Heather Mallick: Now the Permanent Victim

The CBC's Heather Mallick is out with the latest chapter in the ongoing saga of her vicious, hateful attacks on Sarah Palin. This time though, she's feeling verrrrrrry sorry for herself.

Here's what Jonathan Kay had to say about it.

And here's the comment I left on the CBC site:

I am a Canadian living in Vancouver, Ms. Mallick. I also have a university degree. Being an educated urban Canadian, does that mean I have the right to comment on your writing without receiving ad hominem attacks from you?

You, madam, are a vulgar twit with the arrogance the height of an oak tree but the wisdom the size of an acorn. You've clearly spent most of your life with the "Yes" crowd or else were in complete denial about those chastising you ... probably most often for your own good. But you chose to listen to no one.

Now my tax dollars have gone to paying you to write a sob-ridden "I'm The Victim" missive. About the only positive thing this latest piece accomplished was to justify bringing back the violin section of the CBC orchestra. That's what most readers will be hearing in their heads, reading your truly pathetic pity piece.

Permanent Victim Syndrome

Amy Alkon had an interesting column about how she got in an argument with a fellow about personal responsibility. Here's a little snippet:

Yesterday, I debated a guy I started talking to in Starbucks about the big problem in the black community. He said it was poverty and unequal schools. I said it was daddylessness. I also think there's a huge problem with victimhood. Read the rest here . . .

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Here's the comment I left:

Picking up on something "Toubrouk" said, look at the similarities between the Mainstream Black (MSB) views and the Mainstream Feminist (MSF) views.

Both are steeped in a never-ending mentality of victimhood. Look what Phyllis Schlafly said about the MSF movement here:

Feminists never boast about [so-called conservative feminists like Sarah Palin] because feminism's basic doctrine is victimology. Feminism preaches that women can never succeed because they are the sorry victims of an oppressive patriarchy. No matter how smart or accomplished a woman may be, she's told that success and happiness are beyond her grasp because institutional sexism and discrimination hold her down.

Doesn't that sound strikingly familiar to what we continuously hear from the leaders of the MSB movement?

Whenever the topic of racism in America comes up, I often tell my American friends to come up to Canada to see how the same "Permanent Victim Syndrome" canards are preached to the electorate by at least 2 of the political parties here and echoed by hundreds of like-minded organizations, almost all of whom are funded by taxpayer dollars. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out how they ensure that gov't $ keep on flowing in.

But up here, there is no particular racial component so it washes away the illusions perpetrated by the MSB talking heads.

Teach a man or a woman how to fish and they will never be hungry. Give them a fish and they will be back tomorrow. Keep on giving them fish and they will depend upon you for a lifetime. Get the government to fund your fishing program and you will be employed for a lifetime. Follow the money, folks, follow the money.

The Closed Minds of Those Against Free Speech

Last week has passed but this issue is far from over. This past weekend, the serial liar, Khurrum Awan, met with Barbara Hall and others to dwell in their collective victimhood. Clearly they have not learned a thing. History tells us that they never will.

I'm currently reading Tony Judt's excellent book, Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945. In it, he cites poll after poll taken of the German people after they were defeated in World War 2. Consistently, most were non-apologetic and many denied that the Holocaust ever occurred. In the American sector, any German who wanted food rations had to sit through "re-education" films. But it became clear that in the darkened theatres most would turn their backs and cover their ears.

I am NOT making any kind of direct comparison between the Awans and Halls of modern day Canada and the German people of the 1940's & 50's. I'm simply providing a historical precedent as evidence that once a person is locked in a particular mindset, it's difficult, if not impossible to open their minds to any other point of view. Victimhood is a powerful emotion to cling onto and difficult to break free of.

Rachel: Yet Another Permanent Victim

Last night, on Big George's show on BBC London, a young woman named Rachel called up. She's an aspiring Jazz singer but is also clinically depressed and uses illegal drugs to self-medicate. She calls him up on a regular basis and moans about the same things over & over. While many instantly feel sorry for people like her, I've learned that doing so actually accomplishes more harm than good. Herein is the letter I sent to George.

I've known people like Rachel all my life. They spend most of their time each day erecting obstacles in their minds. Rather than thinking about what they "can" or "must" do today, instead they repeatedly focus on these words: "I can't because ...."

While some proponents of positive thinking perhaps take things a bit too far at times, let's look at the opposite, what we can call the "Rachel track". If someone is repeatedly running a negative loop in their head, I can absolutely guarantee you that their success rate - in anything - will be near zero. In her case, she claims that she wants to be a Jazz singer. She doesn't really want this though, does she? Instead she prefers dwelling in self-pity and having people feel sorry for her. It's comfortable and familiar.

Everyone feels sorry for themselves at times. It's natural. The key is to not get sucked into the pattern of becoming a permanent victim or what some call an "energy vampire". I strongly recommend that Rachel get a copy of the Celestine Prophecy, a 1993 novel by James Redfield. I read it 15 years ago and it changed my life. There's one chapter in particular where he compares "aggressors" and "victims". While at first glance they appear to be at opposite ends of the personality spectrum, in fact they're fairly closely connected. For both steal energy from others; the first through anger and sometimes violence and the second through guilt and pity. But the end result is the same: they coerce others to do what they want through negative manipulation.

I wish the very best for Rachel. Maybe one day she'll realize that she is much better off than 80% of the population of the earth. Maybe one day she'll realize that rather than constantly focusing on her own problems, she could be volunteering her time to help others less fortunate than her. Ultimately it's her choice and her responsibility. I, for one, won't be feeling sorry for her whichever path she chooses. Why? Because offering her pity simply helps her extend her current life of misery.

Letter to Kimberley Strassel

I found this article about Barack Obama to be most interesting. Never one to shy away from expressing my thoughts - :-) - I sent the columnist this letter:

Dear Ms. Strassel,

I confess to never having read your work before. But every week I read Peggy Noonan's editorial and happened upon your latest.

Just so you know, I live in Vancouver, BC, on Canada's Left Coast. While I'm a proud Canadian, it's very clear that my views don't mesh well with the majority opinion here. C'est la vie. I've never been one to want to be part of the general flock anyway! I read and listen to news & opinion from around the world, most especially the US and the UK. Because of this, perhaps I have a somewhat different, perhaps "bigger picture" perspective than some. One of my modern day heroes is Mark Steyn, a Canadian living in New Hampshire. His writings often hit strong chords with me.

Living where I do, and given the relative unimportance of Canada on the world stage, much of my attention is focused on watching the culture in both the US and the UK. While most every American city has some periodic problems with racial tension, I would strongly suggest to you that the problem is much worse in Britain. Over there, it seems very clear that the official multicultural policies have directly resulted in promoting minorities to think of their own racial and cultural heritage first & foremost and being "British" a distant third in importance. This has resulted in many minorities viewing themselves as victims who can only seek redress from the benevolent government. While this works wonders in the short term for the Labour government in power, it can only lead to troubled times in the future.

The US has long been known for its melting pot approach to cultural diversity. One may indeed be racially Asian or African or Indian but first & foremost you are an American; and if not you, then your children. Some have condemned this method of integration but I'm convinced it's the only way to ensure a nation's cohesion. For with it there's no longer "us and them" but just "us", albeit in a beautiful number of different skin shades and facial features. In your nation, different is good, different is beautiful, but all living proudly under one American flag is glorious!

Which brings us to Barack Obama. In your article I agreed with everything you wrote but there's one "elephant in the room" issue that you did not line up precisely in the crosshairs. Up until about mid-February he was soaring in the polls and generally making Americans (of all colors) feel great that in 2008 a black man had just as much chance of becoming president as anyone else. He was proud, he was strong, and he was confident - clearly all the signs of a winner. Americans like winners, especially those who have come from humble roots. To the average person, one thing Obama was not was an "us and them" kind of leader like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton. This, I believe, was the key to his popularity.

But then something happened. We started hearing some rather odd remarks from his wife, Michelle, and from his pastor of 20 years, Jeremiah Wright. They were both preaching from the song book of victimhood. Victims do not exude confidence. Victimhood does not correlate well with winners. For the past 2 months a shake-out of sorts occurred, where people tried to juxtapose the image they previously had of Barack Obama with this new image of Permanent Victim Syndrome laden folks all around him.

The elitist gaffs are a new twist but not necessarily death blows to his campaign. For even in America, leaders always have at least a tinge of elitism. Much worse are his recent complaints that certain questions posed to him are "unfair". That only reinforces the victim issues that are now planted in the back of the minds of voters. While he may beat Hillary Clinton because of the mathematical advantage he enjoys, if that victim "seed" continues to grow, he will get absolutely wiped out by John McCain in November. The majority of Americans will not vote for a victim. Nor should they.

VIC + PVS = Pathetic Disaster!

Someone recently directed me to this blog posting. It's a piece by writer, Amy Alkon. She shares her criticism of Radical Feminism and touches upon the proponents of this movement that perpetuate what she calls the "Victim Industrial Complex" (VIC). I had never heard this term before, but like it.

The all encompassing idea of VIC is that a huge swath of society are victims. Let's briefly explore the definition of this word:

vic·tim

noun
1.	an unfortunate person who suffers from some adverse circumstance
2.	a person who is tricked or swindled

Those who buy into the VIC view of the world adamantly maintain that ALL women and ALL children are victims. No harm actually ever has to come to one of these people. They're still regarded as a victim, whether they view themselves that way or not.

For every victim, there has to be an aggressor/perpetrator. If women & children are the victims then guess who the bad guys are? Excuse the obvious pun! But seriously, this does explain a lot about how such a mentality develops. I've met some women who live and breathe this stuff. The chips on their shoulders are so big that they must have severe back problems! About a decade ago I had experienced an unfortunate experience with one such woman and was talking with a psychologist friend of mine about her. He gave me the perfect line to use but I must admit I've not yet used it: "Just because you're a feminist doesn't prevent you from being an asshole!"

Long ago I invented a corollary to VIC called "PVS", which stands for "Permanent Victim Syndrome". I did so when I noticed that certain people I met were constantly feeling sorry for themselves, seemingly unable and/or unwilling to resolve the issues that were burdening them. They found it easier to always blame others or just "life" in general for all their woes. Only after I read The Celestine Prophecy did I learn that victims were on the other side of the same coin as aggressors in that both were using different techniques to the same effect: to manipulate others. This realization was a real wake-up call for me.