Bermuda has only got itself to blame for building a "culture of entitlement" — that is according to Phil Barnett, president of the Chamber of Commerce.

Mr. Barnett, who was speaking at a Hamilton Rotary Club meeting yesterday, said that, as Bermuda has got easier to live in, Bermudians have started to "take it easy" and that the Island is facing an uphill battle to bring back the values that drove the country to unrivalled successes and which are now very much in danger of slipping away.

He pointed to the "dumbing down" of education and the lack of family cohesion and parental responsibilities to properly raise their children as part of the reason behind Bermuda's social ills.

"Currently in Bermuda, there seems to be broad agreement by Government and business that a pervasive attitude of entitlement is creeping in," said Mr. Barnett.

"Bermuda and Bermudians have traditionally in the past embraced the culture that hard work will lead to great success, and much of where we are today is because of that attitude.

"However, we are in danger of losing that competitive advantage as it seems that more and more Bermudians simply believe that we should just get 'it' without really having to work for 'it'."

And, he claimed that some people argue that the current spate of criminal and anti-social behaviour is driven by a misplaced sense of entitlement.

"Truthfully though, as a country, and a community, we need to look a little closer to home to see where this sense of entitlement is coming from," he said.

"And, when I say closer to home, I mean 'in the home'. Not that I want to sit here and preach about family values, but is it really any surprise that we have young individuals out and about seemingly without any sort of parental control or guidance, when we Bermudians, perhaps not necessarily celebrate, but at the very least, tacitly accept, the amount of single mothers that, in many cases, are not even out of their teens having children?

"To be clear, and to not cast generalist aspersions, there are some fantastic single mothers that have done an outstanding job raising their children and they should be rigorously applauded.

"However, the facts are pretty incontrovertible that children who are born to single mothers will most likely, through their lives, achieve much less than those born into a stable, cohesive and supportive family household.

"If they do not have a stable family environment to help them learn by example what it is to be a contributing member of this community, is it any wonder we now have individuals that believe that if they haven't earned it, they still have the right to take it?"