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Keith Wheelock's avatar

Susan I am ‘entitled’ to my Social Security and company pension because I worked and paid for it. I ascribe ‘entitled’ to folks born into royalty or born with a silver spoon or some other birth advantage.

Evidently Republican Congressmen believe that the very wealthy citizens and companies are ‘entitled’ to paying less than their fair share of taxes. That, to me, is ENTITLEMENT.

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Annie D Stratton's avatar

Keith, as you are no doubt aware, many words have a specific definition in a legal framework that is different in kind or degree from common parlance. There is a significant difference between social expectations of being treated as exceptional (whether one is or not), and the legal definition of various governmental services and social programs that we all are entitled to have access to.

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NorCal Gloria's avatar

Most words have more than one meaning depending on how it’s used in a sentence. In terms of social security, entitlement means the person has a legal right to it. We also used it to mock a person who thinks he has a right to something he does not. Like the older generation complaining that young people feel they should a good life with out working for it.

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Susan Burgess's avatar

Damn straight.

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Susan Burgess's avatar

It’s a multipurpose word.

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