America, land of the free, home of the victim

[99 pewtercoupe]

America: Home of the free, land of the victim? | Fox News

By John Stossel
·Published September 30, 2015

The world has enough real problems without declaring everyone a “victim.”

Bill Clinton says Hillary is a victim of a right-wing conspiracy.

Lindsay Lohan, when jailed for driving drunk and breaking parole, says she’s a victim of cruel and unusual punishment.

Michael Sam says his NFL career would have gone better had he not come out as gay.


We change people’s character by teaching them that “victimhood” is a way to get attention and moral status.

A Philadelphia dentist caught groping his patients’ breasts said he is a victim of frotteurism, a disease that compels you to fondle breasts. Really.

People benefit by playing the victim.

Activists look for people they can declare victims, to bring attention to their causes.

The New York Times once called the Super Bowl the “Abuse Bowl,” claiming that during the game many more women are abused than usual because their men get crazed watching violence. CBS called Super Bowl Sunday a “day of dread.” The Boston Globe claimed a study showed calls to anti-violence emergency lines go up 40 percent during the game.

Then Ken Ringle of the Washington Post tried to trace those claims.

The Globe reporter admitted she never saw the study in question but got the numbers from the left-wing group Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting. FAIR said they got them from a psychiatrist on “Good Morning America.” That psychiatrist referred callers to another psychiatrist, who said, “I haven't been any more successful than you in tracking down any of this.”

The “Super Bowl victim” claim was bunk.

Sometimes I feel like a victim. I stutter. Had today's disability laws existed when I began work, would I have fought to overcome my stuttering? Maybe not. I might have sued Fox, demanding they “accommodate my disability” by giving me a non-speaking job. Maybe I would have just stopped working and collected a disability check.

I also felt like a victim the day I taped a TV report on how pro wrestling is fake, and a wrestler beat me up, hitting me on both ears.

Weeks afterward, loud noises hurt my ears. Someone then said that that the wrestler’s boss, Vince McMahon, told him to hit me, so I sued McMahon.

As part of the lawsuit, McMahon’s lawyers demanded I see a certain doctor, who told me, “Your ear pain is a jurosomatic illness."

“What’s that?” I said.

He answered, "Jurosomatic ... like psychosomatic. You hold onto your ear pain because you’re involved in a lawsuit.”

I was furious. I screamed at him, “You haven’t even examined me, and you make this accusation?”

But guess what? After the World Wrestling Federation settled the lawsuit and paid me, my ear pain slowly went away. Was I holding onto pain because litigation kept reminding me that I was a victim?

Maybe.

It makes me wonder about those well-intended government programs meant to help the disabled. Social Security disability money used to go to blind people, people in wheelchairs, people clearly disabled.

But now billions go to people who say they’re disabled by things like headaches and back pain. Disability payments have increased so much that the program will soon go broke.

But the increase in payments makes no sense.

Medicine improved since 1990. People do less hard manual labor. There should be fewer disabled people. Why are there more?

Perhaps it’s jurosomatic pain? Or government-handout-omatic pain?

Some people are just inclined to complain, and the modern welfare state encourages that. Lawyers made it worse by encouraging people to sue, rather than strive . That changed America.

When you reward something, you get more of it.

We change people’s character by teaching them that “victimhood” is a way to get attention and moral status.

Our ancestors never would have accomplished much if they’d labeled themselves victims. They crossed oceans and the prairie knowing that many people on the journey would die.

Some of them really did end up being victims. But they were proud of striving, not proud of being victimized. They accomplished far more because of it.

[DAB]

i faced some hefty medical bills a few years ago, even after insurance paid their share. not once did i complain, whine, beg, set up a gofundme page.....i just hunkered down and figured out how to pay what i owed. and i did.

one very generous member here sent me an unsolicited check toward those expenses.

everyone suffers at some point in their life, how you respond to those trials shows your character.

[syf350]

friend of mine, local lawyer, just started a shitstorm on facebook, even made the news, for calling out the vets (not the legitimate ones) that are milking the disability system.

[DAB]

there are regular radio commercials here, some lawyer type telling you that he does great work getting you the disability payments you 'deserve'....pretty sure the catch is that he banks the first few months of money for his fee, then you get your 'free' money.

wonder if i could qualify based on my medical history?

[99 pewtercoupe]

Originally Posted by DAB

there are regular radio commercials here, some lawyer type telling you that he does great work getting you the disability payments you 'deserve'....pretty sure the catch is that he banks the first few months of money for his fee, then you get your 'free' money.

wonder if i could qualify based on my medical history?

There is a car dealer here who says they will get you the car "you deserve". Makes me want to puke every time I hear their ads on the radio

[DAB]

mikey Ds: 'you deserve a break today' that sounds so much better than "stop by and eat one of our crummy burgers, fat laden fries, and sugar filled drinks"

fear, greed, envy....all powerful motivators and used to sell all manner of stuff.

you can always say no.

[erickpl]

Originally Posted by 99 pewtercoupe

There is a car dealer here who says they will get you the car "you deserve". Makes me want to puke every time I hear their ads on the radio

If people got the car they deserved, there would be a LOT more 1975 Ford Pinto's with wood paneling driving around...

Just sayin'...

Be careful when you ask for what you deserve... it may not be what you think.

I just want my 1976 Chevy Monte Carlo back.

[RedLS1GTO]

Originally Posted by syf350

friend of mine, local lawyer, just started a shitstorm on facebook, even made the news, for calling out the vets (not the legitimate ones) that are milking the disability system.

And anybody who has ever dealt with that system would agree with him. I know more people than I can count that within a window of getting out started seeing doctors for all sorts of stuff so they could write it down and get paid on their way out. The worst is the crap you can't prove... headaches, ringing ears, etc.

When I got out I had both the docs as well as those working for the VA trying to get me to claim all sorts of sh*t to get as much disability money as possible. I actually had to fight with people to say I DIDN'T have things wrong with me. The whole system is insane.

[Iron Chef]

Originally Posted by RedLS1GTO

When I got out I had both the docs as well as those working for the VA trying to get me to claim all sorts of sh*t to get as much disability money as possible. I actually had to fight with people to say I DIDN'T have things wrong with me. The whole system is insane.

When my Dad got out, he got a thank you letter from President Truman.

[04 commemorative]

Originally Posted by syf350

friend of mine, local lawyer, just started a shitstorm on facebook, even made the news, for calling out the vets (not the legitimate ones) that are milking the disability system.

I know 3 vets that are getting a ton of $ they don't deserve,sad that it happens.