A Nation Of Victims

“ A Nation of Victims? ”

We the people (all of whom are the makeup of this society) seem to go about our lives in "happy faced" denial as we pretend that each next tragedy didn't happen.

High School kids get gunned down by their peers; the administrators redecorate the interior of the building (where the events occurred), the community reopens the doors and the school holds a Pep Rally - yet the speakers at that hyped-up rededication made no mention of those who died! The message, the values... we seem to transmit to those children is "don't acknowledge losses, don't grieve the victims". (Weren't the survivors victims too?) No, no, "Get past it"... get on to shooting three-point hoops instead: the College Degree, a cash-cow Job, and your first BMW". They already know the priorities: team sports, a fast car, beer parties, dating, sex, and maybe a passing grade or two. Should we really be shocked by the questions, "What's in it for me?", and "Where's the money?". What's the difference between a 3D shoot-em-up video game and the attack system aboard an F16 slinging missiles in the Far East? On average, life is made out to be cheap (and so is such talk).

As a people, we simply want closure on everything so badly that we turn ourselves into "emotional deserts" to do so. Even the word "closure" has become trendy and plastic (along with a number of others popularized by the X-Generation). Words like, "proactive". That one is so over-used, it's to the point of becoming just so much knee-jerk "blah-blah-blah". It's one that once meant active involvement. Those who over-use it are often quite adept at neatly (and quietly) sidestepping their responsibilities (active involvement) - as they return to the comfort zone of pre-approved, low APR, "creditcard" superficiality. Aren't we becoming like automata who are increasingly preprogrammed to "love like we've never been hurt", "dance like nobody's watching" - but who cry "bio-engineered" tears of superficial sincerity ?

The truth is, we have become a nation of victims (who have forgotten how to grieve).