[Pelayo]

See that's where I disagree. It is my opinion that the notion of man-made entitlement to anything in this world is a mind trap. Once you believe you deserve something because of some effort you put in, you will not see it as it really is. A gift, at the very least a gift that your efforts were not wasted. No one deserves that gift. It is a semantics problem stemming from confusing “Rights” with “Deservedness.” I believe that someone can have a right to something irrespective of whether or not they deserve it.

Further, the danger of attaching oneself to this fallacy is that you will be predisposed to assuming that all material goods must be earned by direct effort. Ironically that is what leads to socialism, since it precludes the possibility of God gratuitously granting success. For just as one can argue that I should not give food to someone because they have not earned it, someone who, say, inherits wealth should not be allowed to keep it for the same reason. Thus all material goods should be controlled or in the hands of those who labored for it directly, which usually translates as collective ownership. At first that sounds fair, and in a way it is. But it's not the way the world works. It is however the central philosophical idea upon which socialism is formed.

Which is why I find it ironic that I was accused of being socialist when my ideas are technically antithetical to socialist philosophy.

[brytlea]

Once you believe you deserve something because of some effort you put in, you will not see it as it really is.

By this logic we should all do nothing, since we don't deserve anything if we work for it. Sorry, I can't buy that kind of convoluted thinking. But thanks for sharing.

susie