DECEMBER 20 — Part of why Donald Trump has us transfixed is his absolute, unswerving determination to never be wrong. And if he ever is proven to be wrong, it’s because the whole world is out to get him.
When the house of representatives passed the Obamacare repeal bill, it was his victory. When the Senate didn’t pass the same bill, it was because of the “loser” John McCain.
The FBi is biased against him, the Russia investigation is a hoax perpetrated by the fake media, which is fake because it is owned by people like Jeff Bezos who hate him etc. You get the picture.
But he is far from being alone in never taking responsibility. America is after all the land where after every mass shooting, guns are the real victims, not the people who died and every individual problem, real or imagined, can be solved by a prescription painkiller to the point of creating an opioid epidemic.
But America is also far from alone when it comes to evading responsibility for one’s own actions. A world where far too many people live with an inbred sense of entitlement from birth due to their monetary, racial, religious or social inheritance is a prescription for a descent into a culture of victimhood when reality does not live up to their expectations.
When the choice is between working hard to make a living, and getting handouts by blaming the “other” for your inadequacies, which one would you choose? When the choice is between exercising to lose weight, and blaming the “fat-shamers” for making you binge eat, which would you choose?
While there are always genuine cases of people who do take responsibility for their actions and still struggle due to circumstances, it is equally true that there are many people who use political correctness as a cover to evade responsibility.
When we call bald people follically challenged and lazy people motivationally deficient, we are separating the person from the condition, making it easy to shift blame. Victimhood needs a supportive audience.
As long as voters are willing to ignore the fact that nobody seems to ever be found guilty of wrongdoing in any of Malaysia’s massive financial scandals, all accusations are mere political slander and defamation.
If I lack the motivational “gene”, so to speak, it can’t be my fault if I am lazy, can it? If my follicles refuse to co-operate, who’s fault is it, etc.
The problem with this easy way out is that it isn’t that easy. Playing the victim only works up to the point that your audience is willing to enable that behaviour.
Also, reality becomes that much harder to handle when it finally hits. Like many KL-ites, you can blame the economy, stupid employers and jobs beneath your dignity to stay at home with your parents till you are 35, but what happens when their money runs out, or more likely, you make it run out?
While living in a country where all the races feel victimised in one way or another makes assigning blame for failure easy, living with failure is still a personal experience.
Refusing to do a 3D job and then blaming foreigners for taking jobs away may make one feel better momentarily, but it still does not put food on the table.
Political parties play up victimhood to garner support, but often at the cost of social cohesion and economic progress. As individuals, indulging in the culture of victimhood works to blow off steam, but as an operating philosophy it makes you look like Trump at his most idiotic.
Still can’t get enough of victimhood? Download the Gordon Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares episode with Amy’s Baking Company. Now that’s what happens when you take it to the extreme. Merry Christmas. Oops, Happy Holidays to all.
* This is the personal opinion of the columnist.
