Amerika

We speak, often, of how the left plays victim politics. Because it does.
But not being like them, it is notoriously difficult for us to understand this phenomenon.
Hopefully, you are not all like me, and you are more able, than I, to figure out what the hell is going on in the heads of these people. But if (some) of you are not, then let me try to put this mackerel (see note below) across…

The leftist, by definition, feels hard done by. Someone is getting a better deal. And that’s not fair. For we are all wonderful people, are we not? And equal, too. And so, fairness is due to one and all. Except, as you will have noted, to those who are accused of being unfair to the rest.

But always to be the victim, can make one look weak, and un-empowered. And this un-empowered-ness is the fuel that produces the endless complaints of the left. So it is that leftists like to take the part of other oppressed victims of unfairness, and stick it to the evil perpetrators. This can be done with venom, and gusto, without it looking like the victim is too powerful to actually be a victim. For there’s nothing so un-empowered as a victim who is not even present. This non-physical victim obviously needs representation. Enter the proxy-victim!

You may have noticed, you almost certainly have, the spectacle of a third-party, inserting himself into an exchange, an event, a discussion, a story, a play, a movie, in fact almost any form of human interaction, and taking the part of a person or persons, often not even present, and taking offense on behalf of the missing victim(s).

And what does one make of this? What is this about? To be more modern: “WTF”?

“What you have just said, may make such and such a person feel as if you are not taking them seriously, and that you are being insulting, and that’s pretty rude and hurtful, and may be racist, somesortofphobic, bigoted and/or fascistic, and so I am forced, very much against my will, you understand, to sue you and  have you arrested and detained, even though I care deeply for all the people of the world and spend the rest of my time working for world peace. But I’m afraid that your words leave me no choice. You must be punished, for your own good”.
Or something like that.

Well what is this proxy-victim-hood? This being offended on behalf of someone else?  This eagerness to wreck the life of someone who is almost always entirely innocent of any wrong doing? Why would anyone want to behave in this way?

If you’re hoping for an answer, you’re going to be disappointed. For this time, dear readers, I am hoping for an answer from you. What are your thoughts on this rather modern turn of events? It might be interesting to hear what others have been put through by these self-styled representatives of victim-hood. And if any effective defense has yet been discovered.

Author’s note:
A ‘Mackerel’ is – when fresh – a particularly slimy, slippery fish, almost impossible to grasp.
A ‘Mackerel’, in the author’s parlance, is an idea so tenuous, so ethereal, that it all but defies description.

Tags: cognitive dissonance, displacement, schizophrenia, victimhood