Tuesday, September 15, 2015

The American Disease: I Deserve to Get Away with Anything and Everything

The only thing as grandiose as this sense of entitlement is the hubris it engenders.
Here's the American Disease in a nutshell: entitlement and power means you never have to apologize for anything. Public relations might require a grudging, insincere quasi-apology, but the person with power can't evince humility or shame--he or she doesn't have any.
What the American with power does have in nearly limitless abundance is a grandiose yet unacknowledged sense of entitlement and a volcanic sense of indignation. For the powerful feel entitled not to be questioned, and entitled to the supreme arrogance of never apologizing for anything.
Their indignation at being pressed to account for their decisions knows no bounds--how dare anyone question my actions? It's outrageous! I don't deserve this!
The most entitled and indignant couple in America might well be Bill and Hillary Clinton, famously crying poor while assembling a net worth in excess of $100 million.
Their resentment at being challenged to account for their actions is palpable. When questioned about his sordid encounters in the White House, Bill Clinton's body language and tortured, seething responses spoke of a grandiose entitlement to get away with anything and everything. We could almost hear his inner dialog: "Nobody questioned Jack Kennedy's multiple affairs--I deserve to get away with it, too."
Hillary is expressing the same seething resentment at being questioned about her private email server. Her phony, resentful half-apology reminds us of nothing more than a spoiled, entitled teenager shouting, "OK, so I wrecked the car! So what? It's just a lump of steel and plastic. What about me? I don't deserve this! So what if I ran over that old guy. I didn't mean to. Why should my life be ruined because somebody found out?" And so on.
In America, supposedly a land built on merit and accountability, being entitled and powerful means you never have to apologize for anything or be accountable for your actions. Take a look at entertainment/sports "heroes" grudging, phony PR-apologies, carefully scripted to sound sincere yet fake to the core, as the "heroes" arrogance and sense of entitlement is so obviously grandiose.
After all, the "hero" was showered with sports cars, bling, "dates" with attractive women and all the other benefits of stardom. Just because he 1) beat a woman senseless 2) date-raped a woman, etc. etc. etc., well, "I should get away with anything and everything because I'm rich and famous."
How about our financial and political titans? Their mantra when challenged, "I don't recall," is another spoiled-teen dodge tailored for the courtroom. One wishes that their cross-examination featured the same techniques used to interrogate "high value subjects" in the Global War on Terror in some remote, cold cell.
What might they confess to when waterboarded and subjected to sleep deprivation for a few days? Would we finally get the truth? or would they blubber more lies in the hopes their inquisitors would actually believe them?
The more a society glorifies its virtues, the emptier those virtues are in the real world. Merit means little in a society of political dynasties and inherited wealth, a society where wealth and elite membership trumps virtually everything else.
Accountability has been reduced to a meaningless buzzword spewed by the chattering class, much like the hollow slogan "middle class." Neither accountability nor the middle class exists except as founding myths or convenient PR fantasies for those seeking to exploit the myths and the fantasies for personal gain.
The powerful feel entitled to get away with anything and everything because they've been getting away with anything and everything for decades while the American economy, society and culture all rotted from within.
No parody of spoiled-teen entitlement and the limitless arrogance of power could possibly top the Clintons. Were someone to write a satire in which a political power couple loudly touted their abject poverty while amassing a personal fortune of $100+ million, the fable would be roundly dismissed as exaggerated, absurd, cartoonish.
Yet the Clintons exist, as do hundreds of other entitled, arrogant, wealthy powerful people in America who never apologize for anything because humility is for the little people.
The only thing as grandiose as this sense of entitlement is the hubris it engenders. Bring it on, as G.W. Bush famously said. By all means, bring it on.

NOTE: Contributions/subscriptions are acknowledged in the order received. Your name and email remain confidential and will not be given to any other individual, company or agency.
Thank you, Peter J. ($5/month), for your superbly generous subscription to this site -- I am greatly honored by your support and readership.
Thank you, Sidharth S. ($5), for your most generous contribution to this site -- I am greatly honored by your support and readership.

Terms of Service

All content on this blog is provided by Trewe LLC for informational purposes only. The owner of this blog makes no representations as to the accuracy or completeness of any information on this site or found by following any link on this site. The owner will not be liable for any errors or omissions in this information nor for the availability of this information. The owner will not be liable for any losses, injuries, or damages from the display or use of this information. These terms and conditions of use are subject to change at anytime and without notice.


Our Privacy Policy:


Correspondents' email is strictly confidential. This site does not collect digital data from visitors or distribute cookies. Advertisements served by a third-party advertising network (Investing Channel) may use cookies or collect information from visitors for the purpose of Interest-Based Advertising; if you wish to opt out of Interest-Based Advertising, please go to Opt out of interest-based advertising (The Network Advertising Initiative). If you have other privacy concerns relating to advertisements, please contact advertisers directly. Websites and blog links on the site's blog roll are posted at my discretion.


PRIVACY NOTICE FOR EEA INDIVIDUALS


This section covers disclosures on the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) for users residing within EEA only. GDPR replaces the existing Directive 95/46/ec, and aims at harmonizing data protection laws in the EU that are fit for purpose in the digital age. The primary objective of the GDPR is to give citizens back control of their personal data. Please follow the link below to access InvestingChannel’s General Data Protection Notice. https://stg.media.investingchannel.com/gdpr-notice/


Notice of Compliance with The California Consumer Protection Act
This site does not collect digital data from visitors or distribute cookies. Advertisements served by a third-party advertising network (Investing Channel) may use cookies or collect information from visitors for the purpose of Interest-Based Advertising. If you do not want any personal information that may be collected by third-party advertising to be sold, please follow the instructions on this page: Limit the Use of My Sensitive Personal Information.


Regarding Cookies:


This site does not collect digital data from visitors or distribute cookies. Advertisements served by third-party advertising networks such as Investing Channel may use cookies or collect information from visitors for the purpose of Interest-Based Advertising; if you wish to opt out of Interest-Based Advertising, please go to Opt out of interest-based advertising (The Network Advertising Initiative) If you have other privacy concerns relating to advertisements, please contact advertisers directly.


Our Commission Policy:

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. I also earn a commission on purchases of precious metals via BullionVault. I receive no fees or compensation for any other non-advertising links or content posted on my site.

  © Blogger templates Newspaper III by Ourblogtemplates.com 2008

Back to TOP