The Age Of Entitlement

By Pearl Bullivant on June 11, 2012 in Other

“This is the dawning of the age of entitlement, age of entitlement, entitlement…”

Joe Hockey, you are such an inspiration to Pearl. I’ve been going stir-crazy in all this rain, unable to jog and too terrified to swim in Bronte pool in case I come across a child’s floating ‘issue’. But your rousing speech in London, attacking the concept of entitlement, has inspired me to shake the shackles of ennui and re-write ‘Hair The Musical’, albeit in a modern Australian setting complete with Yummy Mummies in designer kaftans and flares, secreting bottles of unpasteurised milk and anti-immunisation placards in a convoy of black Range Rovers. Pearl’s revitalised musical will tell a story of a ‘village’ of conservative thirty-something families living affluent lives on a steady diet of organic produce and designer clothing whilst fighting against a tribe of old lefties who want to strip the village members of their 4WDs and tax rebates.

Alas, in channelling Joe Hockey and the rich tenor voice that is hiding behind his pudgy physique, I’ve realised that Joe and I are not referring to the same ‘entitlement’. In his illustrious speech to the Institute of Economic Affairs Joe was having a dig at the ‘Doonside Dole Bludgers’ who are eking out an existence on a lousy government payment of $240 a week. Apparently, it’s these people who are contributing to the largesse of entitlement and it’s to these people Joe will be saying a resounding “no, enough is enough” to. No more safety net, no more free ride – it’s time for those who are on government benefits to take a reality check (is living on $240 a week not reality enough?) and “get what you work for”.

Pearl too has had a gutful of ‘entitlement’ but my definition is not the same as Joe’s. I am sick of paying taxes to prop up the true oxygen thieves of government assistance – the affluent middle class and big business.

In Australia there is an expectation that those with a high income earning capacity should be entitled to better healthcare, better education and a better environment than low income earners. This entitlement extends to the government footing the bill via various non-means-tested rebates, trusts, tax avoidance and private school funding.

Since the days of John Howard (obviously not my favourite PM), the power of the privileged has been taken for granted along with the assumption that the rich shouldn’t have to contribute to the good of society via taxation. And if they are unfortunate enough to pay tax, it should be returned via generous rebates.

Call me naive, but I had always assumed that my taxes would be used in the traditional Keynesian way – to redistribute money from the haves (like myself) to the have-nots (the disabled, single mums, the unemployed), to fund free education and public health systems, and to operate services that are for the good of society, like universities, public transport and museums.

But despite Joe Hockey’s cry that “entitlement is a concept that corrodes… the process of free enterprise which drives our economy”, I find myself funding the lifestyle choices of affluent capitalists and paying superannuation concessions to the wealthy so they can continue to live in the opulence they are accustomed to. Or I’m propping up poor performing industries, paying ‘incentives’ to private contractors and compensation for bungled tender processes.

Enough is enough, Joe – no more funding the World Cup ambitions of billionaires, no more baby-bonus financed bugaboos and definitely no childcare rebates for nannies!

It’s ‘Hair – The Australian Village Love My Range Rover Vogue Musical’ and you’re the star!

Xxx Pearlie