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Good book, worth the read about our society.
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A Nation of Victims: The Decay of the American Character
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One of the most talked-about books in years, A Nation of Victims established Charles Sykes as a persuasive, witty, and controversial commentator on American life and society. The plaint of the victim-- It's not my fault -- has become the loudest and most influential voice in America, an instrument of personal and lasting political change.
* Fired for consistently showing up late for work, a former school district employee sues, claiming he is a victim of "chronic lateness syndrome."
* Videotaped puffing on a pipe filled with crack cocaine, Washington, D.C., Mayor Marion Barry claims he is a victim of racism.
* In 1960, fewer than 100,000 lawsuits were filed in federal courts; in 1990, more than 250,000 were filed.
In this incisive, pugnacious, frequently hilarious book, Charles Sykes examines the erosion of our society and offers hope in the prospect of a culture of renewed character.
* Fired for consistently showing up late for work, a former school district employee sues, claiming he is a victim of "chronic lateness syndrome."
* Videotaped puffing on a pipe filled with crack cocaine, Washington, D.C., Mayor Marion Barry claims he is a victim of racism.
* In 1960, fewer than 100,000 lawsuits were filed in federal courts; in 1990, more than 250,000 were filed.
In this incisive, pugnacious, frequently hilarious book, Charles Sykes examines the erosion of our society and offers hope in the prospect of a culture of renewed character.
289 pages, Paperback
First published September 1,1992
This edition
- Format
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289 pages, Paperback
- Published
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September 1, 1992 by St. Martin's Press
- ISBN
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9780312098827
- ASIN
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0312098820
- Language
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English
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Rating(3.9 / 5.0, 13 votes)
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During the tyranny of “feeling”, “logic” diminishes. When feeling is sufficient to be on the right side, one doesn’t need any persuasive argument. Instead, one rushes to provoke feelings by being a VICTIM.
The irony: deep down, he is happy to be a victim...!!!
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Humans are storyteller, and big substitution happens when the story replaces the fact. As it happens for victimization, which narrates a very compelling story.
And who dares to question well accepted taboos? The are our best stories.
The irony: deep down, he is happy to be a victim...!!!
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Humans are storyteller, and big substitution happens when the story replaces the fact. As it happens for victimization, which narrates a very compelling story.
And who dares to question well accepted taboos? The are our best stories.
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Everyone needs to read this.
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Although this is written by a republican and I disagree with MANY of the things he says, especially in the second half of the book. I DO agree with his premise in that we have created too much of a nation of victims that absolves people of any responsibility and we have given victimhood to much power. what ever happened to recovering from being a victim and moving onto to empowerment and being a survivor and thriver. And a victimhood stance creates too much litigation. I believe perpetrators should be held accountable, but when we dilute victimhood to EVERYTHING, we minimize the real egregious acts of violence and oppression. Like addiction. If we make EVERYTHING an addiction (shopping, sex, etc), then we can say we have no control over ourselves and are thereby absolved of any wrong doing. I think that's a cop-out.
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Fascinating!
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Charles Sykes may be the biggest victim of all. He preaches an ethic of responsibility and self-reliance, typical radio friendly Rush Limbaugh conservatism, but he cheated on his wife before leaving her and in 2016 joined the Never Trump train. Everything he said was a lie and the fact is he is a privileged little prep school boy who doesn't know what it means to work your way up from nothing. And today he is a sad little radio show host who is not in any way of even a little consequence.
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Very much a text book, this could be hard to stay engaged with at times. The conversational tone and well placed commentary were appreciated and helped. It's very rare that I like cynical or efforts-to-be-funny in a book like this, but it was pretty well done here. The most interesting thing about the book was how far ahead of the curve Sykes was writing - if this book was published in 1992 and he was dismayed, my God had no idea what the new century was going to bring! But the concerns hold true, decades later!
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Anything brought to its outer limits; way beyond the 10th standard deviation reaches absurdity. So true with tort cases. We've all heard about the fortunes awarded to folks burned by hot coffee, but how many of the millions of people whose lives were ruined or terminated by the ravages, the greed, of the chemical / fossil fuel / pharmaceutical / automobile companies have we heard about? Those who never saw a restorative penny?
Well this book is all about the hot coffee group. And anybody who complains, (ignoring any of the millions in the latter group, who never saw recompense for the damage done) are lazy, gratuitous "victims".
That's it. Now you don't have to read this.
Well this book is all about the hot coffee group. And anybody who complains, (ignoring any of the millions in the latter group, who never saw recompense for the damage done) are lazy, gratuitous "victims".
That's it. Now you don't have to read this.
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