Sanders, Trump, and the Cult of Victimization

The year is 2016.

When people act like cavemen, in ‘unevolved’ sorts of ways, it is inevitable that someone is always there to ask “What year are we living in?” meaning, there is something allegedly shocking to a person of reason about how slowly large groups of people evolve socially over time. As Donald Trump grows closer to securing the Republican nomination, he continues to indirectly but not so subtly pander to the racist, misogynistic (largely) uneducated white voters who are not above rising to violence who happen to think Trump’s presidency will ‘change things.’ The question is, what is it Trump supporters hope to change? It’s not like a whole lot of racist, misogynistic (largely) uneducated white voters haven’t benefited from the status quo for, well, pretty much all of American history.

And that’s just it; for Trump supporters, what they are hoping to change is the direction in

which the country is changing. Trump’s overwhelmingly white supporters see the writing on the wall; for example, they’re currently under attack spiritually as the number of diverse religions grow within U.S. borders. Heaven forbid a Christian from Bala’ama be forced to share the street with a non-Christian! (For the sake of brevity, now replace ‘Christian’ and ‘non-Christian’ with ‘white folk’ and ‘people of color,’ ‘men’ and ‘women,’ ‘the uncultured and illiterate’ and ‘a gay from New York,’ etc.) Of course, least we forget that the Mexicans are stealing jobs Americans don’t want to do. Somehow, Trump supporters feel victimized by the growing number of people who don’t think conservative white men should be allowed to keep victimizing people the way they have for over 200 years now. Oddly, if there is anything Trump supporters should be fighting, it’s the narrative of victimization that seems to be the driving force in the lives of U.S. citizens these days.

The middling success of Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign is indicative of this narrative. People of Color, gays, Millennials, left-of-left leaning liberals and people who don’t want another Clinton in the White House are flocking to a socialist who sounds like a Sweathog from Welcome Back Kotter. While blacks more than any other group of minorities have suffered from institutionalized racism (Native American aren’t around much to persecute anymore), it is hard to see why they think a frazzle-haired Jewish president would suddenly make them equal in the eyes of conservative white men, seeing how Obama’s presidency hasn’t helped much. Really, though, blacks and gays are the only groups of people who have truly been victimized throughout U.S. history, though it is arguable the LGBT community has had a great deal more success in being accepted. Meanwhile, Millennials and left-of-left leaning liberals feel victimized by being born into a culture that is largely a meritocracy. People who don’t want another Clinton in the White House feel victimized by the lack of Whole Foods supermarkets in their neighborhood (that are owned by a Republican by-the-way).

What both sides have in common is that they feel victimized by the status quo. The difference is slight at best; Trump supporters want to stop the status quo from ceasing to be the status quo while Sanders supporters think the status quo can’t change fast enough. In the meantime, both groups of supporters (read: fanatics) are being forced to live in a world that is utterly horrible, one that doesn’t kowtow to their respective beliefs. This is, however, merely indicative of a larger problem insofar as it has become every American’s prerogative to perceive any transgression – no matter how slight – into being victimized. Politically, both sets of supporters want to sell everyone on the idea that their candidate is for freedom when in fact both candidates are diametrically opposed to freedom – one is out to curtail freedoms for certain people while the other is out to curtail the freedom of certain ideas. The U.S.’s currently culture of victimization is born directly out of having too much freedom: The fact is that in almost no other country do the citizens have so much freedom to protest that their freedoms are under attack. Keep in mind that this is despite the media in the U.S. almost entirely being under the control of a mere five corporations.

Moderate independent, liberal and conservative voters alike have long mocked the ‘special snowflake’ narrative of left-of-left liberals and Millennials when it appears all groups suffer from this delusion that they are special and deserve special or preferential treatment. Chances are, unless you’re an overweight, militant, gay Native African-American who wears glasses, you haven’t been victimized by anything other than your own ego. While both Trump and Sanders supporters would like to get rid of a culture that is a meritocracy (in theory, anyway) it is perhaps best if we actually employed a culture of meritocracy. Special or preferential treatment should be earned regardless of race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, political affiliation or nepotism. I say this because employing a true meritocracy is the best way to ensure everyone is treated fairly and no one can be victimized except by themselves.

Trump and Sanders supporters will never admit they have anything in common which only further demonstrates their inability to recognize their own humanness and the flaws that accompany it. Both groups think their candidate can fix what ails the country, but it is highly unlikely that more poison is the cure. Common ground is the cure, not a sharp divide.

You Forgot To Say Thank You

Stardate March 1, 2016: Donald Trump has taken the Super Tuesday presidential primaries by storm…

As horrible as it is, there is a reason why Donald Trump is ruling the Republican roost as of late. It has a lot to do with the Regressive Left’s narrative that is washing like a wave over people of color (POC) who were once a minority but now stand to become the majority of people in the United States in the coming decades. The extreme leftist narrative that has taken the ‘earning’ out of learning across the nation’s colleges has fully unveiled male Caucasians for who they really are – xenophobic, misogynist devils that the world would be better off without. To this it should be expected that Caucasians would rally behind a demagogue like Trump as they fear getting bred out if not lynched altogether once the tide has fully turned against them. (As the comedian Louis C.K. said, “Oh, us white people just wait. We're gonna pay hard for this shit.”)

But as POC rise to power they become just like their former oppressors who often refuse to acknowledge their own racism. Unsurprisingly – and perhaps on purpose – POC neglect to think about how their rise to power in the U.S. even came about in the first place. To take that measure of history into account would mean having to say to male Caucasians, “Thank you.” Obviously this will not do, but history is often difficult to ignore.

Despite a good measure of institutionalized racism that is nonetheless slowly dissipating (not quickly enough, I will grant), young POC do not seem to realize how well off they are to live in the U.S. While they look around and see that in many instances they are outnumbered by Caucasians, this numbers game somehow translates into victimization. Yet, these victims are given a chance to speak across multiple platforms, be it on college campuses, social media or taking over a Bernie Sanders rally. Last time I checked, this opportunity to speak appeared difficult to come by in most other countries.

This is to ask any given POC who has grown accustomed to living in the U.S.: Would Asians-Americans rather live in China where the government censors the media, discriminates against the handicapped, is horribly polluted, and actually governs people’s lives, or live in Japan where the emphasis is not on individuality but on conformity? Would Hispanic-Americans rather live in Mexico, Puerto Rico or Cuba where the standard of living is much lower? Would Indian-Americans rather live in India where a rape culture persists and marriages are arranged? Would African-Americans like to live on the African continent without potable water, access to a decent education and among religious extremists? (We have religious extremists in the U.S., too, but they usually don’t murder you for blasphemy.) Really, the only Americans who should be complaining about not being able to go back where they came from in order to compare living situations are Native Americans. As a Caucasian who really doesn’t care that they are Caucasian probably because it’s never been an issue in a mostly Caucasian country, I understand completely how bad this will sound, but, POC should be a little more thankful they live in the U.S. and not some other country. After all, if living in the U.S. is so terrible, maybe POC should try living in Scandinavia where it is so cold, the only way to get Caucasians to stay is to give everyone free stuff (that is, after you’ve taxed the hell out of them).

If, as POC contend, that Caucasians have instituted racism to such an extent that POC find themselves still able to bring the issue of racism up, who is to thank for this situation? While the Forefathers of the U.S. Constitution probably did not foresee POC rise to prominence in the U.S., they still included a key phrase that to this day makes all U.S. citizens equal, in theory anyway. It is precisely because these ‘white male devils’ included such a philosophy in their constitution signifies how advanced their social philosophy was in their day. And where did George Washington and Thomas Jefferson and company get their ideas? From mostly Caucasian Enlightenment-era philosophers like Jean-Jacque Rousseau, Baruch Spinoza, Francis Bacon and Immanuel Kant. (Okay, Spinoza was actually Portuguese, but looks Caucasian in portraits, kinda like what the white-devil did with Jesus.)

And so the question as I put it to angry POC who are quick to criticize Caucasians is: In what other culture of predominantly non-Caucasian people is their social philosophy that all people should be equal? Moreover, if such a culture exists, does their country’s constitution or charter state unequivocally that all men are created equal? Of course, the answer to this question is, “There are none” which is why no one on social media ever gives me an answer when I ask this question – they don’t want to acknowledge that the idea of equality of for all was mostly the idea of Caucasians who also (and here’s the kicker) have actually tried to implement this philosophy.

This being the case, I really don’t understand what is referred to as ‘white guilt,’ the idea that Caucasians should feel guilty for the transgressions of their brethren that actually are racist. Logically speaking, this would mean that any time anyone of any ethnicity is racist, the rest of their race should feel guilty about it. Opponents of this argument say the guilt in question assumes some kind of power imbalance such as African-Americans being oppressed by Caucasians in the U.S. (or African-Americans being oppressed by Asians and Indians who are hogging up all the decent, wage-paying majors in colleges) or, say, me as a Caucasian walking through Harlem at night. If in that case I were attacked for being Caucasian, it would be a racist crime and all African-Americans should feel guilty about it according to ‘white guilt’ logic. I might also ask the question of what makes me responsible for the actions of others regardless of my race and theirs. There is no objective moral philosophy that says I am.

While it is certainly true that there have been many accounts of institutionalized racism in U.S. history, I am not so sure that such cases are any worse than what is included in the history of any other country.* However, because of the U.S. Constitution, because of its basic moral and social philosophy, an advancement in the social status of POC, women and homosexuals has been achieved. Is there further to go? Absolutely, but let’s not take a step back by electing a racist, misogynist ego-maniac. But let’s also not point to Caucasians and claim every problem POC face is their fault. If one is going to claim that, they’re going to have to claim that equality is the fault of Caucasians, too.

[I hope that doesn’t sound belittling of such situations. It’s not meant to be.]