Quote: Originally posted by OldSchoolPa on Mar 7, 2012
I think the major problem with our country is the "entitlement attitude" that pervades every sector and corner of our country, from government officials and workers, to union employees to hourly employees to school children and adults of all ages and even to military members and their families. Now I don't just throw out a controversial statement like that without providing background and proof.
Government service used to be just that, but now all you hear from heads of government agencies is that, "If they were in a private sector company in the same position, they would be getting paid X amount of dollars instead of Y amount of dollars, so their pay, pension, medical and other fringe benefits are justified." Well, Mr/Mrs. Government official/worker, you are not working in the private sector. Private sector pay is usually based upon market conditions as well as performance whereas government pay and compensation is largely determined by credentials, longevity, and politics. Also, there is a reason government workers are called "servants" for a reason; your pay is derived from your constituents so any comparisons to private sector compensation are invalid and not applicable.
Now let me rant on about CEOs. No I am not one of these escalating the non-sensical dialogue of 1 percent vs. 99 percent. One good thing I can say about this is that at least the majority of Americans can do simple math even though many are challenged in other important areas like history, geography, economics (understanding of economic principles), and common sense. Yes, there is a disturbing trend of CEOs being rewarded for failure and often to the detriment of shareholders. The problem is the board of directors not performing their fiduciary and due diligence duties. But hey, many board of directors are getting richly compensated for very little time committed to actually watching over the well-being of the company whose trust the shareholders have placed in them to guard against incompetency in CEO/CFO. I think the blame can be traced back to Masters of Business Administration schools breeding this element of entitlement among those placed in executive positions of publically owned companies. News Flash: If a rank and file worker fails miserably at job, that worker is usually summarily fired and only leaves to collect unemployment benefits. But if a CEO runs company into the ground to the extent that it requires government intervention, that CEO and other top executives receives bonuses. And this even happens when company still survives without government intervention and the board finally makes responsible decision to can the CEO...the CEO still usually leaves with a nice golden parachute.
Don't get me started about unions. Yes they were necessary over 30 years ago, but now labor laws are now usually slanted in favor of workers today and renders unions as irrelevant as the NAACP. Really, when was the last time the NAACP did anything beneficial and noteworthy? Another example of two types of organizations that have outlived their purpose but fight to continue to exist because the alternative is those in positions of leadership in those orgs would be left unemployed....and we can't have that! So unions continue to exist and fight for "benefits" that render parent company more uncompetitive with global economy. Don't believe me? Well, the auto companies used to could not lay off or furlough unneeded factory workers without still paying them a large percentage of their salary to DO NOTHING! What company do you know of that, when forced to reduce output due to market slowdown still had to pay non-working employees 50 to 75 percent of their salaries, and still show a profit? That is precisely the reason the US automakers were continually losing hundreds of millions of dollars each year just like the airlines before they got rid of the unnecessary bloated union contract provisions. If you are in a union, good on you. But if you look at companies objectively and compare companies composed of non-union workers and those with union workers, your analysis will reveal that the non-union companies are more profitable than the unionized companies.
School children entitlement. I need not say much about this except it is evident from all the children's rights and children's esteem movement that children today have an entitlement attitude. That might be the reason you hear of so many "going postal" incidents in schools today whereas when I was growing up in the 70's and 80's, you never heard of such. Also, today's children feel they are entitled to eat junk food and the administrators and parents acquiesce to their demands. So what has that gotten America? An epidemic of childhood obesity and the associated problems that go along with people who are overweight such as increased rates of childhood Type 2 diabetes (that is the preventable type), heart disease, joint problems, and cancer. It is no surprise that Obama's Affordable Health Care Act is costing much more than he and his administration projected because many of the previously uninsured are families with obese parents and children. For those who want to dispute that, please check your states obesity percentage and you will find that in many places, over 60 percent of adults and children are obese. It doesn't take too much of a stretch in thought to also consider that many families living in poverty in the inner city without easy access to grocery stores selling more affordable healthy food options resort to eating at the many fast food joints in the neighborhood, and you can see from the combination of eating high calorie fast food and limited physical activity due to relative danger in the streets has resulted in majority of the poor adults and children becoming overweight. More health problems means more healthcare utilization and therefore higher medical costs for all. So get used to it unless Obamacare is repealed (yeah I know that is a bit off topic but it is relevant info).
Lastly, I, myself, am a military veteran and continue to serve in a part-time role (though sometimes it feels very much full-time due to my responsiblities). I have served all over the US as a military member and have met many military families from the East coast to the West coast. I also keep abreast of seemingly innocuous current events. Yes, I have sacrificed for the benefit of my country as have fellow veterans. But I have encountered military spouses who moan and complain about store discount policies, facility entrance fees, and private business policies that do not always cater to or recognize military veterans. For example, if a military member is on orders and staying at a hotel, they are entitled to receive the government contracted rate, and in some states, be exempt from taxes. However, if the same member is not on orders and staying at hotel, the hotel is not obligated to honor the government contracted rate and it is likely fraudulent to claim tax exempt status in that instance. Ditto with the airlines. The airlines make the majority of their revenue from business class passengers. Most US carriers will accommodate uniformed military personnel with upgrades to business class if possible, but again that is at the discretion of the airline and the situation. One should not assume that military personnel will get automatic upgrade, or even expect that when traveling. As I stated, I am a military member and also a frequent flyer in the highest status with one of the US carriers, but even I don't expect to receive an upgrade when I am traveling on a deeply discounted coach fare. When I do get upgraded due to my frequent flyer status, I am appreciative of the upgrade, but when I don't get it because enough business class and unrestricted economy class flyers have bought up available business class seats (full fare economy ticket buyers at elite frequent flyer level usually get automatic upgrade to business class if seats are available within certain number of days of departure), I am content to sit in coach seat I was able to pre-select that allows me to deplane quickly or have more legroom. The key is the attitude of expectation, and I would say the churches preaching a theology of prosperity gospel have not done America any favors because that just further breeds an attitude of expectation as opposed to an attitude of appreciation and humbleness. Now it doesn't hurt to ask for a favor, but when denied, the person with an expectant, entitlement attitude will go out of their way to villify the company for not satisfying that person's request whereas the appreciative person would thank the person and contently go to assigned seat or place. How else are military folk "entitled"? Well, let's start with the pension program. Actually, that is a subject that warrants its own topic of discussion. Some people say because a person has on the frontlines and risked life and limb in service for country, they are entitled to receiving a pension after 20 years of service. Well, today, hundreds of thousands of reservists who have served multiple stints in Iraq and Afghanistan have also been on the frontlines, but after 20 years, those members do not receive an immediate penion payment from the government after 20 years of service. I am not advocating for it to be changed to that. Rather, I was amused when I was leaving active duty after 9 years of service that the separation counselors made a point of telling those with 20 years or more of active service that they were not retiring, but rather they were just transitioning to other opportunities. The majority of service members who leave the service after 20+ years of service continue to work in the government or private sector. Entitlements now account for the majority of DoD budget due to result of income raises to match private sector pay, COLA, larger percentage of married members with more dependents (this is what DADT really was all about for the GLAAD/GLBT folks...no I am not of that community but if you don't know the acronyms you must have been living under a rock these past 3 years), and members living longer. Just like social security, the current military retirement pension program is unsustainable and needs to be changed to match the provisions of receipt for 401k and reservist retirees, and that is that receipt of pension payments should only start after person turns 60 years of age. Yes I know a person can withdraw from 401k before age 60, but not without paying a penalty. The same thing should also apply for public sector workers like policemen and firefighters.
Well I have thrown enough fuel on the fire but at least I put pools of water around to control the raging flames.