Yes. But I use terms as they currently mean in the common political discourse and as such Medicare and Social Security are not entitlements.
Re:CDC gets list of forbidden words
by dragonwriter on Saturday December 16, 2017 @03:42PM
(#15941961)
In current political discourse, “entitlements” refers to all of the public benefit programs, whether buy-in or means-tested, that are not considered discretionary spending, Social Security, Medicare, Unemployment, Medicaid, and Welfare. You probably mean to say that the first three differ from the last two, which is true; the first three are contributory entitlements (the original sense of the term), the latter two are noncontributory entitlements (which, along with contributory entitlements, are included in the newer, broader definition.)
As I've heard the term used in the vernacular it is synonymous with 'welfare'. I attempt to clarify that there is a huge difference between a mandatory retirement pension plan whose benefits depend on how much you pay into it vs. say food stamps. Therefore I point out that Social Security is not an entitlement since that word has become distorted in the last 30 years to be synonymous with welfare. It connotes getting something without paying for it. Therefore I think it is wrong to call Social Security an entitlement. The meaning of the word has changed or is in the midst of being changed.
SS and Medicare and the buy-in attached to them is what the term “entitlements” (in terms of government programs) was coined to refer to.
Later, Republican opponents of those programs started using the term for general welfare programs in order to attach negative emotional loading to it and discredit SS and Medicare by association.