Economic Cancer: That Sense of "Entitlement"
With all of the tough times we've had so far, and will have while digging out of this economic crisis - one of my firmest beliefs is that we have to pick ourselves up by our bootstraps and dig into OUR OWN character reservoirs to get out of the hole.
Janet Guilbault, a mortgage banker/broker in the Bay Area of California wrote a sharp, to-the-point post on the "Entitlement Mentality" that needs to be scrapped before true progress as a society can be made:
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
When did we start to feel entitled?
In the Depression of the 1930's, the jobless father of 4 asked the farmer if he could work on the farm for a day in exchange for food to feed his family.
In the Depression of 2010 do we just take the food from the farmer because, after all, you and your family are entitled to eat?
Are we:
Entitled to a life better than our parents had?
Entitled to own real estate?
Entitled to dis-own real estate?
Entitled to be bailed out?
Entitled to a job?
Entitled to health care? And to social security when we grow old?
You would sure think so by what surrounds us.
Why work? Why pay your bills? Why take care of your health and your finances? Why respect what others have earned?
Do we take the course that will help us? Or do we just help ourselves to what others have produced?
When did we start to believe that America owed us more than life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness?
Is it because the government has redefined the word "rights" to include never needing to suffer?
Is it because a generation came of age when stock market wealth and real estate equity made it seem like real work was obsolete?
Did 100% stated income loans with a few years of teaser rates train us to believe the American Dream was what every American deserved?
Did plastic in our wallets make it seem like our rights included unlimited gratification?
Somehow, we have lost our way.
Let us hope to sprout fresh green grass across America we do not need to completely kill the roots.
Written by Janet Guilbault, Mortgage Banker/Broker and Direct Lender Based out of the San Francisco Bay Area
Comments(5)