On the Appeal of Anti-Entitlement Rhetoric

Given Mitt Romney’s recent comments surrounding the “47 percent” and their “entitlement” dependence, I believe this column might be particularly relevant. Especially cogent here is the affective analysis of the writer, Prof. William Connolly of Johns Hopkins University. Connolly reminds us to assess just why a certain political rhetoric or imaginary might take 0n a seemingly axiomatic character as well as how it might emerge out of and play to certain sociocultural pressures.