The Language of "Entitlement"

As congress haggles over its proposed budgetary measures this weekend, the language of "entitlement programs" continues to carry connotations of structural violence and racism. The idea of the "entitled" ethnic minority relying on handouts from hardworking middle-class Americans is the implication whenever this phrase appears. Wisconsin Republican Rep. and Budget Committee chairman Paul Ryan asserts that “We want to get spending and debt under control, and we want to get the economy growing, and we want to address the big drivers of our debt, and that is the entitlement programs. We have a moral obligation to the country to do this.” The invocation of morality in the thinly veiled prerogative to funnel yet more wealth upwards toward wealthy elites strikes a familiar chord...