Entitled Manifesto

This was just, to me, so bang on that I couldn't help saying something about it.

I am a job creator: A manifesto for the entitled

By Steven Pearlstein, Published: September 29

I am a corporate chief executive.

I am a business owner.

I am a private-equity fund manager.

I am the misunderstood superhero of American capitalism, single-handedly creating wealth and prosperity despite all the obstacles put in my way by employees, government and the media.

I am a job creator and I am entitled.

I am entitled to complain about the economy even when my stock price, my portfolio and my profits are at record levels.

I am entitled to a healthy and well-educated workforce, a modern and efficient transportation system and protection for my person and property, just as I am entitled to demonize the government workers who provide them.

I am entitled to complain bitterly about taxes that are always too high, even when they are at record lows.

I am entitled to a judicial system that efficiently enforces contracts and legal obligations on customers, suppliers and employees but does not afford them the same right in return.

I am entitled to complain about the poor quality of service provided by government agencies even as I leave my own customers on hold for 35 minutes while repeatedly telling them how important their call is.

I am entitled to a compensation package that is above average for my company’s size and industry, reflecting the company’s aspirations if not its performance.

I am entitled to have the company pay for breakfasts and lunches, a luxury car and private jet travel, my country club dues and home security systems, box seats to all major sporting events, a pension equal to my current salary and a full package of insurance — life, health, dental, disability and long-term care — through retirement.

I am entitled to have my earned income taxed as capital gains and my investment income taxed at the lowest rate anywhere in the world — or not at all.

I am entitled to inside information and favorable investment opportunities not available to ordinary investors. I am entitled to brag about my investment returns.

I am entitled to pass on my accumulated wealth tax-free to heirs, who in turn, are entitled to claim that they earned everything they have.

I am entitled to use unlimited amounts of my own or company funds to buy elections without disclosing such expenditures to shareholders or the public.

I am entitled to use company funds to burnish my own charitable reputation.

I am entitled to provide political support to radical, uncompromising politicians and then complain about how dysfunctional Washington has become.

Although I have no clue how government works, I am entitled to be consulted on public policy by politicians and bureaucrats who have no clue about how business works.

I am entitled to publicly criticize the president and members of Congress, who are not entitled to criticize me.

I am entitled to fire any worker who tries to organize a union. I am entitled to break any existing union by moving, or threatening to move, operations to a union-hostile environment.

I am entitled to a duty of care and loyalty from employees and investors who are owed no such duty in return.

I am entitled to operate my business free of all government regulations other than those written or approved by my industry.

I am entitled to load companies up with debt in order to pay myself and investors big dividends — and then blame any bankruptcy on over-compensated workers.

I am entitled to contracts, subsidies, tax breaks, loans and even bailouts from government, even as I complain about job-killing government budget deficits.

I am entitled to federal entitlement reform.

I am entitled to take credit for all the jobs I create while ignoring any jobs I destroy.

I am entitled to claim credit for all the profits made during a booming economy while blaming losses or setbacks on adverse market or economic conditions.

I am entitled to deny knowledge or responsibility for any controversial decisions made after my departure from the company, even while profiting from such decisions if they enhance shareholder value.

I am entitled to all the rights and privileges of running an American company, but owe no loyalty to American workers or taxpayers.

I am entitled to confidential information about my employees and customers while refusing even to list the company’s phone number on its Web site.

I am entitled to be treated with deference and respect by investors I mislead, customers I bamboozle, directors I manipulate and employees I view as expendable.

I am entitled to be lionized in the media without answering any questions from reporters.

I am entitled to the VIP entrance.

I am entitled to everything I have and more that I still deserve.

Source

It's almost a funny piece, it's trollin', definitely. Except I'm not laughing because underneath all the sarcasm lies the truth.

I am entitled because I want the chance to work to support myself and my family.

I am entitled because I need that job to pay me a living wage.

I am entitled because I'm angry that I still owe thousands of dollars for college that I had to get in order to do something besides work a till at the grocery store, and it still hasn't earned me enough to repay my loans (or to live on, at this point, and no I did not do arts or literature in college).

I am entitled because I'm afraid that not even my government pension will be around to help me in my old age, regardless of how much I pay into it; and that that kind of makes me feel, well, screwed.

Back in the 1950s and '60s, a person could work a factory job straight out of highschool, work a 30-40 hour week, in a union. They could hold that job for life. They could support their family on it, and while they wouldn't be rich, they'd be relatively comfortable.

These are the people who insist they worked hard for everything they have, (and yes, they did work, granted) and that people my age must be lazy. These are people who don't understand that the world, our countries, our politics and economic climate are light-years away from what they were back then. They don't seem to understand that we aren't given the same opportunity to work in the first place that they were given.

The fact is that figuring in inflation, my generation works harder for less money. We are no longer allowed the luxury of working within our job descriptions. We are expected to take on extra tasks and to do it gladly, because if we don’t, someone else will. We are expected to take our work home. To work overtime that is sometimes not even paid. This is the job market that my generation stepped into after highschool. The job market where you cannot even be hired without post-secondary education at many places, and if you’re lucky, that job will pay you enough to live on and pay back your loans. We’re called lazy by the baby boomers and the “job creators”, we’re “entitled” if we want to be properly compensated for what we do. We’re “entitled” if we are frustrated at not even being properly compensated for the work we do and the skill level we possess. And that's if we can be hired in the first place...

Funny.

Ha ha.

Multi-billion dollar corporations, banks, etc… have received billions of dollars in government welfare. They’ve done nothing to earn it. Rather than executives taking a pay cut to help keep companies afloat, they’ve cut the guys down at the bottom who actually need that paycheck. And these are the employees that, while treated as though they are expendable, are actually needed to keep these companies running efficiently – which is why cutting them didn’t save these companies from needing corporate welfare.

So the poor who have had no influence over the current economy, who have done nothing but try to work and get ahead, who have had obstacles placed in front of them at every turn, who work harder than those who are given opportunities to begin with… the poor are entitled. Entitled because we’re tired of it. Because we’ve been cheated. Because we’re not lazy, because we don’t want a handout (more than can be said for these businesses), because we don’t, and have never been given the opportunity to get ahead, not by any means. My generation gets ahead by fluke. By inheritance. By riding the opportunities granted to them through upbringing and chance. The days of finding a job and keeping it for life are gone. The days of holding one stable job for life are virtually gone. And you know, we’re pissed. We’ve been screwed. We’ve been screwed by corporations, by banks, by government. We’ve been screwed by the generations before us. People who don’t even try to understand the challenges we face, that they never did. People who flat out don’t care about those challenges, because it’s not happening to them, and that’s all that matters.

Terrible that it seems that in the end it all comes down to money. If I have money, I can say whatever I want, spin whatever I want, complain about whatever I want… I can have the support of the media, of the government, of the people who are too tired or too stupid to look through my arrogance, my lies, my selfishness. If I don’t have money, I’m less. Less a person, less deserving, less valued. My voice means nothing. My fears, my struggles, my helplessness mean nothing.

However...

That’s the media side of it. And the great thing about social media is, well, I don’t have to be rich to have an opinion, to speak it, and to be heard. And here it is: I have worked hard every day of my life. At times I’ve worked hard just to survive. I’ve never been rich, maybe I never will be. I don’t actually feel that I need to be rich, more than that, I don't want to be rich. I don’t truly believe that CEO’s and other executives truly work that much harder than the rest of the working class, in fact I think many poor people work harder. Don’t they deserve to have money too then? If it all comes down to work? The whole “I’ve worked hard for what I have” concept completely discounts the hard work of the people who have far less. They work hard too, if that’s all it takes to deserve more… But if that’s not all it takes, then why is it always spouted as the reason why a CEO needs to make a million dollars a year or more? It sort of implies that if you’re not rich it’s because you didn’t work hard, that it's just there for the taking if you're determined enough. 

I’d love, just love to hear one wealthy person say that they are grateful for what they have, the chances they got, for the country that allowed them to get ahead. I’d like someone to say that they realize without those things, they could have been a mere peon like the rest of us, and that their hard work may have played a part but it’s not all there was to it… or that they feel that they should give back because they know that nobody really deserves to have more money than they could possibly spend in a lifetime. Because if someone wealthy could actually say and believe those thinsg, that would be humility. Not acting entitled. Finally.

I want to be comfortable. I want to have the chance to own a mid-sized home, take a holiday once in a while, feed and clothe my children properly. I want to have my bills paid on time. I’d like to be able to go out once a month with my husband. That's not my bare minimum requirements to life, that's my very uppermost wants. I don't need, nor do I even want more than that. I want the opportunity to earn these things. And frankly, living in a first world country, in North America, I feel like that should be my right. To work. To earn. To live comfortably based on my hard work, to suffer only if I choose not to work. I have never complained about taxes, interesting since I make so much less than those who do complain. I’m not bothered by tax money going to give a hand up to the poor, I AM bothered by the concept of my taxes going to fund welfare for companies that should be able to support not only themselves, but the economy at large. 

Especially since...

While the “job creators” are tooting their own horns and feeling high and mighty up there lording it over the rest of us, how about you own up, live up to your claim, and create some sustainable jobs? Maybe enough of those jobs for a change? That would be super, that would earn my respect, because I’d love to have one of those good, stable and sustainable jobs so I can work and earn and, well, stop feeling like I’m crushed under the heel of the rich. I guess it’s a long shot, but I can dream...