Misplaced sense of entitlement

By Garth A. Rattray

Several years ago, I was walking past a makeshift, illegal stall in New Kingston. The vendor intercepted me and obtrusively 'invited' me to support his quest for survival. My courteous decline only precipitated his anger. To this day, I suspect that calmly standing my ground aborted a physical confrontation.

Disillusioned individuals with a misplaced sense of entitlement feel that people in society owe them a living/support. Some mendicants even say, "Mi no waah fi tief." That veiled threat seeks to burden you with the responsibility of keeping them honest by giving them money.

My 'entitlement theory' was recently borne out at a Half-Way Tree traffic light. The taxi in which I was travelling was trapped by the red light and set upon by three window washers. As usual, without being invited to do so, they attempted to squirt water on the windshield, but the driver was quick and adamant in repelling their 'offer'. They congregated beside him and began harshly admonishing him for not spending some money on them.

Their tone and attitude left absolutely no doubt that these young men viewed all who refused them as selfish, mean and even wicked for not sharing a little of the spoils of their privileged lives with them (the less fortunate whose lives are difficult only because the 'system' made and kept them poor in order for others to become rich and comfortable).

Wake up call for idealists

Contrary to popular belief, violent criminals don't need drugs to embolden themselves to commit monstrous crimes; from victims' accounts, the assailants carry out their nefarious deeds with the same steely determination and extreme malice as they would if they were engaging an enemy in battle. They see individuals - and not just society - as having wronged them on a personal level. They, therefore, perceive and rationalise their actions as their right to survive, to exact vengeance and to retrieve what was denied (or taken from) them.

And, fairly recently, Rohan Daley, co-host of 'CVM At Sunrise', clearly expressed our shared indignation at a call from a scammer or scammer sympathiser who ranted that the victims of the lotto scam are gullible and/or greedy and deserve their fate. Others opine that scammers are rightfully getting monies as reparation for slavery.

This entitlement mentality, as well as plain old greed and criminality, allowed enterprising scammers to use a list with bio data on United States citizens, call centres and various telephone lists, along with random calls in order to scam hapless victims out of a conservative estimate of US$300 million in 2011 (one person earned more than J$850 million). The funds get into the island by various remittance services, the mail, wire transfers, prepaid money cards and commuting individuals.

Interpersonal conflicts

As is always true of all ill-gotten gains where large sums of monies are involved, some people live splendiferous lives but interpersonal conflicts always follow and violence is never far behind. Eighty per cent of murders in western Jamaica are associated with the lottery scam. Such acts destroy many lives and do irreparable damage to our country, locally and internationally.

We all know that politics acculturated generations into the freeness/dependency/ entitlement mentality. But now, society must do more for the underprivileged. The authorities must track all children registered from birth into their late teens. We must set up an efficient system for saving the little children that beg and work at the traffic lights and shopping plazas, reinstitute truancy officers and actively monitor schoolers after class hours. Jamaica needs mandatory unemployment registration in order to assist and keep track of them.

We must revive industry, manufacturing and export or we are doomed. We are all entitled to equal opportunity, not to a free ride, and not to interminable financial support.

Garth A. Rattray is a medical doctor with a family practice. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and garthrattray@gmail.com.