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I think it's worth mentioning. Propagandistic terms such as "entitlements" frustrate discussion and make it even more difficult to communicate. It belittles and trivializes the opinion that poor people are entitled to things like healthcare or food, making people who hold that opinion unwilling to discuss it.

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It's the government's own term, used by nonpartisan entities like the CBO.

If anything, "welfare" is now used as a more politically loaded term. It's almost never used anymore without attaching a negative connotation -- whether by the right in the old way, or by the left when decrying "corporate welfare".

Politicians can't refer to social programs as "welfare" because it carries a negative connotation, and people on Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security will be uncomfortable with being grouped with those on SNAP. They also can't refer to them as "social programs" because it's three short letters away from "socialism."

The use of the word "entitlements" is a lot like how socially left-leaning people are now more commonly referred to as "progressives" rather than "liberals."

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