Back in 2015 Conor Friedersdorf wrote this piece for the Atlantic
The Rise of Victimhood Culture
A recent scholarly paper on “microaggressions” uses them to chart the ascendance of a new moral code in American life.
…
When conflicts occur, sociologists Bradley Campbell and Jason Manning observe in an insightful new scholarly paper, aggrieved parties can respond in any number of ways. In honor cultures like the Old West or the street gangs of West Side Story, they might engage in a duel or physical fight. In dignity cultures, like the ones that prevailed in Western countries during the 19th and 20th Centuries, “insults might provoke offense, but they no longer have the same importance as a way of establishing or destroying a reputation for bravery,” they write. “When intolerable conflicts do arise, dignity cultures prescribe direct but non-violent actions.”
We’ve all engaged in these actions.
The aggrieved might “exercise covert avoidance, quietly cutting off relations with the offender without any confrontation” or “conceptualize the problem as a disruption to their relationship and seek only to restore harmony without passing judgment.” In the most serious cases, they might call police rather than initiating violence themselves. “For offenses like theft, assault, or breach of contract, people in a dignity culture will use law without shame,” the authors observe. “But in keeping with their ethic of restraint and toleration, it is not necessarily their first resort, and they might condemn many uses of the authorities as frivolous. People might even be expected to tolerate serious but accidental personal injuries.”
But, now, in the Victimhood Culture, people have to play the Victim for the slightest of slights. Everything is The Worst Ever, and requires that everyone know about it, heap “I’m so sorry this happened to you’s” on the Victim, and extoll how Brave they are for coming forward. People will literally make up things so they can be a Victim, which makes them a hero these days. It makes them empowered. Someone said something mildly mean on social media? Well, clap back, and it ends up in the news with the Victim being put on a pedestal and the meanie being shamed. The meanie needs to be destroyed, you know. I could keep going, but, you get the idea, and you know most of this.
Which brings us to Meghan and Harry. We often talk about Peak this and Peak that. But, there’s always a new peak, though, right? I do believe we have strictly hit Peak Victimhood
- Harry takes a flamethrower to family relations and crosses King Charles’ ‘red line’ with searing attack on Camilla: Prince brands Queen Consort ‘dangerous’ and a ‘villain’ with ‘plot’ to marry his father in British network and CBS interviews
- ‘Everyone has stuff that happens with their families… you don’t spread it to the world’: American media reacts to Harry’s attacks on the royals as Fox’s Ainsley Earhardt slams him… while CNN’s Don Lemon says he ‘hopes’ he can heal rift with William
- ‘A declaration of war against the royals’: Prince Harry is accused of ‘shooting his family in the heart’ as global media says ‘it’s good the Queen no longer has to experience this’ following his latest TV broadsides
- The Duke of U-turns! Harry now claims he has a ‘huge compassion for Camilla’ and sympathized with her being the ‘third person in his parents’ marriage’ – less than 12 hours after branding her ‘DANGEROUS’ and a ‘villain’ in searing 60 Minutes interview
- Kate and Meghan ‘didn’t get on from the get-go’: Prince Harry tells British network the Waleses ‘stereotyped’ his wife – and the ‘barrier’ was there before the two women fell out over bridesmaids dresses and hormones
- Prince Harry says he and Meghan will NEVER move back to the UK and plan to live in the US permanently – hours after hinting couple won’t ever give up their royal titles
Those are headlines from just one British news outlet. Plenty of others have tons more in a similar vein. The only one that seems to be sympathetic to Harry is the UK Guardian, and just barely. Why am I watching this stuff? It’s like the biggest of race crashes of all time. And the crashes just keep happening almost daily. Which is pretty amazing for two people who claim they just want their privacy, right?
Here you have a guy born into privilege, as part of the British monarchy. He never wanted for anything. Other than Princess Diana, of course. His life was one of luxury. He was well respected in the military. He married a low level but somewhat know actress in a fairytale wedding. Then blew it all up. And is living in a $15 million, 14,500 square foot house in the People’s Republik Of California with 9 beds, 16 baths, a pool, tea house, tennis courts, and a children’s cottage, on 7.4 acres. They’re being given millions and millions by Netflix and for books, all sorts of media appearances. Living in the lap of luxury, and still f’ing playing the Victim. Seriously, is there anyone more Peak Victimhood Culture right now than Meghan and Harry?
Donald J. Trump
Teed up. Thwack. 345 yd, right down the middle.
With you the answer is always “Trump”. You’re a fuckin moron.
Lucifer,
Victimology is all the right has. A bunch of whiny titty babies!! Waah!!
Those mean ol’ Dems/libs/leftists are so mean to you!
And Donald J. Trump is your leader.
You’re the fuckin’ moron. How many babies have you had killed?
How many babies have you had killed?
Zero, but you’ve killed millions with your pro abortion lies. Baby killer.
Does hurting me by blaming the murder of my two children on me rather than the women who killed them somehow make you feel like a big shot?
Does laughing at the deaths of my children make you the “better man”?
Does personally sliming and degrading me give your pathetic life meaning?
Not sure he’s even close into the realm of Harry and Meghan. He sure does need to take it down a notch, but, good grief, they are fragging their own families
Their Royal Highnesses, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, are a slow-motion train wreck, terrible to watch but difficult to avert your eyes. I will confess to being guilty of opening far, far, far too many articles on the subject, and, consequently, my news feed is full of more. I have, at least, vowed to spend not a single pence on His Royal Highness’ book.
Actually, there’s no reason for anyone to spend money on it: all of the ‘good’ parts have been leaked, and what is a clickbait part that hasn’t yet been leaked will be exposed shortly; it’s s’posed to go on sale tomorrow.
I just have a difficult time seeing poor little rich boy Harry as a sympathetic character. He was born into more prestige and privilege than 99.999% of the rest of the world, into great wealth, and never had to worry about anything.
Now we hear that his older brother beat him up, after they were both adults. His Royal Highness had been a captain in the Royal Army, and was a combat veteran, yet we’re supposed to believe that his older, but not significantly bigger, brother pushed him down? What kind of [insert slang term for a cat here] doesn’t get up and fight back?
Yeah, he lost his mother when he was just 12(?), but lots of kids lose a parent; it happens. Her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales wasn’t even the custodial parent; he was being reared in the Prince of Wales household, and he saw her relatively infrequently. Well, boo-f(ornicating)-hoo! He was never forced to miss a meal because his parents couldn’t put food on the table, he was never without heat and shelter and running water. He was never sick beyond normal childhood runny noses.
We shouldn’t have to tell someone who willingly put himself in harm’s way on the battlefield, who willingly served in the Royal Army, to man up, but really, that’s what needs to be said to the poor little rich boy: Man Up!
One is William, one is Harry. Meghan is smokin’.
Why spend any time on this bunch? Or the Kardashians.
Like I said, it’s a slow-motion train wreck. I admit my guilt, and denounce myself.
Meghan is smokin’? Yeah, she pretty much is: Princes don’t date dogs. His Royal Highness’ previous girlfriends were smokin’ hot, too.
Would you have known that Mrs Mountbatten-Windsor was biracial if you hadn’t been told? I wouldn’t! She did play the white daughter, with a white sister and white parents in a Hallmark movie several years ago, and apparently no one thought anything weird about the casting.
While it’s hardly surprising that Markle is, as Rush Limbaugh would say, Halfrican, it’s not obvious from her appearance today. So no, I wouldn’t have known she was biracial unless told. Markle downplayed (hid?) her biracial heritage throughout her acting career and her appearance allowed it. Other biracial actresses like Halle Berry and Zendaya appear to have embraced their heritage.
I had never heard of Meghan Markle before her engagement to a royal Brit.
It’s like a train crash and then the next day there’s a crash, and the next day, and the next day. It just doesn’t end.
But, what’s the end game? Where does it stop? Have they thought of this? They’ve alienated the entire family, along with a majority of Brits. What happens with their so-called friends when the notoriety dries up? When the media has moved on? Their “friends” will probably not want to be the next victim on their hit list and will abandon them.
What’s the end game? To ask that question is to assume that they’ve planned this all out, and I see no evidence of any forethought having been put into this. Perhaps we can excuse Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Sussex for not really understanding what marrying a prince really meant, but His Royal Highness the Duke of Sussex certainly knew: he’d lived that life for 34 years when they married. He isn’t a dummy: dummies don’t get to pilot helicopters! Yet there’s nothing, in any of this, which indicates that he has put anything into all of this but raw, uncontrolled emotion.
The best thing to do is just ignore them.
On that, we agree…
Just damn, Elwood. We actually agree on something.
We Americans are more alike than different. We do have differences, but not so different that we should destroy this nation.
Conservatives are always screaming about being victims.
OMG! They liberals have taken away out incandescent lightbulbs!
They are cramming EVs down our throats!
Gun Grabbers everywhere !!
CRT being taught to kids !
The election was stolen!!
How many times has Trump declared something to be “unfair” to himself?
The War on Christmas!
Masks!!!
Immigrants taking all those farm jobs and chicken and pig slaughterhouse jobs that used to be American jobs.
The victimization of the conservatives will continue until they grow a pair
Poor Johnny…
OMG-someone’s driving alone in their car without their mask on!
Twitter is allowing free speech! We might have to actually come up with intelligent arguments to support our position!
Extra CO2 is causing everything bad that we can think of!
The coasts are going to be swallowed up in 547 years!
We just can’t get Trump out of our heads and it must be his fault!
Unvaccinated people scare us so much! Except, of course the illegals invading our country-we decided they don’t need any jabs!
I can’t find a really short person to marry like the NYT suggested to fight “climate change”!
If we don’t teach 3rd graders about cross-dressing and that they can cut their dicks off, they might grow up to be conservatives!
Everything we don’t like is racist, or when that doesn’t work, white supremacists!
Sounds like you got Elwood P. Cracker’s jive down good. You even worked in Trump and white supremacists. It was like reading one of his rambling comments.
If you ever expect a fair deal from a leftist you will end up in a mass grave.
https://youtu.be/wLLPIY0N6Vg
L’Roy White is a Black Cracker!
Periods leftists in charge since 1900 with President. Please point out the mass graves.
US leftists in charge 2021-2023. Biden
US leftists in charge 2009-2011. Obama
US leftists in charge 1993-1995. Clinton
US leftists in charge 1977-1981. Carter
US leftists in charge 1961-1969. JFK/LBJ
US leftists in charge 1949-1953. Truman
US leftists in charge 1933-1947. FDR
US leftists in charge 1913-1917. Wilson
Rimjob tries so hard to make sense.
Not working, dipshit.
Bwaha! Lolgf
Do you really not know where the mass graves are from 1913 till 2023? All over Europe, Asia and South America and all from leftists. How many mass graves are in Ukraine now? You don’t know because the PTB ain’t tellin’.
You believe everything the commies on the left feed you and you cannot be helped. You are a walkin, talkin propaganda machine. 81 million votes, LOL .
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhakCKBxb0rfisC_22yT6qTXmv6n2H27S2pIKprSxutfEQU956SINTGklcumjsc_lzN2BTXD2JBZQj7vgOdq0CAAsdEe9hAxRsTJkhETpxREbrbryY1XB4XLyPvs4qz5RnlahQDCdedlDx_BrIHbfaewstMw67DlApAN_jhHRsZ_1a0wLVOzcE9l8CHbg/w544-h640/90milese781a9aade1dcda8e86934f16488094c_994facdd_640.jpg
L’Roy,
So, no American mass graves resulting from Democrats? Got it.
Surely, you’re not so partisan as to blame Democrats for WWI and WWII.
Are you really equating Presidents like FDR, Obama and Biden with Pol Pot, Stalin and Mao?
Although the American right is now pro-Putin, do y’all call him a leftist in Ukraine? LOL.
Let me guess. You consider Hitler, Mussolini, Mladic and Hirohito to be leftists.
Don’t you suspect that murderous, authoritarian regimes have been of both rightist and leftist origins? The key, of course, is authoritarianism, the anti-democratic rule by fiat, force and brutality.
Do you really believe that in 2025 the Democratic House, Senate and White House will start murdering right wingers and putting them in mass graves? Really? Do you recall the sturm und drang when Clinton, then Obama were elected? FEMA concentration camps! Black helicopters! Right-wing militias unite! The American nuRight does not feel/believe that a Democrat should or can ever be elected.
Your largely rudderless MAGAt movement is becoming increasingly shrill. Your leader, Mr Trump, still wears his red MAGAt hat and is the only announced candidate for 2024, less than 2 years from now.
They are killing their own brand, while continuing to milk it. The whole concept of royalty in Europe is an anachronism, made popular by Disney in the USA. Markle is single handedly changing the brand from quiet dignity, competence, service and continuity into a reality show with 19 year-olds doing the writing at no pay.
Let me guess. You consider Hitler, Mussolini, Mladic and Hirohito to be leftists.
Hirohito was an emperor not a radical leftist. All the others you named were commies or national socialists like Hitler so we would consider them leftists. What would you consider them, republicans? No, in your eyes hero’s.