Has 'Victimhood' replaced Achievement as a passport to fame and wealth?

Once upon a time, most life ambitions were centered around professions. Some wanted to become astronauts, others desired to become doctors or engineers or accountants, some sought to become actors or singers or sportspersons, there were myriad other professions that were aspirational. It was implicitly understood that these professions would enable a comfortable living.

 

The media boom had magazine and TV programs dedicated to the lifestyles of the rich and famous. For the first time, regular people learned of luxuries, indulgences and extravagances that their minds could have scarcely envisioned. It is human nature to covet the luxuries the moment they see it and even become envious of the proprietor. But what is conveniently forgotten is the midnight oil burned and the astuteness to arrive at the pinnacle.

 

As time went by, aspirations devolved from being associated to a profession to merely being famous, which would lead to wealth. It didn’t help that reality and contest TV programs mushroomed all over and caused instant fame for those devoid of talent or accomplishments.

 

The likes of Paris Hilton and the Kardashians clan proved that business empires can be built merely on by creating a ‘reality’ that was no different than a contrive soap opera and risqué social media posts. The fame achieved was used to peddle clothing lines, cosmetics, movies, books, and a lot more. In a free market, it is the buyer who decides what to buy and whom to follow, we can bemoan the collapse of standards.

 

But in recent times a disturbing development has occurred were neither hard work nor Kardashian like reality shows are your passport to fame and wealth.

 

All of it has been replaced with ‘victimhood’. This is attained merely by belonging to a minority demographic group that has historically been discriminated against. The ‘victims’ claim that every setback in life is owing to them belonging to a minority group. The most innocuous incident could be characterized as discriminatory and soon the frenzy begins.

 

If the ‘victims’ aren't media savvy, the ‘activists’, whose mere existence is advocating for a certain victim group, step in. The activists coordinate publicity and appearances of the ‘victim’, eventually fund raisers in plush hotels. Often the ‘activists’ enrich themselves while the victim is left in the rain.

 

A prime example is Black Lives Matter. It was supposed to be founded to stand up for the rights of victimized blacks. Despite claims, their existence is not for solving problems. If problems all problems are solved, they will not be needed and there will no more funds to raise.

 

So how do they prolong their relevance?

 

Every unfair act directed towards a black person is looked at from the prism of race and as an opportunity to raise funds. Every non-black person is called a racist. If you do not donate or support every claim BLM makes, you are a RACIST. BLM is a Marxist organization that would explain its totalitarian leanings. 

Cowardly corporations and individuals donate generously merely to placate them and seem like one of the ‘good ones’. Their supporters destroy property, including that of blacks, but the media doesn't dare cover it. Hollywood star bail out the BLM miscreants.

 

Quite soon every black person presumes there are racist motives whenever he is questioned by the police or whenever he is rejected for a job, which is a boon for BLM. They will rush to the scene like vultures to a corpse and feed on it.

 

Last year, BLM Raised nearly 90 million, largely on the corpse of George Floyd. Recently BLM co-founder Patrisse Khan-Cullors faced a backlash after news broke of a real estate “buying binge,” that saw the high-profile racial justice activist buying four high-end homes for $3.2 million in the US alone, clearly, the funds raised are being spent well. I would how good old Karl Marx would have felt about it.

 

Replace the above with any minority group in any country and the BLM template has been used.

During his campaign in 2016, Donald Trump was asked how he would empower black people. He answered rather tersely that he would fix the economy and once everybody has a job, things will improve. This is the right approach and it worked.  But if every Black person is empowered and self-sufficient, BLM will not be needed. So the race hustling carries on.

 

Greta Thunberg is another stellar example. She is a school dropout who suffers from Asperger syndrome, obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD), and selective mutism. She skipped school to protest against Climate Change. Quite soon she became oddity and many greedy adults attached themselves to this ‘cause’ because they saw an opportunity. 

Such is the situation that Arnold Schwarzenegger regards Greta as his idol. She is invited all over the world for public engagements. Global leaders grovel for her approval but they receive nothing but her scorn. Her net worth is 1 million dollars. Call her out and you are being a misogynistic pig or cruel to a child.

Greta and the parasites who feed on her live great lives, traveling all over the world in gas-guzzling private jets to receive climate awards and lecture us on saving the planet and reducing our carbon footprint.

 

Some of these activists work freelance, in other words, they are hired to raise their voices for a random cause they know nothing about and are not even concerned with. They are given talking points and a toolkit for social media. Surely handsome payments are also involved.

There are numerous instances of ‘victims’ or ‘victims’ turned ‘activists’ who have milked their situation to become instant multi-millionaires without much toil. Sadly there are few victims or activists who have achieved this.

In fact, such is the situation that molesters, royalty, and even a former first lady feel the need to rush into the tent of victimhood.

 

When Kevin Spacey was accused of sexual misconduct he immediately came out as gay. The hope is that he could either shift focus from the allegations and perhaps claim victimhood because he was part of a persecuted group. But the crime was so serious and the ploy was so pathetic that he was called out and was ridiculed.

 

But others get away with it to receive sympathy from gullible people.

 

We had multi-millionaires royalty Meghan Markle and Prince Harry or former royalty being interviewed by billionaire media magnate Oprah in their mansion were all desperately trying to pose as victims of racism, sexism, and xenophobia, despite there being no actual proof.

 

Former First Lady and multi-millionaire Michelle Obama claimed to be racially discriminated when she was asked for help to take something off the shelf at a supermarket. Perhaps it was because she stands almost six feet tall and was the only one who could reach the top shelf. But Mrs. Obama claimed that the reason was the individual didn’t see her as the first lady, she saw her as someone who could help her. In other words, she was the victim of racism.

 

Recently, a TV series had a joke about multi-millionaire pop singer Taylor Swift  frequently changing boyfriends. It was a silly joke, based on fact, and could have been responded to by calling it distasteful. But Swift  saw this as her opportunity for ‘victimhood’ and swiftly responded by calling the joke ‘deeply sexist’ she claimed it ‘degraded hard-working women’ such as herself.

 

If they are challenged for the veracity of their claims their advocates claim it is  ‘their truths’. In other words, facts are irrelevant, all that matters is how they perceived the situation because of their life experiences. This is a slippery slope.

 

Years ago during my travel to the US, I found myself recovering from the November chill as I waited for a lift in the hotel lobby. The lift arrived, inside was a blonde lady who looked straight at me and pressed a close door button despite my request to stop.

 

I walked to the next lift wondering about her motives and I heard another chime and voice “Sorry, I pressed the wrong button” It was the same blonde lady, she informed me that she confused  buttons >< (to close doors) with <> (to open doors), a mistake I make too.

 

Had I walked away from the lobby, I would have carried the perception that I was a victim of racism. That would have been ‘my truth’ but it would have been factually wrong. On the other hand I could have missed a golden opportunity to become a multi-millionaire activist as I claim to stand for discriminated brown Asians.

 

This is not to suggest that there aren’t any victims of bigotry or affluent cannot be a victim of bigotry or that there. But in our world today, unlike the world of the past, bigotry is denounced universally. There may be racists and homophobes but their voices are drowned out by rational people.

But the ‘victims’ and ‘activists’ prompt you to look for bigotry everywhere because that is how they remain relevant. This actually diminishes the real victims and dilutes the cause. There are courses in gender studies, minority studies, gay studies, trans studies. The result is nothing productive gets done when these people are employable and Gone with the Wind is canceled.

 

In the world of weaklings who lack the guts to challenge mendacious claims and fear being called bigots and hence the ‘victims’ and ‘activists’ prevail.

 

For most people, decades of diligence and hard work may lead to riches and fame. There is also an element of luck and even for the Kardashian to click, they needed to be attractive and absorbing for a group of people to get there.

 

But for the ‘victimhood’ class, the right opportunity can gain them instant affluence and influence. There are book contracts, podcast deals, documentary deals, Netflix deals, speaking engagements. Can you blame people for seeking victimhood rather than success via hard work?

 

They say the Kardashians are a bad influence for being shallow and vacuous and conning young women into a false body image.

 

But serious questions need to be asked about the long term consequence, it will have on our society where few will strive to achieve and most will look for a workaround by claiming victimhood.