On losers and victimhood

Interesting post from the legal editor of Pravda. Which got me derailed into a fairly different train of thought as follows on the concept of losers.

I cringe when I hear this word. My sister-in-law's Clan, they of the Friends of Arnold fame, constantly denounces 'losers', in ways that takes on epic proportions. Losers are lazy. Losers recycle. Losers don't have cable. Not surprisingly, losers, by their definition, are liberals, which makes family gatherings a bit awkward lately, to say the least.

The in-law Clan are, by most definitions, not wealthy. Yes, they all own their own homes with big American cars of the SUV ilk but barely, just barely, get by. Kids are in public schools. Professions are remarkably middle class: there are teachers and nurses and accountants and programmers.

The genius of the conservative marketing tactic is that members of this Clan, ironically, feel genuinely victimized by 'losers', which they relieve by focusing their vast reservoir of vitriol and venom on 'losers'. It's brilliant. Here is a real-life example of how the working class is pitted against each other, by dint of sheer ignorance and mega-marketing tactics.

I have no real answers or solutions to deal with the mighty wurlitzer which churns out stuff which speaks to those who feel victimized. I think the whole thing is designed to create its own set of victims, who need constant feeding of blame and anger. It turns into a nasty feedback loop of violence and victimhood, once you buy into it.

Obviously, we need our own megaphone system to amplify our values. Our values are far from values of losers. Our values will save the world, literally, not destroy it.