I'm not sure which came first, but American hypersensitivity to "harm" seems to have come right alongside the "victim-er than thou" culture. I think people are

I'm not sure which came first, but American hypersensitivity to "harm" seems to have come right alongside the "victim-er than thou" culture. I think people are living in a constant state of fear, which causes them to seek out the sympathy and support of as many people as possible. But why are people so much more afraid now, when by every objective measure, things are safer than they've ever been? I think it comes down to news media. When was the last time you read a news report about something negative you personally could affect and change for the better? I can't remember the last time I did. And yet we're immersed in these news stories ALL the time. Two generations ago, if something made it into your awareness at all, it was probably local enough that you could help. You and a few people you knew could mitigate the bad thing. But now? Now there's no sense of agency. There's just this constant hum of information about terrible things you're personally powerless against. Of course people are afraid. If any one of those apparently constant threats ever comes anywhere near them, they have no experience that might convince them they could overcome it. From that perspective, their only hope is that they'll have the sympathies of as many people as possible so maybe SOMEONE who CAN help will rescue them. That's why people stack lists of their victim credentials and highlight other people's privileges. They're afraid of things that probably won't ever even actually happen to them, and want to be sure they have everyone's sympathy just in case. But since things are generally actually quite safe, the list of distinguishing victimizations creeps into smaller and smaller harms in a race to be the most aggrieved, sympathy-deserving victim of them all.