"Victimism"

An exaggerated or selective enforcement of tolerance, or "sensitivity," can easily become a pretext for new forms of oppression.  The prime oppressive ideology in current America is termed "political correctness," the foundation of which is the view that the greatest sins are intolerance and insensitivity.  Philosophically, political correctness has links to Marxism, but I prefer to give it the more generic label of "victimism."  The basic premise of victimism is that society is divided into two categories of persons, victims and oppressors.  The oppressors are always wrong, and the victims are always right.  The goal of political activity (and everything is deemed to be political) is to disempower the oppressors and to empower the victims, often so that they can do some oppressing of their own.  Anyone who has spent much time in one of our great universities will know what I mean. Rules that were formerly thought to be absolute, such as freedom of thought and expression, are discarded whenever the victims' interests so demand.  An oppressor who says something that offends a designated victim is sentenced to sensitivity training, but the victims may abuse the oppressors all they like.

Victimism is supposedly based on a passion for tolerance, but the passion lasts only until the victims have enough power to turn on the oppressors.  Under the rules of victimism, tolerating the oppressors is absurd.  Of course, this philosophy is self-contradictory.  If the victims truly were victims, they would not be given the extraordinary advantages that victim status confers.  The designated "victims" really are victimized in another sense, however; because often the effect of the philosophy is to keep the victims in a state of dependency so they can be manipulated by demagogues.  People who are festering with resentment for real and imagined grievances can be persuaded that their welfare depends on following bullies and extortionists who promise to wrest concessions from the oppressors.


Phillip E. Johnson, The Right Questions: Truth, Meaning & Public Debate, p.122