Victim chic has taken over the culture and the political narrative.
All we seem to hear day in and day out are excuses as to why someone or some group can’t make it in America. We are told why they are held back; impeded or deprived of their rights and deserve compensation, government handouts, special treatment, or even reparations for events that happened hundreds of years ago.
A victim, of course, is a person harmed or injured by a crime, accident, or other action.
“Victimhood mentality” is the life philosophy that allows people—or increasingly, groups—to see themselves as struggling, lacking in self-confidence, without self-esteem, and angry because other individuals or groups have prevented their success via negative social pressure. In other words, they don’t succeed at life. They are too damaged to perform, and it is someone else’s fault.
It’s not difficult to see why a victim mentality leads to poor life outcomes. Focusing exclusively on grievances is debilitating; such attitudes lead to a downward trajectory and often result in despair, inactivity, and spitefulness.
On both a personal and societal level, victimhood is truly deadly. Nonetheless, our culture celebrates it, mostly because victims are politically useful..
Based on recent clinical observations and psychological research it was found that the tendency for interpersonal victimhood consists of four primary dimensions: 1) constantly seeking recognition for one’s victimhood; 2) moral elitism; 3) lack of empathy for others’ pain and suffering; 4) frequent ruminations about the past history of victimization.
Woke culture is all about victimhood and so-called microaggressions, harmed group identity, and unfair white privilege. It corresponds with the dimensions listed.
It is a total dead-end, rooted in debunked Marxism and endless class warfare. It’s poison. We need to call it out for what it is.
By contrast, the long sweep of history itself suggests that every group likely has been, at times, socially disadvantaged. Every race, every ethnic group, every sex, every age, nearly everybody, has at one time been victimized by something.
Sure, some situations are worse than others. Much of our literature from antiquity to the present day details and documents this process and the facts as witnessed.
In my own case, the English lords stole our Scottish land during the clearances in the 18th century and banned the wearing of the kilt, highland customs, and language. The king himself abolished our clan surname for 100 years. Victimized! What can be done about it? Wear a kilt on Burns Night, listen to the bagpipes, learn Gaelic, and get on with life.
Slavery is an age-old phenomenon known to nearly every geographical area. And sadly, there is actually more slavery in the world today, including child sex slaves, than at the height of the Atlantic slave trade, which ended in 1803. Ending that trade did not cease the phenomenon. Equality under the law requires a constant effort to honor our God-given rights, and the failure to secure it knows no racial or national boundaries.
Is there a group or person who at some time has not witnessed such effect? No—it is impossible to be human and not experience frequent violations of human dignity. While we lament the effects of such past injustices, perhaps it is better to move on, step up, and redefine. The burden of the past may be harsh, yet each person and every generation has an ability to remake itself by dwelling less in the brokenness of the past and more on the prospects for the future.
Surely, we all need to work to stop hatred, discrimination, and those who wish to harm, while also admitting that Victims, Inc. benefits no one, except the trial lawyers, Marxist class-action advocates, and woke politicians.
It is past time to cancel this new cancel culture and get over victimization.
But if you are truly a victim: dial 1-800 Victim, Inc. and they will file your class action suit and set you up with a proper shakedown artist.