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Britain
UK: The Victim Culture
2006-10-09
I'm oppressed, you're oppressed, we are all oppressed: the victim culture
By Anthony Browne, Chief Political Correspondent
THE vast majority of people in Britain are officially oppressed, according to a report that claims we have become a “nation of victims”. The study calculates that 73 per cent of Britons are members of officially recognised “victim groups”, including the disabled, women, ethnic minorities and homosexuals. Each group is given government support, including protective legislation. The report, We’re (Nearly) All Victims Now, by the socially conservative think- tank Civitas, gives warning that the rise of a “victimocracy” undermines democracy because people are no longer considered equal under law.

“We have become a nation of victims,” it says. “Victimhood today is a political status that is sought after because of the advantages it brings, including preferential treatment in the workplace, the possibility of using police power to silence unwelcome critics, and financial compensation. To be classified as a victim is to be given a special political status, which has no necessary connection with real hardship or oppression.”
Posted by:.com

#15  damn
Posted by: Frank G   2006-10-09 21:41  

#14  sorry Frank - but no white men allowed. Someone has to support the rest of us. Get to work, slave boy :-)
Posted by: anon   2006-10-09 21:04  

#13  as a white male raised in a supportive two-parent household without notorious dysfunction, I feel I'm a victim. I have nobody else to blame for any poor life decisions, personal habits, and general assholery. Evryone else has someone to blame, apparently, I'm now in a protected minority, and I want my due!
Posted by: Frank G   2006-10-09 21:01  

#12  Alas, you suffer under the oppressive regime of BusHitlerCheneyHalliburton and cannot receive the just recompense you deserve.
Posted by: lotp   2006-10-09 18:37  

#11  LOL!
Posted by: Shipman   2006-10-09 18:33  

#10  Lost my cookie! And thus made a typo in my nick! I am a victim too! ;-)

Posted by: twobyfour   2006-10-09 17:25  

#9  Rob Crawford, actually, a bit worse... Some of the noble savage tribes indulged in human ritual sacrifice, even a couple of decades into 20th century.
Posted by: twobufour   2006-10-09 15:06  

#8  The paranoia of the American Indians over the Kenniwick Man discovery has everything to do with fear of losing the economic perks that go with being a victim.

That, and the revelation that their ancestors did the same thing the Dreaded White Man did.
Posted by: Rob Crawford   2006-10-09 11:32  

#7  Â“Victimhood today is a political status that is sought after because of the advantages it brings, including preferential treatment in the workplace, the possibility of using police power to silence unwelcome critics, and financial compensation. To be classified as a victim is to be given a special political status, which has no necessary connection with real hardship or oppression.”


So too does this exist in the U.S. The paranoia of the American Indians over the Kenniwick Man discovery has everything to do with fear of losing the economic perks that go with being a victim.
Posted by: Flong Spiger9775   2006-10-09 10:25  

#6  With great ceremony and boisterous declarations, the civilized world tumbles down the slippery slope into the hell of street fighting for daily sustenance. Quagmire ! Holocaust !

Bird flu, bird flu, faster please.
Posted by: wxjames   2006-10-09 09:30  

#5  You never know. The non-victims that actually do all the real economic lifting (white males 25-50) might decide that they are victims too, and stop work.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles in Blairistan   2006-10-09 09:12  

#4  I wonder how far ahead of us the UK is in the development of this loathesome "Cult Of The Poor Helpless Victim"? Five years? Ten? Twenty?

Posted by: Dave D.   2006-10-09 07:16  

#3  "Jailing the two men for 28 years, the judge said that the sentence would have been halved if they had not voiced any opposition to the victimÂ’s sexuality."

But white non-gay non-pensionable males are victims too! In which case we are all victims. Where to now?
Posted by: Bulldog   2006-10-09 06:45  

#2  It also states that claiming official victim status enables groups to silence critics, often using taking offence as a political tactic. The benefits of taking offence are so great in any debate, that it has encouraged the growth of “increasing touchiness” in Britain.

So much for the touchy-feely group hug era.

More than anything, since when is personal offense allowed as a viable forensic strategy? Silencing debate due to personal offense without actually specifying the nature of and justifiable basis for said offense is the argumentive equivalent of saying, "Just because ...".

I know, I know. What a whopping surprise that observation was.
Posted by: Zenster   2006-10-09 06:35  

#1  My favorite bit is the close:

However, the report gives warning that seeking victim status can harm the victims, denying them personal responsibility by always blaming others and undermining their self-respect.

Victim²
Posted by: .com   2006-10-09 06:21  

00:00