Wednesday, January 27, 2010

In a Culture of Victimhood, Losers = Winners

This is basically the deplorably dichotomous idea that the world only has oppressors and the oppressed, and if you're not one, then you're automatically the other. It's identity politics reduced to its pernicious fundamentals.

Add also the utterly stupid habit (so common on campus especially) of holding Whine-Offs or Misery Contests, where the person who has the most things to complain about "wins." I confess, grad students fall into this pit a lot.

Nerd 1, self-righteously: "You don't understand. I have to do X, Y, and Z."
Nerd 2, triumphantly: "Oh, yeah? That's nothing. I have to do all that PLUS ... "

What usually makes me smirk is the fact that the nerds are often standing there holding Starbucks lattes, listening to their iPods, and carrying laptop computers. Things could be a lot harder. They could be stuck in the Third World trying to stave off starvation and disease while being exploited by everybody including their own corrupt governments.

Read it all.

Oh, and be a countercultural rebel. Refuse to claim victimhood. Take responsibility for yourself. Work more than you complain. Above all, dare to defy the odds and dare to be happy (*gasp!*). Oh, and don't apologize for being successful!

Signed,
Your Friendly Neighborhood Blogging Oppressor

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