Blissful entitlement may be all we deserve...

Our planet is the most diverse of environments, from its oceans and seas to its rivers and lakes, to its incredible diversity of habitats, its arid deserts, its arctic wastes, its tropical forests, to its amazing mountain scenery; it’s a truly wonderful world.

And then we came along... and let’s just look at some of the situations we mere mortals, in the face of such God-given beauty and life, have chosen to do. We don’t deserve this beauty, this grandeur, this remarkable home, of which the ill-fated Anne Frank wrote, “The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quiet, alone with the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be.” Yet we must wonder, daily, whether we deserve this haven when we see the behaviour of those who should know better, the arrogance and entitlement of those who lead, or would be our examples and inspirations, and who, so frequently, let us down from the perspectives of right and wrong, good and bad.

Now, I’m no admirer of President Donald Trump, but putting that aside, he, on August 25, informed Lisa Cook, a Governor of the United States Federal Reserve, that she was being ‘removed from office’ for “deceitful and criminal conduct.” While that may appear to smack of pot, kettle, and black, you would think... fair enough, especially when the circumstances are revealed in the letter. It appears Cook, seeking more favourable mortgage interest rates, identified two separate homes, in two separate states, as being her primary residence.

You would think that’s cut and dried, and the president is right to ‘fire’ Cook. But no! She says he doesn’t have the power, and she’s not going! Can you imagine if Joe Bloggs, the man in the street, had done what she has? Yet Cook does not address her deceit, rather railing loud and long that this is a political move so Trump can replace her on the Federal Reserve Board with an acolyte, favourable to the president’s economic views. In this, she may be right, but that doesn’t exempt her from the illegality, maybe criminality, of her spurious mortgage applications... and her sense of entitlement.

The United Kingdom’s Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner has also ruffled feathers last week, also in respect of real estate. You see, already the owner of a significant £650,000 property in Ashton-Under-Lyme, near Manchester, the occupier under ‘grace and favour’, in other words ‘free’, of a spectacular Admiralty Arch flat walking distance from Parliament House, she has reportedly shelled out £800,000 for what has been described as a ‘superior Victorian flat with a sea view,’ in Brighton-Upon-Hove’s ‘poshest’ quarter. This at a time when the UK’s pensioners have had winter fuel allowances withdrawn, and pensions cut... Talk about blissful arrogance.

Also in the UK, Newcastle United footballer Alexander Isak, currently halfway through a £65-million, 6-year contract, has ‘gone on strike’, and is refusing to play because he was “promised an increased contract” and didn’t get it. Currently paid £120,000 per week, that’s half a million pounds each month... and in his petulance, it’s not enough! I wonder, does Isak know just how little, or how much, most of his adoring (before this season) fans, who would pack out St James Park and roar his name, applaud his every move, and celebrate his goals as if they were the best thing since sliced bread? And given his stance now... does he care? Entitlement and arrogance are both evident as he bites the very hand that feeds him!

Entitlement is defined as a sense of, or a belief that we deserve, or have earned the right to something, usually without having earned it, some even displaying more intense narcissistic or antisocial personality disorders... and yet we still elect to high offices those we would never have in our homes, and put on exaggerated pedestals film, television and sports stars... so maybe, in seeking such vicarious escape, we are getting exactly what we deserve, hmmmm?