That we are underlings...

By Patrick Hall

The late German sociologist, Karl Mannheim, along with political scientist Aaron Wildavsky (May 31, 1930 – September 4, 1993) recognized the tendency in Western cultures to breed, or at times incubate, an utopian victim mentality in their populations. Whether this was done by accident or an unanticipated by-product of Western egalitarianism, which is a socio-political dogma or secular homily, that believes that human beings would achieve and prosper at similar levels, if it wasn’t for some kind of discriminatory, structural maleficence, and/or socially unjust circumstance.  It is a school of political philosophy, that builds from the debatable premise of social-economic equality.  In other words, there is an underlying belief in the equality of outcome.   Egalitarian doctrine is generally characterized by the idea, that all humans are equal in fundamental worth or moral status. Egalitarianism is the doctrine, that all citizens of a state should be accorded exactly equal rights.  These are highly desirable principles in most Western cultures. It is an aspiration, that many Democracies, including our Republican form of government, have sometimes failed, but throughout its history, have sought correction.

However, equal rights and freedoms seldom come with “equal results.” At best in many Western societies, equality of opportunity and not results have proven a lot less destructive, than the more utopian egalitarian dogma, which ultimately breeds a reactionary discontent or a dystopic victim mentality in a populace.   Because every person or group doesn’t exceed in some sort of equitable fashion, these differences are immediately deemed to be the product of some malicious and discriminatory activity. Politicians, socio-political activists, as well as societal governance philosophies such as Marxism and socialism have routinely seized on these differences to divide populations for their purposes.  The fault always lies outside ourselves. Oftentimes, the main obstacle to many inequalities lies not in implicit bias, sexism, racism, or pick your “ism”. Inequalities are too often the outgrowth of culture and behavior. Equality of outcome is seldom if ever possible. It is a hard truth that human beings vary greatly in their talents, drive, energy, and goals.

  Utopian egalitarianism has resurrected itself under the purposely ambiguous idea of “equity”.  An idea that is endlessly proselytized under the auspices of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Industry. It has successfully poisoned our society. It feeds and enhances the ever-growing victim culture.

Over five decades ago, especially after the Great Society Program of the Johnson administration, far too many Americans have been seduced by the siren call of victimhood.  The nomenclature of the victim groups is now endless. They include minorities, women, the LGBTQ+ community, the disabled, the obsessed, the young, and the newest aberration, Minor Attracted Persons or MAP.    

Do you know about MAP?    A MAP (Minor Attracted Person), is a rebranding, Pedophiles are trying to give themselves. Yes, these are people who are attracted to children for sex. It is an offshoot of the decades-old North American Man-Boy Lovers Association (NAMBLA).  This group was once rightfully satirized 22 years ago in an episode of South Park.  At the end of this particular episode of South Park, all of the North American Man/Boy Love Association members are arrested by the FBI and they try to talk their way out of jail time by giving a speech equating pedophilia with being an oppressed minority. They simply cannot help their “natural” sexual attraction to children. To paraphrase Kyle, one of the main characters in South Park responding to the NAMBLA member, saying “dude…you want to have sex with kids!” What is wrong with you?

 MAP is the newest constituency of the victim class, openly seeking legitimacy in the public square.

Sidebar:  On both the news programs “The Five” and” Tucker Carlson Tonight”, a sociology professor at Old Dominion University, a MAP advocate, openly defended this rebranding of Pedophilic behavior.  Several universities and colleges in the states of California, Oregon, New York, Washington, and even Ohio have begun their slow creep into this nightmare masquerading as just another sexual preference or awakening.

To reiterate, the list of individuals seeking to readdress for whatever discrimination, real or imagined is unending.  Mannheim, Wildavsky, and the late psychiatrist and political commentator Charles Krauthammer were savants in predicting that radical egalitarianism would catalyze the current victim psychosis.

Even more tragic is, that the rising offshoot of egalitarianism and victimhood is even more detrimental to our nation's culture and political health.  It will or is presently lowering our moral standard of living. It debases public discourse to name-calling instead of dialogue.  You’re a racist. You’re a sexist or transphobic.  We call others climate deniers, anti-vaccine, Christian bigots, First amendment extremists, or anti-maskers, who deliberately want people to die from the Covid. Groups protecting their newly acquired victim status make people more suspicious of one another. This abrogates cultural cohesion. The victim mentality encourages Americans to see one another as the “other.”  It massages are social interactions to the point, that we become offended by God knows what?¹ 

 For example, too many Black Americans from all social classes have been particularly affected by this cultural psychosis.  It is one of the reasons, that despite tremendous gains for Black Americans in the Post-Civil Rights America.  Blacks are encouraged to scream racism or microaggression when convenient. Even former President Barrack Hussein Obama was a master at keeping racism alive while portraying himself as some sort of transformational figure. In reality, he was, and still is “a magnificent deception”.

Many blacks, radical gender feminists, and the ever-expanding LGBTQ+ community along with the sick, MAP crowd, are skillfully leveraging their pain as some sort of societal victim. Politicians and movements like Black Lives Matter have made their careers, (and in the case of BLM lots of cash) via millions in untraceable donations. Do they truly feel the pain of others? I imagine for the right price, individuals like…Patrisse Cullors, Alicia Garza, and Opal Tometi, the founders of the BLM do feel the pain of their constituents.    

When Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Mitt Romney, Jim Clyburn (D-SC), or Barrack Obama claim to feel the pain of the so-called downtrodden, it is too often a controlled device,  that kept them in office. It also aided the latter in purchasing some nice multi-million-dollar oceanfront property in Martha’s Vineyard.  From there, Obama and many of his climate change catechumenates can preach to all of us about the dangers of rising ocean levels because of global warming; or was it global cooling?

 I’m sorry.  I forgot the global cooling scare, was conspicuously employed to frighten the hell out of us, as college students back in the 1960s.

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1. See., Offend me, please

[Patrick is a retired University Library Director. He is graduate of Canisius College and the University of Washington where he earned Masters Degrees in Religious Studies Education, Urban Anthropology and Library and Information Science.  Mr. Hall has also completed additional course work at the University of Buffalo, Seattle University and St. John Fishers College of Rochester New York. He has published in several national publications such as Commonweal, America, Conservative Review, Headway, National Catholic Reporter, Freedom's Journal Magazine and American Libraries. He has published in the peer reviewed publications, Journal of Academic Librarianship and the Internet Reference Services Quarterly. From 1997 until his retirement in January 2014 he served on the Advisory Board of Urban Library Journal, a CUNY Publication.]