The Fabulous Art of Victimhood

Sexism. Racism. Ageism. Homophobia. Islamophobia. Islamohomophobia. Homoageophobia. Homoislamobamaphobiaism. If one can be accused of it, the left-wing has created a name for it and have accused conservatives, libertarians and non-unionized librarians of it. There is no end to the amount of victims that they could muster or the amount of lawsuits brought in the defense of these hapless innocents of a cruel world.

We all know that there are real victims of real crimes in our country. There are rapes, murders, frauds, beatings, kidnappings; all horrible acts done by mostly horrible people. Out of all the laws in the land, very few places have laws against hurting someone's feelings or making someone feel ostracized or saying words others think may be offensive. That's the risk you take for being a human being. People will not like you for your skin color, your accent, your beliefs, your sexual preferences; its just how humans are. We're tribal, we like our own kind, whatever kind that may be.

During the rise of the modern liberal/progressive/socialist, there were actual victims of real racism, sexism and violent attacks on homosexuals. There was a real reason to take up the cause of minorities, women and human rights. Unfortunately, for the Left, that day passed decades ago. Institutional racism, sexism, homophobia and all that jazz isn't much of a problem anymore. Of course, you'll hear that the gay marriage debate is akin to the civil rights era, that healthcare for all is part of MLK's dream, and all these connections to past events, but you never hear the Left make any attempt to put these issues in modern contexts with modern reasons for these leviathan solutions. They'll always throw back to the days when they had a reason.

This is the reason why the Left now pushes countless number of different categories for victims of society. Aside from the basic categories, there are things as heterosexism, pregnancy discrimination, Nancy Pelosi's “being a women is a pre-existing condition”, discrimination against trans-gendered children, discrimination against sex criminals and discrimination against women who wait years before bringing suit against their dead boss. As you can see, there's no bigger industry in left-wing politics than the production of victims.

Yet, the Left is happy to be as discriminatory as it wants to those it deems unworthy of protection. Mormons were blasted as intolerant, physically attacked and ceaselessly mocked after the passing of Prop 8 in California. Despite there being so little voting age Mormons in California to sway the vote, they were the target of blacklists, protests, hate mail and bomb threats in California and in Utah. This in spite the fact that a majority of blacks, Hispanics and Asians voted for Prop 8. Along with this, the term “breeder” became the new label of those straights who would not support gay marriage. “Breeder” is a derogatory term for heterosexual. Like other derogatory terms, its bad unless a protected class is saying it, then its cultural pride. No longer is the crack dealing black man a criminal, but the victim of white privilege, the CIA and the LAPD. The illegal Hispanic isn't breaking the law by crossing the border, but he's simply finding work for his oppressed family. There are back doors for every potential recruit to the left-wing ideology, except for the one minority culture everyone rags on: Southerners. It's alright to call them names, make fun of their accents, say they inbreed and say they're inferior. It's totally okay because they're white. It's okay because they're the only culture in all of America that must pay for the sin of slavery. Not the Democratic Party that defended it, not the big government ideology that promoted it, not the state Democratic Parties that prevented blacks from voting; no, it's every white southerner that believes in free markets, faith and the American way that must pay. Pay no attention to the blacks, the Hispanics and the other racial minorities who live, work and embrace Southern culture. They're just Uncle Toms like Justice Thomas. They're just traitors to their race, to the La Raza.

This victimhood industry is bad for politics and bad for culture. It breeds the idea that people aren't responsible for their mistakes, their flaws and misfortunes. It breeds the same generalized race classes that brought about slavery, government discrimination and government oppression. Promoting the victimhood of those who aren't and promoting government solutions for problems that don't exist put us in our current place of heightened political and social tension. Tension that exists not because of any actual widespread discrimination, but because politicians, parties and even entire government agencies have a vested interest in keeping alive the programs to remedy these non-existent plagues of our society.

The inability of our society to hold individuals, not cultures, accountable for the actions of individuals goes against every dream our Founders had for a free and just society. It prevents us from truly trying to end the wrongs that are there. Worst of all, it makes us stupid and blind. Do you really want your kids and grandkids growing up in a world where whatever their skin color, religious belief, cultural background, they are being judged as worthy or unworthy based upon it? Is that not the world we fought over decades to eradicate?