The United States and Europe are both having economic woes; that is by no means new revelation but what I stand convinced of (and naturally it goes deeper than this) is that part of our problems are caused by something known as the “entitlement mentality.”  That means that somewhere along the line we have molded and adapted our thinking into believing that someone else owes us a good life, a great home, the best car, expensive clothes and we in turn have passed this thinking onto the next generation.  I am afraid that the US is following in the footsteps of countries like France and Britain, whose citizens have a mindset that it is the government’s responsibility to take care of them from the “cradle to the grave.” 

There was a time in American history when more people took pride and personal responsibility in and for themselves and did not expect others to hand everything to them and then do it on a silver platter.  Somewhere in the 1980’s our mentality started to change and we started believing that society’s institutions were now expected to provide for its citizens’ livelihood.  I am not talking about those who truly need help; provisions for the poor should never stop.  But for others, where did “work” and “pride” become such ugly words? 

Currently, there are about 46 million people on food stamps, our unemployment rate is 8.2% and our population is somewhere around 314 million.  Do those numbers add up?  These numbers include the unemployed, the elderly and children, of course, but how many drain our resources because they have no pride, semblance of a work ethic and/or collect resources they should not while they work??  Where are the moral consciences of those who knowingly allow others to take care of them?  This mindset smacks of arrogance and pride and will be the downfall of many but as sin goes, it never affects just the one committing the act itself. 

There is no easy fix to what we find ourselves in but if we want change, one of the first things we must do first is change our attitudes.