Over the years I have come to see the error of my previous thinking. I have come to see there are degrees to entitlement.
Level I: There are some people who have been a member of one or more traditionally oppressed groups in the world or in a specific culture who can develop a certain kind of entitlement. This can include women, ethnic minorities, sexual minorities, members of certain disenfranchised groups of every sort, etc.
One of the clear examples of this type of entitlement I've witnessed in my life so far is the attitude of entitlement that is present in some, mostly white, though it is not an exclusively white thing-- gay men in large, über progressive, gay mecca's such as San Francisco, California.
The creation of this particular type of entitlement seems to be related to an experience of internalized guilt, shame and/or inadequacy around the issue or issues that places the person in one or more oppressed groups. This is then often combined with some real or imagined temporal or perceived permanent emancipation from the deepest, darkest forms of the oppression the specific group can experience. For example, San Francisco, a city I lived in and around for more than 10 years, has a significant number of quite wealthy gay men. I noticed that a lot of these wealthy gay men who live in and around San Francisco frequently display this type of attitude of entitlement. In this case, the wealth seems to give them a real or imagined belief that they have been emancipated from some or all of the more horrible aspects of the oppression that can often come from being a member of an oppressed sexual minority. There then appears to be this lapse into a belief that many people in the world, mostly non-gay people, are really quite literally "less than" them. In essence, these men seem to believe their wealth has bought them some strong amount of freedom from this oppression. Sometimes this seems to translate into that well known syndrome where an oppressed group gains power, overthrows the oppressive king, one of them then takes over the throne and becomes a more oppressive king than his predecessor could have ever dreamed of being.
More interestingly to me at least, is that I also observed many gay men in San Francisco who were not wealthy at all, some even being quite destitute, who displayed this exact same attitude of entitlement. For them, it seems, just being in a city that is so incredibly gay friendly, where there are so many beautiful and powerful gay people and where gay people make up such a large percentage of the population-- unleashed this entitlement demon that was inside of them.
I've seen this type of entitlement demonstrated by members of many other oppressed groups other than gay men, of course. I just saw such a strong and persistent pattern of it in and around San Francisco, specifically among gay men (curiously I rarely observed this specific dynamic in lesbian women) that it is simply one of the forms I have had a lot of personal experience with. And of course it goes without saying though I'll say it anyway--there are multitudes of gay men including gay men in major, worldwide gay meccas, who don't display this type of entitlement whatsoever.
Level II: I call this type of entitlement, "Everything new is old again." The hallmark of this level of entitlement is a person obtaining something new such as a sudden and very large sum of money, a new doting and adoring significant other, or a new fabulous and fabulously paying job, for example. This new acquisition then has the impact of making something manifest that had been in dormancy before--namely, a fierce sense of entitlement.
It seems with these people the seed of entitlement was planted in their psyche some time ago but there was nothing to really bring it to the fore until they had obtained something they believed justified this dormant entitlement thing inside of them being birthed into their reality. One of the symptoms of this type of entitlement is a form of pretentiousness that's really quite easy to observe.
Level III: I call this type of entitlement, "Everything old is new again." This type of entitlement seems to primarily be the purview of those who were born into money and have always been use to having a lot of privileges and other life perks that others may not be so naturally accustomed to. Often this type of entitlement just seems to come with the territory. This seems to be so much so that when I meet someone from generations of old money who still has it (money) and doesn't have this particular air of entitlement (and there are likely many in the world who don't) I almost always find it quite refreshing.
This level can also include people who may not have tons of generational money but may just have people in their lives who have spoiled them and/or treated them as if they did have tons of money and all the rights and privileges that can come with that.
Level IV: This final level of entitlement seems to primarily be reserved for essentially sociopaths who have also found themselves with an incredibly dangerous combination of money, power and influence. When all those criterion come together, it seems that the lust for profits and the seven figure bonuses that can come with the work they do can create personalities that can truly believe they are so entitled that no one else on the planet really matters. And the planet itself also doesn't matter. Everything and everyone is literally just a pawn for them in a giant though real and potentially catastrophic game of monopoly.
People at the first three levels of entitlement can be irritating and very annoying. I however, see them as essentially harmless. Those at this fourth level on the other hand may seem very charming, gallant and sophisticated to the untrained eye but are in reality sometimes quite lethal. These people are usually surrounded by so many people to shield them from everyone else, it is rare for the general pubic to really find out just how lethal they are while they are still alive. Bernard Madoff seems to be an exception in this regard. Many of history's more notorious dictators probably are exceptions to this as well. Most infamous dictators however, who are at this level, often find a way to flee to some sort of safety right before their true lethality is revealed to the masses. These people, at this level of entitlement are people I believe we all would do well to pray for and send great quantities of positive energy to.
My purpose for developing some degree of awareness around all of this is the same as my purpose and motivation around everything else I observe in the world I might choose to label dysfunctional. I see these forms of entitlement displayed in people to be opportunities for growth and healing and perhaps a specific call to action for me. As a healer and spiritual teacher I am always looking for opportunities to gain greater insight, to some degree, into why things are the way they are; why people are the way we are. I realize there are many things in the world and in the human experience that are mysteries and may always remain so. There are however, many things that are not mysteries and that can be transmuted. If we have some insight into the possible reasons why some of these things exist, we may be able to better transform them, if they are indeed things in need of transformation.
From my point of observation, attitudes of entitlement are some of the many things on the planet at this time that contribute to the consciousness of separation we see and experience in the world. I believe the consciousness of separation in the world is one of the things that healing energy can be directed toward. That healing can help provide the type of transformation I believe most people who are engaged in the type of work I do wish to see and to help create.
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