Victim Wars

Based on recent events, the citizens of the United States are engaged in a culture war to determine whose victimhood is the greatest.  Past and present outrages against racial, ethnic, sexual or religious identities are weapons used in this campaign for the title "The Ultimate Victim."  The latest engagement in this conflict occurred following a broadcast of the updated television sitcom, "Roseanne."

Roseanne Steps In It

The April 4th episode opened with Roseanne asleep on the couch with her husband, Dan. They awaken and the following dialogue takes place.

Roseanne and Dan: The offensive couple

“It’s eleven o’clock,” Roseanne says. “We slept from ‘Wheel’ to ‘Kimmel.’” Dan replies, “We missed all the shows about black and Asian families.” Roseanne replies, “They’re just like us! There, now you’re all caught up.”

Her perceived assault of seemingly harmless words was immediately countered by a barrage of righteous indignation from offended Asian and African-Americans.  "How dare you compare your life to ours," they posted.  "You have no right to compare your lives to ours.  What do you know of our lives."

The battle raged across cable news networks, Twitter and Facebook as each offended side reached into their munition's bag of personal slights, slurs and outrages.  Irate salvos of indignant shells continued to fall until the next noble cause erupted on a different cultural front.

Russian Victimhood

In my novel, Slogans: Our Children, Our Future, my character Boris looked back on the revolution and civil war and lamented the Russian glorification of misery.

* * *

“We Russians wear our miseries like sackcloth and strut around as if we’re wearing robes of finest ermine. The deeper the misery, the softer the fur.” Boris set his bottle down on the table and continued his slurred rant, directing it at no one.

“First, we say, ‘Under the Tsar, there is no justice.’ So we murder the Tsar and follow Kerensky. 

“Then we say, ‘Under Kerensky there is no bread.’ So we murder Kerensky and follow Lenin.

“Now we say, ‘Under Lenin we have neither justice nor bread.’ How many more will we murder before we’re miserable enough to be happy?”

* * *

Ivan the Terrible, probably not a victim

Tolstoy Sums It Up

Perhaps the great Russian writer Leo Tolstoy said it best in his 1878 novel, Anna Karenina. "All happy families are alike; each unhappy family family is unhappy in its own way."  Perhaps the United States is made up of too many unhappy families.

This Just In

The latest example of embracing the mantel of victimhood was the Texas school shooter.  In an interesting twist the boy's father claimed his son, along with the students he shot, was also a victim.  And I thought I wrote fiction.