What, if anything, are Americans "entitled" to? Is it possible to starve in America?

[Spiny_Norman]

*Originally posted by Thudlow Boink *
**Every so often I hear a statement along the lines of “Everybody has a right to…” (food, shelter, health care, etc.). Well, no: those aren’t rights, they’re needs. So the question is, does everyone have a right to have all their basic needs met? And the answer can’t possibly be yes in an absolute sense; there’s got to be some personal responsibility involved. If everybody just sat around in bean bag chairs and insisted on their right to be fed and cared for, everyone would starve because nobody’d be doing the feeding. **

I’m not sure. I grow up in one of those pesky socialist countries (Denmark), and the amount of able-bodied people who actually want to lounge around and do nothing is surprisingly small. Self-realization is a deep-seated need, too - Danes, at any rate, tend to be very tied up in what they do for a living; it’s a major part of their identity.

What I’ve also come to realize is that some people simply are beyond help. No matter what you do, some will continue to live on the streets, some will fall victim to addictions, some will just run into a life-long streak of bad luck and bad choices.

Not that it’s an excuse for not trying - one just has to realize that there will be a drop-out rate, even if you increase taxation to 100% and hand out allowances to everyone.

[smiling_bandit]

Continuing from Sofa King, alcoholics will rarely starve themselves to death by not actually eating anything, or eating so little they can’t live. They also sometimes “undernutrient” themselves to death, as alcohol can leach some needed stuff from the body in too high a quantity, and with too little food you can get very sick. I’m not sure whether people would consider this mental illness or addiction.

[Bricker]

I’m in what I suspect is a minority position: I strongly believe that no one is “entitled” to anything but that which is earned by their efforts.

But I also believe that we build a better, more noble, more productive society when we act generously by providing those that need help … help.

When the decision is made to build a road, I don’t oppose it by pointing out how unlikely I, personally, am to drive on the road. I recognize that being a part of this society means that I will contribute, via taxes, to roads I may not use as well as roads that I do use.

Similarly, I recognize that when my taxes go to feed hungry people, to assist in housing people without homes, warmly clothing shivering people, and the like, that not all may agree with either the nobility or the practicality of those gestures.

But our system does not require unanimity before acting - merely the assent of a majority, expressed through the duly elected legislators.

I’m not in favor of lavishly compensating those who are simply too lazy to work – and they exist. But I’m also not in favor of letting people starve, even if they simply don’t have the drive to work. That’s what it comes down to: I believe in the inherent dignity of the human being. Humans are not like any other creatures on the planet. I don’t mind if we send a diary cow to the butcher if it can no longer produce milk… but I believe that people are deserving of a special, even sacred status.

So – short answer. No, they are not entitled to demand anything they didn’t earn. But we should, for our own sakes as well as theirs, provide basics.

The exact level and method of that provision is, of course, a matter for debate.

• Rick