Imagine your parents reduce your weekly teenage allowance, claiming that economic circumstances make it impossible to keep up the generous payments.How would you react?
If you are a Quebec student, you might tell your parents that such a proposal is unacceptable and that under no circumstances will you allow the decision to stand.
You tell them that until they go back on their decision, you're not going to attend school.
They remind you that your reduced allowance is still higher than the national average and is exceedingly fair considering the family's financial position.
You shake your head. You don't care to listen or understand. You tell your parents that they must give you back your allowance, or else.
Just the same, after a few weeks of whining, they say they'll make some compromises, maintaining the lower allowance, but increasing your clothing allowance.
You refuse their offer, demanding nothing less than a complete reversal.
After a couple more weeks, during which time your parents resign themselves to your 'school strike,' you decide that you need to up the ante to get their attention.
To make the point that you must be taken seriously, you decide to destroy family property and start by breaking a bay window in the living room, with warnings that unless your parents negotiate a return of your allowance, more destruction is to follow.
When your mom leaves for work the next morning, you threaten her by blocking the car door, reminding her that the only way to have peace return to the family, is to give in to your teenage demands.
Your parents are saddened at what you've become, but stand firm and continue to encourage you to go back to school.
In a brilliant flash, you come up with some ideas as to how your parents can trim the family budget and create some savings which can be used to subsidize your allowance.
Your parents listen dutifully, while you lecture them about foolish family spending which includes, according to you, wasted dollars on items like fast food and vacations.
Your parents agree to sit down together with you and look at those expenses with an eye to trimming the fat. They assure you that if there are reasonable savings to be had, the savings would be put towards restoring your allowance.
You agree, shake hands on the deal and even write out and sign an agreement whereby you agree to return to school.
But two days later you renege, claiming that you were fooled and were taken advantage of at the negotiating table and demand once again that your parents return your allowance.
Now in a rage at their refusal, you decide to up the ante even higher, deciding to make life so uncomfortable for your parents, that they'll have to give in.
You tell your dad that you are going to disrupt him from holding the annual garage sale that he uses to bring in a few extra bucks for the family.
"LISTEN UP, EVERYONE!, AS LONG AS I'M NOT HAPPY YOU'RE ALL GOING TO SUFFER!!!!"
You tell your uncle and aunt that you are coming over to their house to break a few windows, so that they will pressure your parents to give in.
You throw a smoke bomb in the Metro to perturb those who have nothing to do with your fight, in an attempt to make them so uncomfortable that they will also influence your parents to give you what you want.
You tell your little sister (who has accepted the reduced allowance) that as long as you aren't getting your full allowance, you're going to physically stop her from attending school.
You tell your grandma that you're going to stop her from attending church and delay her from going to the hospital for a necessary treatment.
The police come over and warn you that your behavior is illegal and that it can land you in jail, leaving you with a criminal record that will follow you the rest of your life.
No matter, you tell the cops, my allowance is more important!
The school phones home and tells your parents that you're in danger of losing your semester, but you remind everyone that the principle of restoring your allowance is more important than any lost school year.
When your parents ask you if all this fuss is really worth it, you become even more frustrated and angry and tell them that you are fighting for all the teenagers who risk getting their allowance cut.Your parents have had enough, they drag you to the shrink to see if you are unbalanced, considering the self-destructive nature of your behavior.
The shrink doesn't take long to diagnose the problem. He determines that you are suffering an acute case of Entitleitis.
"What the Hell is Entitleitis?" your parents ask.
"It's a condition whereby individuals believe that their personal interests are more important than society's
Those affected lose all sense of proportion and will do anything to get what they want, including resorting to violence and intimidation, even with loved ones. They become hyper greedy and selfish and believe society owes them a living.
It's quite a dangerous condition
"Never heard of it" says your father."Is that something new?"
"Not really, it occurs in societies that overindulge their citizens with too many freebies, to the point that they believe that the world serves only them.
Quebec seems to be in the mid stage of an epidemic and if the disease is left unchecked, it's likely we'll turn out like Greece, where the people are economically decimated by its consequences.
"Where did he catch it, asks a bewildered mother?
"Generally," answers the doctor, "they catch it at school. Some are pretty badly infected. Where is he a student, by the way?"
"UQAM"
"Oh dear," replies the doctor," Then there's no hope, that school is infected with the most virulent strain. Your son is a goner"
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Now readers, you may think the above attack on students is a burlesque and exaggerated.I don't think so.
I believe that the condition of Entitleitis is real and represents the most destructive social problem facing Quebec.
The condition is not as rampant as in Greece, there still remains students who work hard, study hard and are determined to succeed in life on their own merit.You will find them in the engineering faculties, the law and medical schools. You'll also find them in the trade schools that teach basic and unsexy skills that translate into productive jobs.
When I disparage schools like UQAM, I do so in dead earnest.
One reader has mentioned that in his hiring capacity, he sends all CV's from UQAM directly to the shredder. Funny but too true.
I hate to admit it, but I too suffered from this prejudice as a boss, when I did interviews for senior positions.
There were only two deal-breakers that would disqualify anyone from employment at my company, a degree from UQAM and a decent golf handicap.
Here's what students at UQAM are exposed to on a daily basis, left-wing separatist professors who believe that capitalism, democracy and Canada are all evil concepts.
They teach students that exploiting natural resources is evil, but accepting handouts from provinces that do exploit natural resources is fair.
They teach students that the rich can pay for everything and that confiscatory taxation is fair.
They teach the fantasy that society can create more benefits without increasing productivity. They spend more time dreaming up schemes to collect more tax than to they do actually thinking how to create more wealth.
Here's a tasty example from Pierre-Yves Guay - Ph.D. Sociologue du développement économique ; Professer at the École des Sciences de la gestion, at of course, UQAM.
"And why not a sales surtax applicable to products of conspicuous consumption, such as cars over $45,000, pleasure boats costing more than $30,000, motorcycles more than $20,000, posh jewelry, domestic appliances, full of useless options, Monster homes, second homes of more than $400,000, and upscale clothing, unaffordable for most, etc..That's what he's teaching your kids.
How about a surtax on products that should curb consumption because they destroy public health and the environment, while there are alternatives! Place mores taxes on tobacco, junk food, gambling, etc.. Let the state increase the price of alcohol and lottery tickets and casino operations that we sell!" Link{Fr} (Thanks to Troy for the link)
First it is the standard socialist claptrap that nobody deserves to be rich or in this case upper-middle class.
Quebec Entitleists have long ago lowered the barrier, someone who is considered upper middle class anywhere else in North America, is classified as being rich in Quebec.
But the professor does much more than attack the
People who don't fit in with his view of life should be taxed for that fact.
If you drink wine with your meal, you should be taxed extra, if you have coffee you shouldn't.
If you use bike paths, it should be free, if you buy yourself a piece of jewelery it should be taxed exorbitantly.
If you play soccer, the use of the city's park and recreation should be free, but if you go to the casino, you should be taxed even higher.
If you work hard and make lots of money, much of it should be confiscated. If you choose not to work hard, you should be compensated by those who work.
The sad part about all these proposed 'lifestyle' taxes or 'sin taxes' as the Entitleists like to call them, is that Quebec already imposes upon them, the highest level of taxation in North America.
By the way taxes on things like alcohol and lotto tickets is regressive, poor people pay the same rate as rich people. Oh well!
UQAM is chock full of professors like Mr. Guay, he is the rule, not the exception.
Graduating UQAM with entitleist professors like Mr. Guay turns you into you a mindless robot with your hands permanently outstretched for freebies and entitlements
Is there any cure for Entitleism?
Just a strong will to resist and say NO! to their demands, no matter how painful or how long it takes.
Here's a video of Margret Thatcher showing what true leadership is.
Can it happen in Quebec ....NEVER!
Credit antagoniste.net
