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Trying to replay a-politically (with the knowledge that nothing happens in a political vacuum in reality). It can be successfully argued that the political lef

by rob_c 5y ago

Trying to replay a-politically (with the knowledge that nothing happens in a political vacuum in reality). It can be successfully argued that the political left have adopted the drama and status of victimhood in a way that hasn't been done before in mainstream politics and given the strong correlation between political affiliation and age I think it's a concerning edge to the topic of mental health, or perception there of. The right is also capitalising very late on this claiming that marxist censorship by private entities is akin to victimisation so the whole arena is now filled with it :( Not saying you're wrong for tuning out the article certainly is a little rambly.

naravara 5y ago
> It can be successfully argued that the political left have adopted the drama and status of victimhood in a way that hasn't been done before in mainstream politics It absolutely has. The martyr/persecution complex is a central elements of dominionist Christian politics.
- rob_c 5y ago
  I'm fairly sure most of the 'dominionist' christian politics was based on expansionist bigotry, i.e. "lets go beat god into the heathens" and "cold is gods way of telling us we need to burn more protestants". The modern victimhood isn't based on hiding in attacks, priest holes or being afraid to show your face in public, it's being a screaming matyr to some slight, imagined or not, and demanding the same level of attention for everything from nasty words to really injustice against fellow humans. Again, I'm not saying either situation is correct, why we can't move past this childish way of viewing the world saddens me, but there is a difference between true oppression and standing up in-front of a crowd and claiming to be oppressed. Yes I am actually using text-book definition of literal oppression here and not some imagined slight of someone against a large group of people who think differently. The latter is akin to me feeling oppressed because I can't find or import the right cheeses/food that I grew up with where I live due to market forces and economics, the former is being told I can't do it because of some prejudice or law. There is and always will be an important difference here.
  - FooBarBizBazz 5y ago
    > "cold is gods way of telling us we need to burn more protestants". What? Christian Dominianists typically are Protestants, last I checked. (Yes, American Catholics do contain a faction that's been shifting right, and there's a whole Wikipedia article about "Integralism", but this is not the kind of thing you usually find from them...) But yeah, there are strains of Christianity that really like the "Romans fed us to the lions" stories. As far as I can tell, most tribes do this in one way or another. Not all, but a good fraction. That they defend those stories to the end, and that their opponents try to deny that same victimhood status, I think speaks volumes. Everybody wants to be owed.
    - jollybean 5y ago
      " there are strains of Christianity that really like the "Romans fed us to the lions" stories." " most tribes do this in one way or another. Not all, but a good fraction. That they defend those stories to the end, a" Please, no, this is ridiculous. Neither Catholics nor mainstream Protestants do this. I'm sure it's real, somewhere in America, but it's not really a thing.
      - FooBarBizBazz 5y ago
        You're right, of course. This is not mainstream in any denomination. I should be clear about that. It's a little like saying "Wahhabists are typically Sunnis". Well, yes, but most Sunnis are not Wahhabists. Also, when I said "most tribes" I did not strictly have Christian denominations in mind. But rather all sorts of national identities, &etc. Lots of historical grievance on parade, left and right.
    - rob_c 5y ago
      > "> "cold is gods way of telling us we need to burn more protestants"." This is a reference to the classic british TV series blackadder. Go enlighten yourself
pessimizer 5y ago
The right has always capitalized on a self-perception of victimhood, above almost all other things other than common religious beliefs. The left have generally actually been victims, or have advocated for victims. But then there's the privileged wealthy middle-class suburban left, who should rightfully relate to the position of advocate, but instead desperately want to be victims themselves. So they study the victims around them, introspect deeply about what kind of victim they really are, then come out of the closet dressed in their best imitation of that sort of victim. And being privileged, they are indulged.

by rob_c 5y ago

naravara 5y ago

> It can be successfully argued that the political left have adopted the drama and status of victimhood in a way that hasn't been done before in mainstream politics It absolutely has. The martyr/persecution complex is a central elements of dominionist Christian politics.

rob_c 5y ago
I'm fairly sure most of the 'dominionist' christian politics was based on expansionist bigotry, i.e. "lets go beat god into the heathens" and "cold is gods way of telling us we need to burn more protestants". The modern victimhood isn't based on hiding in attacks, priest holes or being afraid to show your face in public, it's being a screaming matyr to some slight, imagined or not, and demanding the same level of attention for everything from nasty words to really injustice against fellow humans. Again, I'm not saying either situation is correct, why we can't move past this childish way of viewing the world saddens me, but there is a difference between true oppression and standing up in-front of a crowd and claiming to be oppressed. Yes I am actually using text-book definition of literal oppression here and not some imagined slight of someone against a large group of people who think differently. The latter is akin to me feeling oppressed because I can't find or import the right cheeses/food that I grew up with where I live due to market forces and economics, the former is being told I can't do it because of some prejudice or law. There is and always will be an important difference here.
- FooBarBizBazz 5y ago
  > "cold is gods way of telling us we need to burn more protestants". What? Christian Dominianists typically are Protestants, last I checked. (Yes, American Catholics do contain a faction that's been shifting right, and there's a whole Wikipedia article about "Integralism", but this is not the kind of thing you usually find from them...) But yeah, there are strains of Christianity that really like the "Romans fed us to the lions" stories. As far as I can tell, most tribes do this in one way or another. Not all, but a good fraction. That they defend those stories to the end, and that their opponents try to deny that same victimhood status, I think speaks volumes. Everybody wants to be owed.
  - jollybean 5y ago
    " there are strains of Christianity that really like the "Romans fed us to the lions" stories." " most tribes do this in one way or another. Not all, but a good fraction. That they defend those stories to the end, a" Please, no, this is ridiculous. Neither Catholics nor mainstream Protestants do this. I'm sure it's real, somewhere in America, but it's not really a thing.
    - FooBarBizBazz 5y ago
      You're right, of course. This is not mainstream in any denomination. I should be clear about that. It's a little like saying "Wahhabists are typically Sunnis". Well, yes, but most Sunnis are not Wahhabists. Also, when I said "most tribes" I did not strictly have Christian denominations in mind. But rather all sorts of national identities, &etc. Lots of historical grievance on parade, left and right.
  - rob_c 5y ago
    > "> "cold is gods way of telling us we need to burn more protestants"." This is a reference to the classic british TV series blackadder. Go enlighten yourself

pessimizer 5y ago

The right has always capitalized on a self-perception of victimhood, above almost all other things other than common religious beliefs. The left have generally actually been victims, or have advocated for victims. But then there's the privileged wealthy middle-class suburban left, who should rightfully relate to the position of advocate, but instead desperately want to be victims themselves. So they study the victims around them, introspect deeply about what kind of victim they really are, then come out of the closet dressed in their best imitation of that sort of victim. And being privileged, they are indulged.