunity via that Constitution document (if we go by the letter of the law vs. a stacked court of neoliberals.) Now if you own the business, property, pay your taxes all by yourself, receive zero government assistance for anything… then if you wish to impress your beliefs and refuse service or product at your business for people because of XYZ then feel free to do so (It’s your right.) Don’t be surprised if some scandalous Google reviews from those that you deny service or product. They have the opportunity to share their opinion and they may also feel it is their responsibility to report their experience to the public. You may not like that very much, but when you refuse service one has to take responsibility for one’s choice.. Remember… these are opportunities as outlined by government. They aren’t rights…

Alright, let’s dig in some more. So you don’t like paying property taxes, cause you don’t use those services so therefore it is your right to protest them. You want everything to be service fees and sales taxes. Ok, citizen libertarian. Enjoy a higher cost of living to have the right not to pay taxes. Governance is supposed to be a zero profit enterprise. It is a service to provide opportunities for the populace. Imagine water and sewer being operated by a separate enterprise instead of local governance. Now it is a for profit venture. Your rates for that service will increase between 50-100% to make a profit (I experience this version of neoliberalism monthly with American Water.) With the local municipality it is supposed to be a 0% profit. If something breaks that requires more money than the budget can handle due to tragedy a simple bond (temporary tax) can be passed to equally distribute the debt to the tax payers. Private enterprise is going to increase your rate the same amount as the local municipality and then it will add a profit increase (50-100%) of cost, and it will never disappear. Meanwhile in the local municipality that bond issue will expire once the debt is paid. All of this information is easily accessible. I learned about it in school, and once you work in governance the processes of our ancestors in building what we have becomes forever clear. Remember… these are opportunities as outlined by government. They aren’t rights…

Anyway, this entitlement of I want what’s mine and everyone else needs to follow my lead garbage needs to stop. Yes you have the opportunity to have weapon. You also have a responsibility to keep those weapons out of the reach of your children. Maybe we should do what the Swiss do and have the gun shop owners be the agents of appropriate licensing? Convict the shop owners for negligence, and the original purchaser when a weapon they sold/purchased is used for a crime? Too much regulation? Infringes on your opportunities? I have this argument all of the time with the teenager in my home when he brings up his need to have an AR-15… “My right…” vs. “Your responsibility for life’s needs…” I digress…

Entitlement of Christian Nationalism: we can say and do whatever we want in the halls of our church because we have the right to religious freedom. This includes anti-LGBTQ, DEI, immigration, abortion, etc… speak. Last I checked you have the opportunity to worship as you wish, but you have the responsibility to keep your form of worship from developing into zealotry (false premise-persecution) against the rest of the world. How is this maintaining the whole separation of church and state thing? How is it respecting the opportunities of others to worship in a temple or mosque? Better yet, how are you respecting the humanists out there with the same, if not better morality, that choose science over religious mythology? Additionally, how is this version of the Christian faith respecting the opportunities of the people they are victimizing for being different? Remember… these are opportunities as outlined by government. They aren’t rights…

Government infringes on my rights!!! aka entitlement. Alright, so you don’t like the bureaucracy that provides you these opportunities because of XYZ. Fine, let’s slash this government. Let’s eliminate all government taxation. Let’s gut the constitution. Ok, ummm what rights? what opportunities? If you eliminate the structure of governance that provides you these opportunities, there will be nothing left to enforce them. We will live in an anarchist state of chaos, or an oligarchic fascist state like Russian or China, or a religious theocracy like Iran and Afghanistan or a secular/religious hybrid like Israel. Would you have the opportunity to have a weapon? The opportunity to worship or not worship as you saw fit? The opportunity to avoid military service based on whatever? The opportunity to attend a university or trade school of one’s choice? Remember… these are opportunities as outlined by government. They aren’t rights…

You have a responsibility as an American to protect the opportunities afforded by the Constitution. One’s personal entitlement is a sign of ignorance or at the very least blatant arrogance. This is what is fracturing our country. It isn’t women who wish to have control of their bodies. It isn’t the LGBTQA population. It isn’t the transgender population. It isn’t the legal or illegal immigrant population. It isn’t the educated (elite as Reagan called them) population either. It is angry weak-minded individuals in power trying to manipulate you right out of The Prince by Machiavelli. (Wizard of OZ in Wicked) I dare you to go read it… Remember… these are opportunities as outlined by government. They aren’t rights…

I dissent with this cultural cancer upon America… entitlement is weakness of character… It is nothing to be thankful about… and thank you for reading my opportunity to share an opinion that I will always take responsibility for.

on and on it goes…