No offense, but there is way less "entitlement mentality" than many think there is.
Not in my experience, but each of us will have different examples.
What there is in my generation is a lot of people who were sold a fantasy by a system that was set up with good intentions, but ultimately twisted to enrich administrators at the expense of people who actually may have worked very hard for a shot at the so-called American Dream.
Which generation is that? Seems to me that you just described my grandfathers generation, and he just turned 84.
Every generation since has bought into the lie that government is there to provide for you, with Free Education, Free Housing, Free Food, Free Phones, Free Healthcare, Free everything but the market, which they work tooth and nail to restrict. The younger generation, kids in their teens and early 20's, have lived their entire lives with the promise of more stuff for free, the next hand out and the latest and greatest technological do-it-all gadget. They get the gadget to do it all so they don't have to. Despite having role models who work for what they have, these kids can't see past their phones long enough to realize that everything comes at a price.
We find ourselves in the educational equivalent of an "arms race" where one must somehow acquire an ever-expanding list of educational "qualifications" to stay competitive, but where the chance to ever actually come out ahead is increasingly fleeting. The days of showing up with the basics, working hard, proving yourself, and being able to earn a real chance seem lost forever.
Meh, it depends on what skills you actually have. As an industrial machine mechanic, with a background initially in aviation, I have a marketable skill set that can't be replaced by a internet server, robot, or call center in India. If you have no marketable skills, you are essentially good for only unskilled work. That's a dime a dozen, with low wages commensurate to skill level.
If you have a skill set marketable to an employer, you absolutely can move up by working hard and proving yourself. I've gotten over $5 an hour in pay raises in the last year alone. Might not be much to some, but it cements me in a very comfortable financial position as long as I make smart financial choices.
I can tell you one thing though - if you don't pass down the tools and skills to the next generation, you're certainly not going to preserve anything.
Something you didn't earn is not something you tend to respect. I see this in the entitlement mentality all the time. "Oh, I cracked the screen of my $600 iphone. Oh well, not like I paid for it." Only when mom and/ or dad refuse to foot the bill does it become a problem. Without the hard work and sacrifice many of us grew up with to instill a sense of gratitude, everything is taken for granted.
I didn't really grow up with guns. No one gave me anything, unless you include the M-16A2 I carried into Iraq, and I didn't get to keep that. I bought my first rifle, ammo, optic, zeroed it myself. I bought my first shotgun and handgun, too. It wasn't til I had nearly filled my first gun cabinet that I was gifted a family heirloom.
All the history and rhetoric in the world pale in comparison to the ability of a 10/22 and a sunny afternoon to bring a new shooter into gun ownership. I've done it three times myself - all with "liberals" - and all three now own their own guns.
I shot my first rifle, quite possibly a 10/22, in Boy Scouts. It didn't stick. I don't recall if there was any discussion regarding the history or purpose of the 2A, or if I would have even cared. I've introduced new shooters to the sport, even gotten a couple CPLs in their hands. But what I didn't do is buy them a gun, take them shooting and call it a day. If they enjoyed themselves, let them work for their own guns, just like I did. Let them have a reason and a purpose to motivate them to do it for themselves, which I find far too lacking in this younger generation.
Along with the cost of action, perhaps y'all need to consider the cost of inaction. Maybe it doesn't matter to some who are nearing the end of their days, but I'm not nearly there yet, and it matters to me. Perhaps people like myself are the ones who have to shoulder this burden if we want this right to stay in the hands of The People for another century or two.
Whose talking about inaction? There is a pretty wide gap between buying someone a gun as a gift to introduce them to shooting, and choosing to instill a work ethic with a goal and a reward for hard work. Give a man a fish he eats for a day, teach a man to fish he eats for a lifetime. Teaching a man to fish does not, in my opinion, include buying him a fishing pole, reel, line of various test, and all the myriad accouterments that tend to be associated with fishing. Whoever said shooting is not a poor mans sport, but thinks fishing is is kidding themselves.
Refusing to buy or give someone else a gun is a far cry from inaction. I am grateful to those who taught me a work ethic rather than instant gratification. I'm grateful to those who taught me a skill rather than handed me a tool without the knowledge of when, where or how to use it. I'm grateful that I can share knowledge freely and willingly rather than take it to the grave. But I'm also not naive. I've seen how little people care and respect gifts as simply material objects to take up space. I know very few people who'd rather spend a day at the range or on the lake or in the woods than sitting in front of a TV or a computer. Personally, I'd rather change my own oil in my cars rather than take it to some other guy. I'd rather do my own maintenance, both preventative and repair on my vehicles, my house, my guns, etc. when I can and my ability is suited to the task. I've been asked why I bother when there's an oil change place in town. This generation doesn't have a sense of pride for their own hard work, for their accomplishments. Manual labor is looked at as foolish and a waste of time, rather than a source of pride. What they don't realize is that often, that extra few dollars saved by doing it myself usually ends up funding something they want.
But this isn't just about my kids. I see it with some of my coworkers, too. Grown men and women who are, for lack of a better term, brainwashed Ozombies.
