Entitlements Are A Right
Every time the federal government can’t get its fiscal house in order, we start hearing about entitlement reform. Republicans in particular like to use that word entitlement because it sounds like somebody’s getting benefits they don’t deserve. Nothing makes the hardworking Joe angrier than people who think they’re “entitled” to something.
Don’t believe the bull. Those so-called entitlements include benefits that Americans worked hard for: Medicaid, housing assistance, student grants, food programs, child care, job training, and more. These programs make up the social safety net that keeps the middle-class backbone of our economy strong in tough times.
The only reason politicians on the corporate leash want to slash needed expenditures like these is to protect the huge wealth imbalance that lets the rich get richer while everybody else pays. Instead of extracting the last few cents from the needy, we need to clamp down on greed.
Yes, I’m wealthy, but I remember what it was like to be a regular guy sweating for every dollar. And I know that most people aren’t going to get rich no matter how hard they work. That doesn’t mean the government shouldn’t keep up its end of the bargain. A 21st-century nation that lets its citizens slide into poverty and deprives its children of opportunity is taking a backward approach to history.
Don’t buy the right-wing, Tea Party nonsense that “entitlements” are a luxury we can’t afford. They’re a legal right and necessary for a civilized America.
Larry Flynt
March 14th, 2013 at 1:47 am
Amen, sir, amen. And I mean that ironically as I am NOT a worshiper of god. The right keeps trying to demonize the poor as “moochers”, “takers”, “uneducated” and a “burden” to the working man/taxpayer. This is so far from reality as to make one wonder if they are not crafting the script for a Hollywood movie.
They blindly sidestep the fact that many of those who desperately need these “entitlements” were placed there by the rich, all the while crowing that “if we’d only give the rich more money they would create great jobs for all those people who need them”. We know this is a lie. We have had three decades of this nonsense and we have watched wealth accumulate in the hands of the few and the middle class evaporate, leaving masses of poverty stricken families with little recourse than to accept “assistance” from the government. Most of these people have to swallow a great amount of personal pride to do so.
It’s time we reverse this trend. People have a right to be successful, a right to earn a fair living as well, just as those on the lower rungs deserve a fair chance and be able to retain their dignity should they fall upon hard times.
It gladdens my heart to hear you say how you remember those hard times in your life. I hope you proudly pay your taxes, and bite the bullet when more taxes are needed. I also hope that your wealth is used to enrich more lives than your own.
Be well Mr. Flynt. We have a long hard fight ahead of us still if we want to bring back our American Dream to the masses.
March 14th, 2013 at 8:09 pm
I couldn’t agree with you more. If they want to call them “entitlements” well, that’s fine with me. I am entitled to the money they have willingly taken from my paycheck since I was 13 years old. I have paid into SS, SUI/SDI and I am entitled to use my own money. Yes, SUI/SDI employer’s also contribute too. However, the amount they have taken from me directly over the years, well, I have no problem saying “that’s my money.” I pay my taxes as do others. We pay taxes for a reason! Roads, Bridges, Stop Sign etc., including taking care of our families and children that are in need. No, nothing is for free. We’ve paid for them all our working lives. The right-wingers are completely transparent. Those that don’t see their motives have their heads shoved directly up their arses. Dont’ get me wrong, there are plenty on the left that are corporate owned and operated but, we on the left know who they are! Very well written Mr. Flynt. Thank you, for all you do.
Respectfully,
PLP
March 14th, 2013 at 8:44 pm
OVERT AND SPECIFIED , FULL FRONTAL , BOLD , DEFIANT , CLEAN OF LOGIC AND PURE OF HEART , UNSHAKEABLY CONFIDENT – LIKE WHEN HITLER SAID THE GYPSIES , HOMOS AND JEWS GOT TO GO – A LINE IN THE SAND …. AND A STEELY – EYED GLARE ….. YOUR… LARRY FLINTSTONE’S , HIGH NOON MOMENT IS IMPRESSIVE , REAL – MAN -LIKE DYNAMISM , SOLID TRUTH .. AND…… ONTARGET !!!! (FOR ONCE)..
FIRST DETRACTION, NONETHELESS :: YOUR IMPULSE UPCHUCK OF PREDILECTION TO CONDEMN THE RIGHT , AND THEREBY, THE WHITE , AS ANTI-TRANSFER PAYMENT IS FUZZY TYPE THINKING , PORN-OCCIO .. !!!!
THEY’ER ALL THE SAME RATS , SELLING OUT TO GET FAT AND SUCKIN’ ON THE SAME VAT !!!
BE DULY REMINDED … IT WAS SLICK THE WOOLY-HEAD BILLY THE MOLESTER , BACK IN 1996 , THAT FOISTED THE WELFARE REFORM ACT ON THE FOLKS !!!
GRINDING THEM DOWN TO THE DIMINISHED AND CURRENT PLAN OF A MEAGER 12 MONTH LIFETIME EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE COVERAGE THAT , ONCE EXHAUSTED , THE ENTITLEMENT PARTY IS OVER , EXCEPT FOR SOME FRINGE GOODIES OF LIMITED CONSEQUENCE …. LIKE 4 DOLLARS ,50 A DAY IN SNAP …. THAT’S YOUR WILLY SCUMBAG DID THAT , GENIUS !!!!
BUT , THE BIG PICTURE ALWAYS LOOMS IN THE TWILIGHT ZONE JUST OUT OF SIGHT OF THIS EPOCH’S GRASP …
1. THERE MUST BE A NEGATIVE TAX SYSTEM
2. ALL PEOPLE HAVE RIGHT TO STAKE OUT SOME SUBSTANTIAL AMOUNT OF LAND AND RESOURCES.. AND HERE IS THE REAL CRIME OF OUR TIME … INTERRFERENCE OF POSSESSION THE THE LAND WE ALL OWN !!!!
March 15th, 2013 at 11:26 pm
Is there such a thing as middle class anymore? middleclass was the acceptable economic buffer between rich and poor, even with the rich get richer and poor get poorer economic set up we have in the US. Middle class was a structured environment by which average, honest, mid level educated, hard working people could obtain a nice lifestyle, which included a home, retirement benefits, health insurance for life, and a bit of true happiness for being a good person. Now days the gap betwen rich and poor has no medium for honest hard working people.
I will stop my comments for now,but find this thread awesome. freedom of speech is a great educator for everyone.
March 17th, 2013 at 3:58 pm
Just saw you at the Venetian and can’t agree with you more!! Very inspiring
March 18th, 2013 at 1:28 pm
Hello Mr. Flynt, is it possible to send you direct email or letter to some adress?
March 18th, 2013 at 3:43 pm
I WILL PRAY FOR YOU , LARRY…
… THAT YOU MAY WALK AGAIN … RIGHT DOWN AN OPEN MANHOLE WHERE A ALIGATOR WILL EAT YOU !!!
PORN IS VERY NAUGHTY , LARRY .
OHHHH … DOMINI , C WALKEM LARRIAE SEWERI ALIGATUM .
March 21st, 2013 at 2:01 pm
What you miss about the safety net of entitlements, food stamps, public aid or even public schools is that they are a trap that catches more than it helps. Don’t you think the adversity you faced as a child and through life built the strong character you have today? Don’t you think it can do the same for others?
These entitlements you promote are just the chains of slavery.
March 23rd, 2013 at 3:23 am
When your drowning & a boat comes bye you there, it is a salvation to have a rope or ladder rung to garb hold of, & from there with all your might struggle to be free of the clutches of doom & death surely beckoning your surrender. A Society with any cultural gravity is only as sofisticated as it’s actions for saving the weak & impoverished.. But Society is owned & operates for a controled Burn.. That scoundrals plan out & when scrutinised, those at the top are deemed sycopathic Heartless Machines… It is the general public that MUST grab the oars & struggle to dominate the parrel that befalls the whole, the unasumming stagnant Cattle desensitised E.M.F. palluted geneticly modified Monsanto freaks. AK American citizen… As I suggested,”investers Join they’re Gold & Silver into a Co-op Bank, print your own currency & start a few Buisness ventures. Hmmm like getting Hydrogen & Oxygen from the same water, the Frackers are polluting.. America gots Talent, Cable internet show & Build Jaloppees that make the stattis quo obsolete.. Like I hope, the average American mind set,(Cattle) becomes some time soon… Moooooooo!
April 2nd, 2013 at 2:49 am
…has cl caved in are they doing me a favor or am i that obscene
ive lost my fos today 4-2-2013 ive hit my political bottom …ljp
April 2nd, 2013 at 8:01 am
Larry, you sir are a brilliant, kind, loving and generous man, and one of my greatest heroes whom I look up to and admire. I wish more people knew who you really are.
I, like you, grew up dirt poor. A product of a single alcoholic dad, I lived in trailers with no running water or electricity, and I was never able to go to college.. because of a little known, but stupid and unfair rule called “Selective Service”. It’s basically a draft, that, if not signed up for by the age of 26, I am permanently denied Financial Aid for college. There is no appeal. I’ve tried and failed countless times. It was my dream to do nothing more than to finish school and become a civil rights attorney.
I’ve had to compromise on my dreams because, unfortunately, many leaders in this country seem to think profit is more important than education.
I was really depressed a couple years ago. My only parent, my dad, was diagnosed with stage 4 lymphoma. He’s in rough shape today, but still alive. Since I couldn’t go to school, I worked odd jobs wherever I could while taking care of him at home- I refused to allow him to be put into a home. I was ready to end my life soon after he lost his. Once my dad was gone, I felt like there wasn’t much left to do with myself..
..but then I saw your movie, The People Vs. Larry Flynt. I have to tell you, not only did your story inspire me, but you may have saved my life.
I went to audition at an amateur porn studio, and to my surprise, they really liked me. The more shoots I did, the more I believed that kink, and sexuality have nothing to do with a person’s character. I lost a girlfriend over it, but I’ve found many other girls that do like me and accept me for who I am.. and that’s helped me to accept myself, and not only get over the stigma of being in the porn industry, but embrace and proudly accept it.
I just recently moved to California, and got a job as a host at The Hustler Club. I’m also hoping to some day shoot for Hustler Video- I’d do any kind of shoot, I don’t care, I’d just love to shoot for you! I believe I can earn enough money to eventually go to college full time, and not have to worry about working or paying rent while trying to study. I’m getting older, and it’s becoming harder, but after seeing your story, I know I can’t lose.
Thank you for never giving up, enduring all the bullshit you went through that benefited even chumps like me, and I wish you and your loved ones all the happiness in the world.
Mr. Flynt, you are so much more than just some rich guy that runs a porn empire. You’re a good human being, who sees through the b.s., and anyone should be so lucky to have a friend or family member like yourself.
VV-