If the followers that you have developed upvote your post to a certain degree, and it makes it to payout without being flagged, then you are by definition entitled to that. You don't magically get that money though. People choose to upvote you. You aren't entitled to their votes...but they kinda are entitled to use them.
Talking about "entitlements" is dangerous. Everyone these days seems to feel the need to tell people they aren't "entitled" to whatever. Of course, we aren't "entitled" to much. Look at the people on the street. Anyone of us could be there tomorrow. What happens if your house burns down? What happens if something happens with the bank and your account is frozen or zeroed out? What happens if you're in an accident? We're all a lot closer to the edge than any of us realize. On here, it's a bit more obvious. Every vote is freely given. People choose where to put them. Any day we could stop being upvoted, or for that matter, be upvoted a ton.