young posters, the use of language changed before you were born, so in case you didn't know this: the reason things like Social Security and Medicare are called "entitlements" isn't (derogatory) it's because access is *guaranteed* in exchange for your advance payments into the program - ThreadSky

jelenawoehr.bsky.social • 21 hours ago

young posters, the use of language changed before you were born, so in case you didn't know this:

the reason things like Social Security and Medicare are called "entitlements" isn't (derogatory) it's because access is *guaranteed* in exchange for your advance payments into the program

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blonicyouth.bsky.social•13 hours ago

getting us to say "entitlements" is one of the most insidious things. We should just call them rights.

mjfgates.bsky.social•13 hours ago

No, SS *is* an entitlement. You paid for it, you are entitled to the benefits of it, AND THAT IS FINE. The whole notion of "feeling entitled," and that being bad, is literal propaganda.

blonicyouth.bsky.social•13 hours ago

yes I know it's propaganda. it's propaganda that works against us, which is why we should reject it.

50shadesofgreg.bsky.social•12 hours ago

They will do that with every single term you try to use in place of it. You can't win if you play their game. Every time the lingo changes people get confused and say the left is wishy washy

troyliss.bsky.social•11 hours ago

This. There is no word you can use instead that they will not turn into a pejorative. As @alexandraerin.com put it, you can’t withhold ammunition from the bullet factory. Stick to a term and *make* it positive.

mjfgates.bsky.social•12 hours ago

Then you lean against the Republicans' perversion of the term, not the term itself. It's a fine distinction, but one that you CAN draw with people. I've been telling people about this one for some thirty years; it's not hard to explain, you just have to do that.

kmagnacca.bsky.social•13 hours ago

No, you need to start demanding them, AS ENTITLEMENTS.

triphazard.bsky.social•11 hours ago

Frustrating how many read this then posted to indicate they had not understood it at all...

jelenawoehr.bsky.social•21 hours ago

Republicans like to use the word "entitlements" to paint recipients of Social Security and Medicare as "entitled" in the way they would mean it if they were talking about a bratty teenager expecting a car for their 16th birthday

but the word means YOU PAID FOR IT IN ADVANCE SO IT'S GUARANTEED

mrsmoosegoose.bsky.social•12 hours ago

It was an entitlement when it started from scratch 90 years ago. Now it’s a paid benefit and Republicans can suck a tailpipe

noodlenog.bsky.social•49 minutes ago

The first time I had this reframe (shifting from my uncle’s “people need to get over their addiction to entitlements!”), it was phrased “I already paid CASH for this!”

n2theblue.bsky.social•12 hours ago

Still a term that needs to change to match the present day

yoclockface.bsky.social•21 hours ago

What we need/needed was national benefits, not SS. It is bottom fed & while it was a major seachange, the way it is put together is alot of why we see the spread in incomes. it gets cheaper to hire high value employees w massive prior training. It ends up a thumb on the scale against modest skills

yoclockface.bsky.social•21 hours ago

Not instead of, but in addition to. Most other well off nations have public benefits, like being part of a rich family.
BTW, gop never stopped using 'entitlements' as a slur, never.

jelenawoehr.bsky.social•21 hours ago

My understanding from older reading material is that the New Deal is actually what led Republicans to drive a change in the popular meaning of the word “entitlement,” which previously was mostly a literal term for a contractual guarantee, to add the judgmental, derogatory connotation

allaboard.bsky.social•10 hours ago

I agree, seeing it from outside. "Entitled" as derogatory seems far more common in US English than British and I think that's because we call them benefits, not entitlements.

jelenawoehr.bsky.social•21 hours ago

But it didn’t take to the point where most people ONLY knew the derogatory meaning until relatively recently (90s-00s)

vampirepumpkins.bsky.social•11 hours ago

I had to explain this to my mother recently. You are entitled to these things because they are yours! That's how the program is set up! Like when a lawyer ad says 'you may be entitled to compensation'

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