Victims

We live in an era of media-defined “victims.” In the eyes of many in the MSM, a victim can be an individual, a class, a culture, or a religion. When you’re a victim, you suffer under the oppressive tactics of those who are not victims – for example, voracious corporations or Western nations – and as a victim, you are given great latitude in how you respond to these oppressive tactics.

If you or your leaders spout intolerant, hate-filled speech or practice egregious human-rights violations, those who would harshly criticize such behavior in your oppressors tend to look the other way.

If you behave irrationally, the only adequate response by your “oppressors” is to admit fault and use every means available to remedy the wrongs (real or imagined) that you suffer. Appeasement is the only acceptable option.

If you use violence or deadly force in response to your victimization, any defensive response by those suffering the effects of that force is considered disproportionate and oppressive.

If your behavior is so extreme (e.g., bombing a civilian target) that it elicits a deadly defensive response, your death is that of a martyr -- not a thug, a terrorist or a criminal. And the response itself feeds a “cycle of violence” that justifies further extreme acts by your compatriots.

Your claims of victimization are rarely challenged. Facts that belie those claims are rarely presented. Context is unimportant. All that matters is that you are oppressed.

As a victim, you’re beyond criticism – after all, you’ve suffered enough.