The flawed sense of entitlement both at the workplace and in the field of social services is creating understandable resentment among those who pay in the system, because they feel they have to work hard for what others are getting without having to put in the effort.

The culture of entitlement threatens our economic and social future. Put simply, it is the attitude that ‘you owe me something’. Some say it is destroying the fabric of our society. For others, it is an excuse to deprive people who cannot fend for themselves from the support that they need.

The culture of entitlement permeates in most Western cultures. In a medical sense, the ‘culture of entitlement’ is usually associated with ‘the outrageous attitude of some persons who suffer from narcissistic personality disorder’. They believe that the world is indebted to them and they want to collect now. They generally show no gratitude or express any thanks – even when someone goes out of their way for them. But such attitude is not limited to people with personality disorders.

The influence of the culture of entitlement is even more toxic in the workplace. Workplaces are the engine rooms of the economy. Our economic performance, productivity, quality and competitiveness are dependent on our workers’ ability to strive to better themselves in what they do. It is only when personal achievements replace our sense of entitlement that we feel accomplished. The problem is that an entitlement culture denies individual responsibility and creates handy excuses for failure.

Some people will go to great lengths to acquire that for which they are not entitled. They believe that their work should be valued highly by others regardless of the quality. They are unable to engage in self-critical analysis of what they do, or accept constructive criticism from others. They often play the victims and manipulate anyone who poses as an influence pedlar to get what they want by hook or by crook. They believe that being part of an informal network of power within or outside their workplace will get them what they want faster than hard work and dedication.

Organisations that are successful in overcoming this toxic culture strive to turn entitlement into accountability. Entrepreneurship rather than entitlement is what will bring about the much needed stimulus for economic growth in Europe. Our future prosperity will depend more on what is decided in the board rooms of our businesses than the often sterile offices in Brussels.

Waiting for handouts from some institutional fund to fulfil our wish lists of projects is a sad remnant of colonialism. We no longer celebrate the success of those who are looking at new ways to solve the problems that all of us face in our lives. We are afraid to tackle the long-term issues in health, education, labour market, and social services that need to be addressed to preserve the better elements of the welfare state.

Some politicians are taking up the battle against the culture of entitlement with a hidden agenda to deprive those who need to be supported by society because they are unable to fend for themselves. The general approach often sounds good. For instance, the British Prime Minister is justifying the crackdown on welfare abuse by saying that he wants “a new solution to an old problem – how to make sure people do not do better out of work than in it”.

If this is the real intention, then we should all support such campaigns. A sizeable part of our society has got accustomed to the dole mentality – being out of work in the long term and living meagrely on state handouts because paid work does not offer them much more. This is the result of failed cultural, educational and at times flawed personality factors that prevent some people from appreciating the freedom and dignity that economic independence gives to those who work to earn a living, rather than sitting at home surviving on benefits.

An entitlement culture denies individual responsibility and creates handy excuses for failure

This flawed sense of entitlement both in the workplace and in the field of social services is creating understandable resentment among those who pay in the system, because they feel that what they have to work hard for what others are getting without having to put in the effort.

But what is more unfair is that policymakers often hit the weakest in society to curb this flawed mentality because they are the easiest targets. Single mothers are often depicted as scroungers when the real scroungers are those who exploit their political connections to get benefits that they are not entitled to. When people give more importance to what they believe they are entitled to – rather than what they have earned – the need for cultural change becomes critically important.

johncassarwhite@yahoo.com