The welfare state finds it convenient to designate certain groups as victims, in order to gain moral sanction from tax payers for transfer payments to tax earners. Similarly, those with Marxist views see society as a struggle between those who are exploited, and those who are exploiters. Currently the idea of a victim is widely accepted in Western society.

Somebody is categorised as a victim when they are told that they have no power over their own lives and therefore no responsibility for any shortcomings. The fault is generally allocated to “society”, or specifically to those who are seen to be in power, that is “white males”. Similarly power structures in society are seen to reflect the views of “dead white males”.

Whilst the idea of victims is quite politically correct, it is in fact a form of prejudice like any other. For example, employing a person of colour in an attempt to redress some past wrong regards that person as somehow damaged due to their membership of an identified group. I would employ a person of colour without looking at their skin based on their own characteristics as a person and their own unique skills and excellence.

There are three outcomes from the doctrine of the victim. Firstly, the state (and therefore those who pay tax) must compensate or give preference to particular groups to redress past wrongs. Secondly, if you are a member of an “oppressing” class, you are expected to feel collective guilt, even if you were not personally involved in any abuses. Thirdly, if you are a victim, you focus on the wrongs done to you, develop a belief in entitlement to compensation and blame others for things that have gone wrong in your life.

That certain groups of individuals have been oppressed and are still oppressed is not in contention. Prejudice is still alive and well. I’ve experienced it myself, so I’m speaking from experience. What I am arguing is that you can choose to accept the constraints of others, or try to fight them at their own game, or transcend them and be your own person, not “black”, “white”, “Asian”, “Muslim”, “non-English speaking” or any other defined group of “victims”. I recommend the latter if you are interested in achieving freedom.

Irrespective of whether you have been treated badly by a certain group in society by virtue of the colour of your skin, your personal beliefs or ethnic origin, if you see yourself as a victim or identify yourself with a particular marginalised group, you will limit your growth and realisation of your potential.

As a victim, you stop seeing yourself as a unique person, and accept being seen as part of a homogeneous group. You believe that you are unable to control your own destiny and place it in the hands of others. You act as if you are limited by the beliefs of others and according to their preconceptions of your limitations.

In order to grow as a person, you need to transcend the idea of being limited by being a “victim” and act as a sovereign person instead. A sovereign is someone who has intrinsic rights outside of those conferred by the group. The sovereign person believes that they are in control of their own life, rather than being controlled by others. The sovereign person eschews a group identity and forges their own identity as a person.

Similarly, the sovereign individual refuses to accept guilt for actions taken by others in your group but assumes total responsibility for the consequences of his or her own actions. For example, if you are from Japan and born after 1945, you can’t take responsibility for what happened in World War II. If you are white, you can’t be guilty for the 19th century enslavement of Africans in the United States.

However, if a sovereign individual happens to belong to a particular group, he or she does not accept that as an excuse for failing in life. Instead, they aim to develop their own personal and economic potential. I’ve detailed some steps towards self actualization in previous postings.

Individuals from some quite marginalised groups have achieved success in the face of employment prejudice by starting their own businesses. This is the benefit of capitalism – anyone can start a business and compete on the merits of their own services. Where the person has a clear understanding of their own value, then they transform their own environment into what they want it to be – regardless of those who would stand in their way.

Tags: sovereign individual, victim, victimhood

This entry was posted on Saturday, April 28th, 2007 at 7:08 pm and is filed under Practical freedom. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.