America was founded and expanded from sea to sea by rugged individualists, freedom-loving men and women who believed in personal responsibility, self-sufficiency and independence. Our pioneering ancestors had a no-excuses attitude toward life. They believed in working hard, smart and long to build better lives for themselves and their families, wanted opportunities not handouts, would accept only what they earned and preferred a government that stayed out of their way. For decades, this approach to life carried over from generation to generation, making the United States the most productive and prosperous nation on earth, a nation where being “self-made” and “upwardly mobile” were compliments.
Over the past several decades, things have changed, and not for the better. In contemporary America — a nation whose culture is increasingly controlled by the left — rugged individualism and personal responsibility are being purposefully and systematically supplanted by a victimhood mentality. Leftist ideologues, whose ultimate goal is complete control over the lives of all Americans, now encourage people to deny responsibility for their circumstances and view life as something over which they have no control.
In other words, leftists encourage Americans to view themselves as victims. To no one’s surprise, people who see themselves as victims are perpetually frustrated and angry, believing the deck is stacked against them and they have no hope of improving their lives. As a result, they turn to nanny government to rescue them, which is precisely what the left wants Americans to do.
This “poor me,” self-pitying view of the world is behind such absurdities as critical race theory, claims of systemic racism and the entitlement mentality, all of which are based on an oppressor versus victim philosophy that is devastating. It’s an outlook that hurts our country and the supposed victims as well. Victims are never victors; they will never improve their lives by wallowing in self-pity and blaming their circumstances on others.
In addition to feeling entitled, “victims” have turned being offended into the new national pastime. Anything that doesn’t comport with their “poor me” view of the world offends them. Further, today’s privileged victims never see themselves at fault. No matter how bad their choices, a victim’s less-than-desirable circumstances are always someone else’s fault.
Since President Franklin Delano Roosevelt demonstrated politicians could win and retain power by turning Americans into dependent wards of the state, leftist politicians have been promoting victimhood and the entitlement mentality it produces. George Bernard Shaw said, “A government that robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul.” Leftists got the message. They have persistently applied Shaw’s principal to seduce Americans into government servitude, a condition not only encouraging victimhood but guaranteeing loyal Democrat voters.
Ironically, the worst victims of the Democrats’ nefarious machinations are the “victims” they purport to defend. If you want to help people build better lives, the worst thing you can do is convince them they are victims. Calling people victims gives them an excuse for failure, lassitude and self-pity. Victims don’t do what is necessary to improve their circumstances — things such as taking responsibility for their own lives, refusing to make excuses and working hard, smart and long. Instead, they wallow in self-pity and expect the world to take care of them or they turn to crime. This perspective on life makes victims easy targets for unscrupulous politicians who use them to gain and retain power.
Never ones to worry about the ultimate consequences of their shortsighted policies, leftist Democrats continue to push their strategy of ensuring a perpetual bloc of loyal voters by creating an entitled subclass of victims permanently dependent on the government. Unfortunately for America, they are succeeding.
Oliver L. North is a combat-decorated U.S. Marine, No.1 bestselling author, and founder and CEO of Fidelis Publishing LLC and Fidelis Media LLC. Find out more about him at www.olivernorth.com. David Goetsch is a Marine Corps veteran, member of the Florida Veterans Hall of Fame, professor of business, Christian counselor, and author of 76 books. Find out more about him at www.david-goetsch.com.
The entire Democrat Party sees itself as a victim. One of the newer catchphrases they like to throw around is “a threat to democracy”. Even Biden himself remarked fairly recently that the Jan 6th “insurrection” was a dagger at the throat of democracy. They portray the Republicans as forever holding a hammer, ready to drive the final nail into the coffin of freedom. So, they try to broaden the view and make it appear that it is a national scourge and not just peculiar to certain individuals.
They give individual oppression added credibility by making it a part of a national crisis.
AND the sorriest part of it all, is MOST of those who keep VOTING DEMS into office, just can’t EVER SEE the harm that the left is DOING TO THEIR kind… ALL because the victimhood mentality, is SO INGRAINED into them, it just (to me) can’t ever be weened out of them…
Today the American Slogan of “made In America” no longer reflects the concepts of Self-Made, let alone made in America, but thanks to Democrat Socialist Alinskyites like Obama and Bernie our children have been made in the image of cloths of many colors, genders of other than American loving nations. The one and only way to destroy a nation fit and designed only for the Self-governing, is to destroy the concept and necessity of individuals obtaining the ability to first govern, rule and conquer SELF. The socialist conquered Democrat party of social dependency made this concept the first and primary target of American destruction. To be able to conquer the world, a man must first conquer himself. In order to conquer a nation, political parties must first conquer and take over the media and undermine the educational means by brain washing people they are entitled to the very earnings and personal that keeps individuals independent of relying on criminal politicians bent of control. They would turn a nation of Hunters and gatherers into a people of herd animals, no longer able to take the risks or get the rewards of the hunt, but just hide in the safety of the herd, thinking the Socialist wolves will come for them last.
Oliver L. North and David Goetsch, great article on how the government creates “dependency” to buy votes. Becoming “dependent” on the welfare system, strips a person of their manhood and as a result the so called person, who is dependent, is no longer a man and is nothing more than a slave to dependency.
WHICH IS why for years, i have been saying EVERY DAMN PERSON LIVNG off welfare, since by the articles OWN WORDING, makes them “WARDS of the state”, SHOULD instantly lose their RIGHT TO VOTE.. For as long as they STAY ON WELFARE…
That one act on its own, would imo do MORE TO END welfare, than the HUNDREDS upon hundreds of billions we’ve TOSSED at the poor in the feeble attempt to ‘end poverty’…
Every true patriot is a victim of the rogue government but we are overcoming these atrocities that have been piled onto us and the true criminals will answer for their crimes.