Opinion Forum

Woe Is Me!

November 29th, 2010

In today’s America, feelings have replaced facts as our governing policy. Shame has been relegated to the back of the bus and squeaky wheels have been given the place of honor.

Merit has been replaced by grievance mongers. Accomplishment and material success are vilified as having been attained on the backs of the have-nots. And that’s not fair!

In a rush to attain unearned moral virtue, millions of Americans have bowed to the PC police and advocated issues about which they know nothing in a desperate attempt to appear relevant, compassionate and non-judgmental. Useful idiots reign supreme.

We now see our elected officials on the floor of Congress debating who has come from the most humble background, as they wage a war on those greedy rich people in an effort to show how compassionate they are.

Inconsequential nobodies now have a shot at their 15 minutes of fame, from the attention seeking pastor who threatened to burn the Koran to the (shameful) couple who decided to put the question of whether to kill their fetus to an online vote. And let’s not forget the founder of Wikileaks, accused rapist Julian Assange, who has put brave lives at risk by his treasonous leak of classified documents.

A generation of baby boomers, brought up focused on their rights, as opposed to their responsibilities, have turned their gazes from their own navels to register faux disgust as they publicly opine about the current media anointed bad guys.

“I’m not rich,” they exclaim with pride, secretly pleased that their failure in life’s arena is not their fault any longer. “Those greedy capitalists are to blame.” Whew. It’s not my fault that I’m a loser. And if you dare to call me a loser, you’re being, gasp, judgmental – and everyone knows that’s a no-no.

America is becoming a nation of squeaky wheels. This race to the bottom is a boon to the stupid and lazy among us, as they shrug off the label of loser and adopt the coveted mantle of victim-hood. Thus relieving them of the need to work hard, attain goals, and become productive members of society.

But there’s a catch. The “woe is me” template just doesn’t play in Peoria.

Us rubes in flyover country understand that the political, intellectual and educational “elites” who still control and determine the national conversation, are comprised of less than 1% of America’s total population.

We understand that the elite’s template of victim-hood over merit is adopted only by life’s losers. And the majority of Americans aren’t losers.

Like myself, most Americans outside the beltway and away from life in the elite fast lane (the very ones who are paying their bills) still hold fast to traditional values. Values that are continually vilified by the old media. Values like pride of accomplishment, taking care of ourselves, and doing the right thing even when no-one is looking. And despite the media sneers, we continue to raise our children to believe in God over man.

For us rubes, respect still has to be earned, and we don’t give points for merely advocating the expenditure of other people’s money on the cause of the day. We rubes have not allowed the elites to redefine our language.

We have nothing but disgust for those who refuse to help themselves and are content to suck on the government tit. And we have only contempt for those among us who have succumbed to the politically correct notion that nothing is ever our fault. (Are you listening, Obama?)

We are ashamed of the notion of dependency and we abhor the concept of victim-hood that is being promoted by our elected officials as they seek media popularity and face time at the expense of their principles and sworn duty. For shame.

Here’s a news flash for those that celebrate victim-hood: You, indeed, are victims. Victims of a political system that seeks to foster dependency in order to accumulate more power. You are victims of a burgeoning grievance industry that seeks profit through promoting misery instead of rewarding virtue.

While the media might comfort you with the notion that you have value and everyone is your equal, the majority of Americans see you for what you are: useful idiots who have chosen the easy path of letting others define you. Weaklings who have willingly adopted standards set by others instead of tackling the much harder task of setting your own. And that is nothing to be proud of – no matter what they say on TV.

(This article was first published in American Thinker and was also posted at Right Bias.)

Articles written by Nancy Morgan
Tags: accomplishment, elites, grievances, PC, politicians, values, victimhood
Categories: Life, Media, Politics | Comments (10) | Home

10 Responses to “Woe Is Me!”

Clarissa | November 29th, 2010 at 7:09 am

This is very confusing. First, you bemoan the fact that achievement and success are vilified and then immediately proceed to vilify “the political, intellectual and educational “elites”” for their acievement and success. This makes your entire post sound like a severe case of sour grapes of someone who has not managed to become part of these “elites.”

Clarissa | November 29th, 2010 at 7:12 am

“In today’s America, feelings have replaced facts as our governing policy.”

-The funny thing is that this post offers not a single fact in support of any of its claims but is very heavy on emotion. When you say “Shame has been relegated to the back of the bus and squeaky wheels have been given the place of honor. Merit has been replaced by grievance mongers”, it would have been nice to see some factual proof of these statement from a stickler for the facts that you claim to be. As I always tell my students, such a massive use of the passive voice betrays the author’s incapacity to state clearly who is the active agent in these statements. Which makes for very weak, unconvincing writing.

Tom Carter | November 29th, 2010 at 12:52 pm

Clarissa, this is an opinion piece, not a research paper. Links, references, and a bibliography aren’t required. And passive voice (where it was used) is perfectly acceptable in cases where use of the universal, undefined “they” would be required to convert the statement into active voice.

Aside from all that, I pretty much agree with what Nancy says, and I’m sure many millions of other Americans also agree with her. We’re surrounded by rampant PC, educators begin teaching kids at an early age that no one is more accomplished at anything than anyone else and no one should think otherwise, all of the obvious differences between people are suppressed if there’s any implication that some favored group might be offended, redistribution of income is openly preached by the President and many in his Party, those who succeed in life are made into villains, and traditional values are smirked at.

There’s a massive backlash going on in the country, and the perceptions that Nancy expressed are the reason for it at base.

Clarissa | November 29th, 2010 at 12:57 pm

“We’re surrounded by rampant PC, educators begin teaching kids at an early age that no one is more accomplished at anything than anyone else and no one should think otherwise, all of the obvious differences between people are suppressed if there’s any implication that some favored group might be offended”

-By “we” you must mean Nancy and yourself because I’m not surrounded by anything even remotely similar. So I’ve got to ask, why do you choose to surround yourself with this and not with something else? 🙂 Also, with all due respect for your opinion, how many hours do you spend per week with educators who teach small kids? As for me, I spend at least 8 hours each week with them and have not observed anything like this.

Tom Carter | November 29th, 2010 at 7:50 pm

No, I don’t teach small kids, and I didn’t think you did, either. In any case, I read, listen to kids and their parents (some in my own family), and draw my own conclusions. I would also point out, gently as possible, that one who doesn’t see a problem that most other people see may be part of the problem. In any case, all educators and all kids aren’t in these kinds of situations, particularly if parents are lucky enough or smart enough to live in an area with high-quality public schools — or can afford private schools or home-schooling.

I don’t think there’s any denying that kids in many public schools are being taught by teachers who have agendas to sell that go beyond the curriculum and into indoctrination. Then they play in organized sports where winning is frowned upon if a team does it too often, where every player gets a trophy so none will appear to be better. They’re stroked and groomed and praised by misguided parents (as Jim has discussed), and in the end they think they’re brilliant, skilled, and deserving of everything life can give. Most of them are wrong, of course, and that’s why so many these days end up living in mom and dad’s basement well into their 20s, hoping the government will give them handouts and expecting to stay on their parent’s health insurance long after they should be independent working adults. (And no, it isn’t because of unemployment; this was going on long before the recession began.)

But…maybe I’m wrong, along with millions of other people who share the same perception. Anything’s possible.

Clarissa | November 29th, 2010 at 8:18 pm

” I would also point out, gently as possible, that one who doesn’t see a problem that most other people see may be part of the problem.”

-Since we are talking about our respect for hard facts, it would be great to see some statistics supporting your assertion that “most other people” agree with you and not with me. 🙂

I have to say, Tom, that the image I have of the young people in this country is a lot more positive than yours. I interact with young people every day and they are such a great generation. Motivated, smart, curious, hard-working – I just love today’s young people. They are our future and I think this future looks bright.

Brian | November 30th, 2010 at 5:16 am

Clarissa, ask any child (hell, even most adults) with whom you interact if recycling is beneficial. You’ll get a response with fervor generally only found in evangelical churches. The fact is, though, that in almost all cases, recycling uses more resources than simple solid waste disposal. Excepting aluminum, there is little or no economic or environmental benefit in recycling.

You can read about the actual facts of recycling (as opposed to the mythology espoused by so many, especially those of the Watermelon movement) here: 8 Myths of Recycling.

If you can handle the vulgarity, watch this episode of Penn and Teller’s Bullsh*t for even more debunking of the myths of recycling.

If neither one of those are enough for you, then Google or Bing “myths of recycling.”

The mythology taught to our children on recycling and many other subjects is no less astounding than the mythology of Zeus and the rest of the gods that was taught to Greek children 2500 years ago. This mythology is, in point of fact, indoctrination.

Michael | November 30th, 2010 at 3:45 pm

I have to say, Tom, that the image I have of the young people in this country is a lot more positive than yours. I interact with young people every day and they are such a great generation. Motivated, smart, curious, hard-working – I just love today’s young people. They are our future and I think this future looks bright.

I wonder which planet you are talking about and which young people…

Clarissa | December 1st, 2010 at 7:37 am

Brian: I live in Southern Illinois. Nobody recycles but there are many Evangelical churches. 🙂 🙂

Tom Carter | December 1st, 2010 at 8:02 am

I guess recycling is like other things that can be taken to the point of being counterproductive, especally when they become PC. The electric car is another example. From what I’m hearing now, the Chevy Volt gets poor mileage if you have to go a lot more than 40 miles, you have to make modifications at your house to handle the re-charging process that could cost a couple of thousand dollars, and emergency responders have to be trained to deal with the dangers of the batteries after an accident. Beyond that, if a large number of these things are sold, the impact on electricity consumption could be a big problem (and remember that much of our electricity is produced in coal-burning plants). Also let’s not forget ethanol and the resulting increase in the price of corn. Alas, what’s a greenie to do?

Clarissa, if I had to choose between recycling mania and a large number of Evangelical churches…well, go ahead and mark my garbage cans.