My must read of the day is "The Wannabe Oppressed," at National Review Online.
What do America’s college students want? They want to be oppressed. More precisely, a surprising number of students at America’s finest colleges and universities wish to appear as victims — to themselves, as well as to others — without the discomfort of actually experiencing victimization. Here is where global warming comes in. The secret appeal of campus climate activism lies in its ability to turn otherwise happy, healthy, and prosperous young people into an oppressed class, at least in their own imaginings. Climate activists say to the world, "I’ll save you." Yet deep down they’re thinking, "Oppress me." …
In this atmosphere, students cannot help wishing to see themselves as members of a persecuted group. Climate activism answers their existential challenges and gives them a sense of crusading purpose in a lonely secular world. The planet, as Bruckner would have it, is the new proletariat. Yet substitute "upper-middle-class" for "planet," and the progression of victimhood is explained. Global warming allows the upper-middle-class to join the proletariat, cloaking erstwhile oppressors in the mantle of righteous victimhood.
I do not believe global warming is a hoax. I believe human beings play a role in the warming of the Earth (a warming that’s been on pause for 15 years), but that humans are not the sole or even primary factor. I love the environment—I’m from Atlanta, Georgia, my parents now live in the mountains of northeast Georgia, and I’ve spent just enough time there to be spoiled by local produce and meats. I’m an obnoxious urbanite who loves anything organic, eats vegetarian or vegan at least 4 times a week, rarely eats red meat, and shuns pork.
Still, I have never been able to understand the fervent passions of the climate activists. How people can find such a deep attachment to such an abstract cause has always been beyond my comprehension. The argument considered in this piece makes a lot of sense.
What does it say about our society, and about the Millennial generation, that we only find value from victimhood? We seem not able to stand up for the oppressed unless we count ourselves among them. Are we really that intellectually stunted that we lack the ability to articulate our beliefs without creating a false reality? Or have our childhoods been so privileged that our lives as young adults are defined by perverse guilt?
This is a fascinating article that’s worth a read. Plus, it will give you a little break from all the shutdown-debt ceiling-default talk, and I think we all could use that.