WHEN VICTIMHOOD MASQUERADES AS A VIRTUE

One must question ‘society’ and ‘our standards’ when becoming a victim is the new hip cool thing. With a wave of hoax ‘hate crimes’ attempting to fabricate victimhood since Trump has taken office, we have to ask, how did we get here?

Many people share the blame. The enablers are easy to spot much like the dealer selling crack on the street corners. The Media, Progressives, Conservatives, YouTube, Facebook, even Gofundme pages share blame for encouraging these anti-social trends.

However, we can’t blame only them. No. As individuals, many of us have fallen into the trap of pushing their narratives through social media. On places like Twitter and Facebook we take what we are told and spread it like wildfire. We have become the enablers. When we don’t apply critical thought, but instead mindlessly parrot what we’ve heard, then we end up pushing someone else’s agenda. Like what happened at the Lincoln Memorial when we watched the world turn on the Covington Catholic students. The public was manipulated into being bamboozled.

When did strength stop being a virtue? It did so over time as the government became the nanny. It didn’t happen overnight. It was a slow progression built over years through things like social security, welfare, government schools, etc. The government made us weak, biddable and needy above all else.

Case in point, U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez announcing ideas like the Green New Deal for those “unwilling to work”, un-ambitiousness is touted as the ideal today. Generations ago, working hard was held up as the goal to strive for. Today, being a sloth is becoming the new normal. This will clearly lead to discontentment in our society. As Aristotle noted in Politics: Book II

If rewards and labors are not proportional, those who labor more and receive less will necessarily raise complaints against those who labor less but are rewarded or receive more.

The laborer does not wish to see their income going to a sloth. What person in their right mind would? So why does the government continue to nanny us time and time again? As Isabel Paterson pointed out:

“Most of the harm in the world is done by good people, and not by accident, lapse, or omission. It is the result of their deliberate actions, long persevered in, which they hold to be motivated by high ideals toward virtuous ends.”

The harm comes in when 535 members of Congress purport to know what is best for 350 million people. However, ‘helping us’ is not one of their goals…their goals are to get elected and elected again. Their ‘benevolence’ towards us is a reflection of that.

They appeal to base motives for votes and let’s face it, government officials appeal to the lowest common denominators. Envy, hate, greed… Emotions every one of has, but few of us fully overcome. Our weaknesses are identified, manipulated, and turned into votes. Getting and staying in power is their end goal. As Thomas Sowell once said:

“No one will really understand politics until they understand that politicians are not trying to solve our problems. They are trying to solve their own problems — of which getting elected and re-elected are №1 and №2. Whatever is №3 is far behind”

The government has a motivation to “help” the sloths of society and, as a result, the wanton whims of the government’s benevolence echoes into our lives every day with disastrous consequences. To ignore that is to ignore reality. It’s long past time for us to grow up and make strength, honesty, and hard work into virtues that we strive for once again.

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