Entitlement Nation

Despite the (admittedly gradual) recovery, the debate over so-called entitlements rages on. Coined in the 1980s to encapsulate government spending aimed at offering a helping hand (in health care, education, housing, buying food, etc.) to those who were in need of it, the label has acquired pejorative overtones. Implicitly (or, sometimes, explicitly), the label now refers to payments made to the lazy, the incompetent, the free riders, and moochers who live off the generosity of the rest of ...