Victim(?)(!)(-)(+)
“Evil requires the saction of the victim.” – Rand
What is a victim in the world of today? What does it mean?
There are victims of abuse & force – rape, war, terrorism, assault. They are victims of the event; meaning they are not associated with or a party to the violence that they experience in the event.
There are other ‘victims’ who are, knowingly or not, sanctioning or giving permission to the evil that they experience. There are many examples of this – self-pity, domestic violence, crushing remorse, etc. I struggle with referencing these situations or individuals as victims as they have a choice in the matter; even in only aware of the choice at an near unconscious level (thank you Wachowski brothers). The fact remains that choice is not spoken about more and more in our sanitized, politically correct and increasingly polarized world.
As an example, a recipient of welfare ‘chooses’ to accept the states check instead of doubling down and making extraordinary efforts to work and earn an income. The choice as with all things is surrounded by the controversy of our times – what conditions were present when the choice was made; what is the historical context; what if any limitations are present to keep the person from choosing action versus accepting the liberty sucking contribution from the state? I contend there is very little difference in the cocaine dealer giving away the first hit of powder to gain a customer than the state handing out checks to those who are perhaps not as financially affluent as others. Once the state has a welfare recipient they want to keep that person pacified to secure more voters in their ranks. The most altruistic of intents turns into something that would be outright rejected if presented in the open. Attempting to help those experiencing tough times turns into power hungry elites searching for conditions that favor more state subsidies and less liberty – more people on some kind of handout. The handout is nefarious because of human nature – once a person has something, even if that something is a lie, they will vigorously fight to keep what is theirs. Ownership is more important that the truth and someone will fight like hell to keep what is theirs.
There are those who are born poor, disabled, with different skin tone or odd features. There are those who are bullied, shunned, called out or ostracized as kids. There are those who feel that past transgressions to ancestors affect their journey in life today. None of these things control the exercise of choice and freewill. They are conditions of the human experience. I was born to those with modest means, disabled and a real nerd in school. I have freewill – I choose in every case how I behave.
There are those who believe that there are only oppressors and the oppressed (re: victim) and that the oppressed must rise up and defeat the oppressor(s). There are those who believe that society must be controlled to avoid victims being hurt. There are those who push political ideologies on the backs of made-up victims (only to control and continue to perpetuate the conditions they felt caused the bad event in the first place).
I contend there is no such thing as a victim of circumstance, of hurt feelings or of history. How you rope-a-dope with life, racism, discrimination, taunting, oppression and any other event it takes two to tango is about choice. The liberal/progressive activists wish deeply that no harm would come to the sensitive – that those who were oppressed have the right to give some payback to the progeny of those who harmed them in the past. That everyone who walks this earth would be equal, have equal stuff and live in a sterile, fake Star Trek world. We’re not there; it’s not feasible; dreaming doesn’t make it so. We’re still in a society based on money. We’re still in a society that is built around meritocracy.
There are those in power today in the US who have felt/played the victim role their entire lives – as minorities, academics, activists or misguided money-bags. They either see value in leveraging the victims for their own means or they retain their very large chip on their shoulders and they feel justified in paying back the ‘oppressor’. For humanity to take the next step we do not require socialism, communism or a form of government. We do not need government run programs, redistribution of wealth or skyrocketing taxes. We need the awakening of choice and the awareness that claiming ‘victim’ status must also have context and intention tied to the tapestry that is seen.
We used to see things (more often) with a broader, wide angle lens if you will – there were questions about a persons intentions, their circumstances and the context of the situation. A claim of harm did not automatically don the veil of victimization – stuff happens and you take care of business and move on. Today the climate is purposefully divisive. Gotcha political games don’t just populate the halls of Congress, but in every business where those games are tolerated. They are played in Homeowner Associations, Churches, PTA meetings and any other location where positions of “power” are available. If you make a single error, and you happened to err against a maligned group (or one who has powerful people at the helm), you’re certainly toast. There are no guiltless parties anymore.
“Let go and let God” is a popular saying in spiritual circles – this removes the burden of carrying perceived victimization as you are giving that to the Almighty. It’s telling that in our secular society, full of ill-conceived and false traps built through political correctness, the individual is no longer accountable for their reactions to circumstances. If Jesus does return to the world, and walk among us, he wouldn’t just be mobbed by the faithful – the number of delivery persons serving summons to appear in lawsuits where acts of God were blamed would potentially outnumber the faithful.
Info is beautiful: defence budgets Photograph: David McCandless
Info is beautiful: war chests. Graphic: David McCandless 
Info is beautiful: the US military budget. Graphic: David McCandless 
Info is beautiful: defence budgets compared. Graphic: David McCandless 
Info is beautiful: the biggest spenders. Graphic: David McCandless 
Info is beautiful: active forces. Graphic: David McCandless 
Info is beautiful 6: proportional forces. Graphic: David McCandless 
Info is beautiful: total armed forces. Graphic: David McCandless 
