Darlena Cunha's Mercedes

A story in today's NYTimes recounts Darlena Cunha's descent into the food stamp world.  What is interesting about the story is the attitude of Ms. Cunha, as she drove her fully-paid-for Mercedes to the food stamp office.  She saw no problem taking money from taxpayers to fund herself while driving a car that the average taxpayer cannot afford.

This is so typical of folks that, one way or another, live off the anonymous taxpayer.   In Ms. Cunha's account, she and her husband had a family income twice that of the average American and then they lost their jobs.  Rather than unload her Mercedes, the clear implication was that taxpayers should unload their Chevies to fund Ms. Cunha during her times of travail.

The sense of entitlement that reeks from this article is another example of the dramatic change in culture that has swept the American landscape.  There was a time where folks tried to dig their way out of their own financial hole.  But, not in the modern world.  There is always the government -- the anonymous taxpayer or the unborn child who gets to pay back the debt accumulated by the current generation.  Meanwhile, drive on in your Mercedes.

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