Deserving?

An interesting thing was said to me last Saturday night.  "The Saints deserve to win the Super Bowl."  My response was, "hmmph, why?"  "They just do," was the super logical response.  I wanted to say, "Why?  Because their city got hit with a hurricane a few years ago and it will make them feel better?"  Seriously???  So when Haiti rebuilds the island, are they gonna deserve to win the Olympics or the Miss Universe Pageant?  Ummm, I don't think that will fly with the other countries competing. 

This leads me to discuss the word "deserve".  So, of course I had to consult my handy-dandy dictionary to review the "proper" definition of the word.  Well... the real definition just seems different than the context applied by some people in modern day vernacular. 

Most people seem to use the word "deserve" in a manner that does not mesh with the "real" definition.  It used to mean that when you worked hard, you rated a reward.  Now, it seems that people are lazy and feel they deserve said reward without ever lifting a finger or exerting themselves in any way.  

This train of thinking leads my mind to the words written within the Declaration of Independence:

"we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness."

I'm not sure how you guys interpret it, but nowhere in that eloquent piece of writing does it say DESERVE.   It says, you have have a right to pursue-- which basically means, GET OFF YOUR ASS AND WORK for things. 

Yep, I'm annoyed at the mindset of the modern man...