In all of this pandemic there has been much talk and finger pointing. There are those that have aligned themselves with the extremes. This is either a pandemic that will kill thousands of people and destroy the world economy or it's a virus to avoid using common sense measures. The first big effect we all witnessed was the lack of toilet paper! Yes, think about that for just a moment if you will. We heard about this Chinese Virus that began in China. Mostly we heard it called the Corona virus. Then there was a rush to buy toilet paper. Panic buying followed and the shelves became bare. Hand sanitizer was virtually unavailable, who would have dreamt that? The finger pointing began. It was the wealthy folks that were buying everything up leaving the working man defenseless against this virus. Now we are hearing about the lack of medical supplies, equipment and hospital beds. Many are demanding to know why we don't have these things. Why doesn't New York have 40,000 ventilators ready for use? Why don't we have hundreds of hospital beds standing by, just in case. Why isn't there millions of N-95 masks available? How many even knew what an N-95 mask was before this? But all of these things should have been stockpiled and ready for immediate distribution. And you know whose fault it is? It's the government. That's right, it's the government. If only we had a different President this wouldn't have happened. Well it did happen with the last President but the government didn't respond in this fashion at all. Oh, it was a pandemic alright it's just the government didn't bother to tell us.
But with all of this I was just thinking about exceptions and entitlements. How do we define that in this situation? What about those that rushed out and bought huge quantities of supplies because they had the money to do so? Are they exceptions or entitled? What I mean is, because of their financial status are they exceptions to the rule? That is to say are they excepted from exercising compassionate judgement and leaving items for others? Or by virtue of their wealth are they entitled to buy as much as they want? What if the situation were reversed. Say you had the money and you felt this was necessary to protect and ensure yourself and your family you're going to be alright would you only buy a few items thinking of others? You can either get in the lifeboat or leave the seat empty for someone else, someone you don't know at all, what do you do? Is someone else entitled to that seat? Or is that unknown person granted an exception? Exceptions are granted by the entitled aren't they?
You know there is a fine line between righteousness and bullying. I'd suggest an even finer line exists between exceptions and entitlements. How are they obtained? Do entitlements award you exceptions or are exceptions granted by those otherwise entitled? I know, it's not fair. Life isn't fair and we all have to learn to accept that. Now this virus is 100% fair, it doesn't care how much money, staus or position you have. This virus, same as those in the past will attack anyone. We are all equal in that regard. There are no exceptions to the rule. No one is seeking an entitlement to this. Guess that's the difference. When we understand there are no exceptions we don't seek entitlements. Entitlements are the exceptions. So just what are we entitled too? An exception? Do we earn those or are they granted? Seems like it is both! Just depends doesn't it?
But with all of this I was just thinking about exceptions and entitlements. How do we define that in this situation? What about those that rushed out and bought huge quantities of supplies because they had the money to do so? Are they exceptions or entitled? What I mean is, because of their financial status are they exceptions to the rule? That is to say are they excepted from exercising compassionate judgement and leaving items for others? Or by virtue of their wealth are they entitled to buy as much as they want? What if the situation were reversed. Say you had the money and you felt this was necessary to protect and ensure yourself and your family you're going to be alright would you only buy a few items thinking of others? You can either get in the lifeboat or leave the seat empty for someone else, someone you don't know at all, what do you do? Is someone else entitled to that seat? Or is that unknown person granted an exception? Exceptions are granted by the entitled aren't they?
You know there is a fine line between righteousness and bullying. I'd suggest an even finer line exists between exceptions and entitlements. How are they obtained? Do entitlements award you exceptions or are exceptions granted by those otherwise entitled? I know, it's not fair. Life isn't fair and we all have to learn to accept that. Now this virus is 100% fair, it doesn't care how much money, staus or position you have. This virus, same as those in the past will attack anyone. We are all equal in that regard. There are no exceptions to the rule. No one is seeking an entitlement to this. Guess that's the difference. When we understand there are no exceptions we don't seek entitlements. Entitlements are the exceptions. So just what are we entitled too? An exception? Do we earn those or are they granted? Seems like it is both! Just depends doesn't it?
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