Well said. It has also seeped into the law abiding and lawless. Those who abide by the law have become victims of the lawless because the criminals have no incentive to abide by the law. They are rarely prosecuted.
I'm not sure we confuse powerlessness with virtue. But people definitely confuse self-proclaimed victimhood with virtue and by extention, all who support them as virtuous. We also confuse victimhood with merit and this, I think, has far more reaching consequences for all of us, as people end up in places of power they didn't rightfully earn.
Thanks for reading Valentina. What you say is true. And it’s connected to an assessment of power dynamics. What I’m outlining here is that claimed victimhood results from a power equation as in it raises the question of “victimized by whom” and therein lies the search for who to blame and who should now have power regardless of merit or virtue. Thanks for your clarifying comment.
But, while it's true that power alone isn't a reliable metric, I feel that many people may tend to judge someone's level of virtue based mainly on his/her power status, because throughout history up till now, there've been endless cases of the powerful and the elite manipulating the system and abusing their power for their own benefit and enrichment, instead of taking care of and giving back to the average people, especially in terms of the political leaders.
Similarly, there are indeed many leaders in top positions of power who've broken laws, such as committing war crimes, engaging in human rights abuses, pilfering funds that were meant for their own people, etc.
So given all this, it is understandable that people tend to generally perceive the powerful as being evil.
Thanks for reading Raveen. You’re quite right about why people make that conflation. Power can corrupt terribly. and we have to be watchful. At the same time it doesn't give us enough information to judge virtue so before we decide someone good or evil we ought to dig deeper. Thanks for engaging so deeply with these words.
Well said. It has also seeped into the law abiding and lawless. Those who abide by the law have become victims of the lawless because the criminals have no incentive to abide by the law. They are rarely prosecuted.
Thanks CK! We live in fraught times... trying not to lose faith...
The fact that we can identify the victimizers does not necessarily mean we can identify the victims.
Thanks Paul. Indeed, that is true too. And the reverse as well. Appreciate your comments.
Yes, the opposite can be true, as well.
Oh, this is good... this is real good 🫡
Thanks so much Stone! 🙏
I'm not sure we confuse powerlessness with virtue. But people definitely confuse self-proclaimed victimhood with virtue and by extention, all who support them as virtuous. We also confuse victimhood with merit and this, I think, has far more reaching consequences for all of us, as people end up in places of power they didn't rightfully earn.
Thanks for reading Valentina. What you say is true. And it’s connected to an assessment of power dynamics. What I’m outlining here is that claimed victimhood results from a power equation as in it raises the question of “victimized by whom” and therein lies the search for who to blame and who should now have power regardless of merit or virtue. Thanks for your clarifying comment.
I understand your point.
But, while it's true that power alone isn't a reliable metric, I feel that many people may tend to judge someone's level of virtue based mainly on his/her power status, because throughout history up till now, there've been endless cases of the powerful and the elite manipulating the system and abusing their power for their own benefit and enrichment, instead of taking care of and giving back to the average people, especially in terms of the political leaders.
Similarly, there are indeed many leaders in top positions of power who've broken laws, such as committing war crimes, engaging in human rights abuses, pilfering funds that were meant for their own people, etc.
So given all this, it is understandable that people tend to generally perceive the powerful as being evil.
Thanks for reading Raveen. You’re quite right about why people make that conflation. Power can corrupt terribly. and we have to be watchful. At the same time it doesn't give us enough information to judge virtue so before we decide someone good or evil we ought to dig deeper. Thanks for engaging so deeply with these words.
Yeah
You're welcome!
Excellent!
Thanks Patrick!