We are clearly galled by people we believe think they deserve something the rest of us don’t. The unsettled issue, of course, is what anyone deserves in the first place, a question over which we are constantly erupting into pitched battles. Sometimes the issues are broad and societal. (Do you deserve health care, or a home, or a lawyer? Should the government formally entitle you to more of these things?) Sometimes they are personal or mundane. (Do you deserve a thank-you card or to have your text responded to? Is it “entitled” to expect either?) We are able to bring a surprising emotional intensity to our fights over any of these things.
Needull in a haystack 