Reply #33: Because it IS, quite literally, true. [View All]

An 'entitlement' is any benefit, power, or privilege, righteous or not, conferred solely as a function of government and enforced by that government police (law enforcement) powers. By meeting the qualifications in the (government's) law in paying FICA taxes which go to those deemed eligible for benefits, we become entitled under that law to those benefits ourselves.

The root word in 'entitlement' is 'title' - like Duke, Prince, or Landlord. A 'title' to property confers certain powers and privileges in the use of that property: entitlements, not 'rights.'

By far, the most pervasive entitlements accrue to the legal fictions called 'corporations' - entities that exist solely as a function of law, enforced by government. Also insidious is the entitlement of inheritance - which does not and could not exist without the coercive force of government. (Birth certificates themselves establish parentage - the basis for inheritance. It's why 'bastards' were such a big deal during monarchical days.)

'Rights' on the other hand, are NOT created by government and, instead of being enforced by government are (supposedly) 'protected' by our government - except when corruption and predation causes that government to infringe on human rights, usually in favor of entitlements!

The entire stock market functions based on entitlements. It could not exist without the legal creation of variously apportioned and exchangeable interests in property (corporations) and the coercive force of government in enforcing (and inflating) tax-free exchanges of that property (unlike the sales of any other property).

So, when the words 'entitlements' and 'rights' are used, it's important to keep their real meanings in mind.