I've always thought that Americans are unique in their robust sense of entitlement (with perhaps the exception of the French--have you seen their labor laws?). That Americans are the world's leaders in thinking that they are due certain things simply by being born, or, by being born in this country. Consider New Orleans. A city built below sea level gets flooded, and the people feel they are entitled to rebuild--and that the rest of us should pay for it, to the tune of $250,000 per capita. The Daily Show this week provided a less caustic example: some guy moved his family to the Castro District--"the gayest street in the gayest city in the country"--and is now complaining about his children being exposed to gay shops and parades. He feels entitled to a nice, quiet, gay-free life, no matter how his own decisions work against that end. When I heard that Americans were complaining that the government wasn't moving fast enough to evacuate them from Lebanon, I wasn't surprised. Apparently it doesn't occur to them that if they got there of their own volition and planning, they should be responsible for getting themselves out. The government did step up to help, sending helicopters and ships to get Americans out, as the airport has been one of the main Israeli targets. But then the evacuees complained that the government was asking them to pledge to make reimbursement. As I said, I expect this from Americans. But then I was listening to the CBC and heard Canadians complaining about the same thing. Of all U.S. cultural exports, shirking of personal responsibility and an exaggerated sense of entitlement must be the most insideous. Pretty soon the Canadians will think they're entitled to guns, litigation and 2.5% of the world's energy (the same per-capita as the U.S).