Quote:
Originally Posted by Kirtai
Mind if I ask you why you're blaming "entitlement mentality"?
"Entitlement mentality" seems to be taking over from "video games" as the "cause of all ills in society" (i.e. everything I don't like), as games took over from rock and roll, and it's getting on my nerves...
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@Diap: I'm lucky, too; I've not had one single BPH book that was so bad I sent it back; the most typos I ever found was in "Bird by Bird" by Annie Lamott, and I think that was 12.
@Kirtai: Possibly because it is. I deal with people all day long. I don't conflate the idiocy of "rock and roll is evil" (which succeeded, believe it or not, "comic books are evil") with an actual problem. There
is a very real "entitlement" mentality, and to see it in action, all you need to do is visit any forum--this one will do. Right here in Sigil, in the last 2 months, we've had at least four new posters (which doesn't sound like a lot, but for Sigil it is) who have been insanely infuriated that Sigil doesn't magically make-a de ebooks.
We had the one guy who posted his entire (redacted) argument with user_none, because John didn't "hop to" and answer his questions damn skippy, came on here and RANTED about how no one should donate to Sigil. Then we had the guy with the stroke, that was FURIOUS about the fact that Sigil didn't work the way he thought it should, without him having to learn ANYTHING. These guys were foaming at the MOUTH over their "entitlement" to have Sigil work exactly as they wished, OR to have John kiss their a$$es.
Want more examples? Toddle on over to the KDP forums, to learn how people's books don't sell because "evil reivewers" who are in reality their competitor authors stealthily sneak around in the night and "do them down," and that Amazon should "do something about it." (No 1-star review is a real one, you understand.) Then they ask the other authors on the forum to go vote that "bad review" from the "evil reviewer" down, so it won't bother nice honest folks coming to buy their book. Or how Amazon makes it "too hard" to publish their manuscripts, and that it should be completely revamped to make it EASIER for "the average guy," and that Amazon sucks because they don't make it easier to just upload an old PDF, anyway. Or that Amazon is EVIL because Amazon took down their wikipedia scamphlet book. Or the 999th version of Pride and Prejudice.
No...I don't confuse the primal fear reaction of parents to Elvis Presley's hips with the concept of an "entitlement" mentality. Not to diverge off in politics more than necessary for this topic, but how the hell do you think the US got in the fiscal crisis it's in? Basically, after all the political frou-frou babbling, some politicians decided that it was in their best (re-election) interests to make it easier for lower-income folks to buy houses. They put the onus for making this happen, indirectly at first, on the taxpayer through loans available through Fannie and Freddie. Then people--who surely are the epitome of the "entitlement mentality"--ran out and bought homes that they quite simply could not afford. Not at the time they did it, and certainly not when the balloons would come due. Nobody in their right mind thinks that they will magically be making 100% more in 3 years than they are making now. NOBODY. Not in 2007, not today, not even in the wild 80's. Now politicians give lip service to "predatory lending," but what ever happened to the amazing concept of personal responsibility? You don't think that running out buying 50% more house than you can afford, knowing that the Piper would come in a mere 36 months, isn't an "entitlement" mentality?
Maybe you think of it as self-delusion, but at that point, we're arguing semantics.
I bought the house I have now from a youngish (late 20's, early 30's, maybe) couple in 2008. They were divorcing, but beyond that, they were upside down. Know why? Because they'd built the house in 2004, for a very reasonable sum. Then, when the crazy equity scenarios hit, oh, BOY! They got a nearly $200K second mortgage...and spent it. Not on a college fund for their kids; not on improvements--no. The husband got a buggy-style racing vehicle (I forget if it was a sand buggy or dune or whateve). The whole family got 4-wheelers (8K a pop, including the children, both under 8 years old). They had mini-race-cars for the kids (real ones--not toys). They had waterskis and jetskis and video games. Their patio furniture cost more than the furniture I had in my whole house, I'd guess. They had an outdoor sound system and outdoor televisions. Then, oh, dear, the Piper came, and, kablammo, they had to sell.
Nope...between what I see in the forums, see in daily life, see around me, the entitlement mentality is very real. I see people who won't accept jobs that they think are "beneath them." I don't think that the "entitlement mentality" is the boogeyman or the equivalent of Elvis. I think it's an actual occurrence, much like ancient Imperial Rome was swept with a similar sort of mindset (in which the poor rioted because they didn't get their allotment of free bread, remember, to which they were "entitled." The working-class Romans who had founded and created the glory that was Rome had been succeeded by an idle upper-class which no longer worked the lands and a lower-class that was "entitled" to free bread and entertainment. Right before the whole mess started to crumble.)
We see the battle in the political parties--no matter what side you're on, no matter (mostly) what country; all those tax-based "benefits" that are called..."entitlements." People will fight for what they believe they are entitled to, and I don't think you have to be a student of Sociology to see that this is developing into a very real problem.
Just my $.02, on THIS topic. It's OT, so I won't be posting about it again (don't want Ducky to rap my knuckles!), but thanks for the chat.
Hitch