October 3, 2011 4:18PM 

# Entitlements vs. Liberty 

By [Chris Edwards](https://www.cato.org/people/chris-edwards) 

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A reporter asked me about the rise in entitlement programs and the problems created with so many people suckling on the federal teet. I’ve reported that the federal government has [more than 2,000 different subsidy programs](https://www.cato.org/federal-subsidy-programs-top-2000/).

Another way to track the growth of America’s subsidy culture is to look at the usage frequency of “entitlement” over time [using a Google tool](http://ngrams.googlelabs.com/) that shows word usage in books published in the United States.

The first chart shows the sharp rise in the use of “entitlement” in the 1970s (and a curious fall since 2000).

The second chart shows an antonym: liberty. It’s usage fell throughout the 20th century, and it plunged in the 1970s. However, a hopeful sign is the upward spike in “liberty” in the last year of the chart, which was 2008. Was that a sign of the beginning of the revolt that would become the tea party?

![Media Name: 201110_blog_edwards31.jpg](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/pubs_2x/public/wp-content/uploads/201110_blog_edwards31.jpg?itok=moIhoGQT) 

![Media Name: 201110_blog_edwards32.jpg](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/pubs_2x/public/wp-content/uploads/201110_blog_edwards32.jpg?itok=L0309bYf) 

##### Related Tags 

[General](https://www.cato.org/general), [Health Care](https://www.cato.org/health-care), [Tax and Budget Policy](https://www.cato.org/tax-budget-policy) 

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