The main issue with “victimology” and a lot of disadvantaged minority groups in general is a mindset and world-view based in external causation.
I’m poor because of the stuff that happened to me.
The world is just a matter of luck.
I couldn’t pay the rent because of the parking tickets.
The police arrested me/roughed me up just because…
Obviously one can see the parallels between this and leftist or collectivist thinking. Interestingly, it’s also the world-view of many in the Middle East too. The opposite being thinking and a worldview based on internal causation, which is a hallmark of middle and upper class American thinking, and of Western Civ and the Enlightenment in general.
I'm well-off because I worked hard.
I have money because I saved.
I have a good job because I stuck it out in school, even when I was bored.
The police don't engage me or arrest me, because while it's not illegal, yelling or acting wild might draw unwanted attention.
I’m surprised the suicide rate isn’t higher. Considering that they believe on a fundamental level that they’re powerless to affect their lives, and that buckling down on good choices or making more responsible thoughtful decisions won’t have any impact on their situation.
I can vouch for the veracity of the above. I have a 21-year old adopted daughter -- my late wife's natural granddaughter, whom we adopted when she was 15. She has always been sent to private schools -- when she first arrived in the U.S. she entered our local high school (which has an excellent reputation). She lasted one semester, then "had a nervous breakdown" because she claimed she was bullied. So we put her into a good parochial school -- where she lasted all of three DAYS before having another "nervous breakdown." She wasn't there long enough to be bullied, so she claimed she was petrified because she was afraid someone
might bully her.
So we sent her to the last two years of high school back in her native country. Then she entered college -- in her native country because her SAT scores were about the worst I have ever seen (probably a combination of language issues and not understanding that you can't pass the SATs by memorizing the questions on the practice exams). She spent a year as a pre-law major, then (without asking anyone or discussing it) changed her major and her university so she could be closer to her significant other -- who was (and is) two-timing her. Her solution to all her problems was to try to kill herself. The first attempt was in June of last year. Since then there have been seven or eight attempts -- I've lost count.
And it's always because of something or somebody else, it's never her fault. She still does not ever speak in terms of "When I tried to kill myself," it's always along the lines of "When
that happened" -- as if her swallowing a full bottle of anti-depression meds was an external event that was imposed on her against her will.
She was living in an apartment, the lease for which my brother-in-law signed the lease. She created so many problems that she was kicked out. Brother-in-law (quite rightly) said "Never again." So the "kid" went back to live with her birth mother. When that didn't work out, she blamed me for sending her to live there. 'You made that decision for me." I pointed out that she made that decision, by her actions in getting booted from her apartment under such conditions that her uncle refused to sign another lease for her. She doesn't see that.
When she transferred universities, she lost all the credits from her first year because they weren't transferable. Her first suicide attempt was a week before finals for the first semester of her second year, so she failed that semester, and couldn't return to second semester because of health (both physical and mental) problems. So I have paid for three years of private high school that could have been free at an excellent public school, and two years of college for which she has ZERO credits to show -- and she expected me to pay for another year's tuition (in advance, because that's the way they do it there) so she could return to school. I told her I didn't think she was ready to go back to school, that she needed some time to get her head straight and that it might be beneficial for her to get a job.
Naturally, that didn't go over well. Her solution to show me that she was all better and more responsible? She tried to commit suicide again -- twice within ten days.
As I write this, she is in a mental health clinic. This is the third one, and I don't expect that they'll be able to help her any more than the first two did. The problem is that this is a child of the modern age. She doesn't understand responsibility, she doesn't understand honesty, she doesn't understand the value of money or the value of work. It's all about her, and she constantly tells me that I'm not sending her enough money. Doesn't matter that I have shared my finances with her and explained to her exactly why what I'm sending is the most I have to send -- period. Her response always comes down to "It's not enough."
I view her as a perfect example of everything that's wrong with the younger generations. I feel sorry for her. I worry about her. I'm not a young man, and I almost died from heart problems two years ago. She's going to be on her won sooner than she cares to think about, and I predict that she will NOT be able to deal with having to provide for herself. And she absolutely resists all efforts to teach her to ease into it.
