VICTIMS OF VICTIMHOOD
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| What a terrible thing to tell a person. |
Today there are numerous groups out there who claim victim status from mainstream society in one way or another. While there are a few benefits that one might gain by becoming the one who is looked at with pity, it certainly creates more problems than the benefits.
WE NEED ACCOUNTIBILITY
Being held accountable to one's own actions is empowering. There are two groups of individuals who are not accountable for their actions, and those are children and livestock. Children are taken care of and loved by their parents, it allows time for them to learn to be able to take care of themselves as they reach adulthood. However, I would not want to remain a child in my parents' home much longer than necessary. Doing so stunts an individuals growth and maturity.
An even more sinister act of removing one's accountability is when they are viewed as livestock. They are not loved, but are taken care of for some other purpose in mind. My parents used to have cattle on their property. They had an arguably nice existence. They ate grass, were milked twice a day and were otherwise taken care of. However, they were fenced in. If they became unprofitable to us, they would get on one-way trip to the meat market to be sold and turned into hamburger. As the farmers, we had complete control over their bodies.
I look out in society, and I see many people who are happy to render themselves under control as livestock. The welfare housing projects are a decent field to live in, but they cannot cross the fences, or they will lose the monthly check they are being fed. No saving up money, no rehabilitating themselves. They are taught or rather threatened that they must vote or behave in a certain way or their check will disappear.
The young "adults" who render themselves to live in their mother's basement are not much better off. Having accountability to support themselves removed, many shirk their responsibility to improve themselves. As a father, I have made it clear to my children that I expect them to take care of themselves shortly after they graduate high school. Sure, I will lend support in an emergency situation, but I will not allow that safety net to be used as a hammock.
THE STATE OF VICTIMHOOD
Sure, there are genuine circumstances where people are victims. However, rendering oneself to that status is not doing any favors. It stunts growth and creates more harm than good. If a person fails to heed warnings and leaves their car unlocked in a rough metropolitan area, are they really victims of crime? Technically, yes, but they failed to use their free agency wisely and could have avoided the whole situation.
Everyone is unique and have their own set of trials and challenges. That is just a part of life. But when one allows those challenges to define who they are, they are stuck in their persona that they created for themselves. Doing so can be very depressing.
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