Sergey Sazonov on victimology and "privilege"

[posic]

"To put things into perspective. Just a few days ago I read an academic paper which compared libertarianism with feudalism and, basically, treated it like cancer needed to be purged. If asked to retract it claiming that it makes me feel "marginalized", etc. I would be rightfully laughed at my face.

For every person you can construct a narrative which turns him into an oppressed underdog (I am a Russian citizen and not a native English speaker which immediately makes me handicapped in comparison with every single African American). Conversely, for every person you can construct a narrative which puts him into a position of privilege (my parents were highly educated, loved each other and loved me which together is a huge predictor of social success).

This whole discourse is an epistemically sterile poison and a fuel for hatred."

https://www.facebook.com/sergey.sazonov.503/posts/860248334113637

https://www.facebook.com/posic/posts/1728892570458903

Comments

[posic.livejournal.com]

"Oh, you seem to suggest that oppression against Russian-speaking libertarians is not real? May be you want to make it invisible? Who are you to ridicule my suffering!? You are not a Russian-speaking libertarian yourself, you have no fucking idea, how I feel deep inside!

HOW DARE YOU!!!

Ok, first, the voice of people who are actually oppressed you will never hear by the very definition of oppression. If a person claim to be a victim of a "system" and yet is allowed to speak publicly, his victimhood is more or less a sham. In this broad sense every one is a victim in some sense.

Second, actual oppression is not "people do not like me, do not accept me, despise my lifestyle, disagree with my views". No one is entitled to any of this and cannot expect to receive it.

Actual oppression is "people kill me, people rob me, people imprison me". And it does happen to a lot of groups around the world, for example, to women in Saudi Arabia or to gays in Russia and Iran.

On the other hand, we are talking here about the publication of a paper in an academic journal - all the while Hilary Clinton took Saudite money and positioned herself as a women's champion - without being challenged on this by a single member of feminist community. Identity politics, professional feminism, BLM, etc are totally unrelated to an actual fight against actual oppression. It is just a use of victim status in a power struggle."

[posic.livejournal.com]

"I believe that there are objective criteria for oppression. It can be debated what are they and even if we are able to resolve the issue, there still will be borderline cases. But, on the other hand, it would allow to frame the debate rationally.

I also think that by far not all forms of misfortune and inequality are results of or signs of oppression. I am not a native English speaker, my family was rather poor, I have grown in a country where secondary education is rather sub-par. Together it made it pretty much impossible for me to get enrolled into an Ivy League college right after high school. By contrast, there are black students who were able to do exactly that. I do not believe, however, that it makes me "oppressed" and them - "privileged".

I contrast this position with an idea that any sense of social discomfort constitutes oppression. This is where celebrated minorities get it very wrong. They genuinely feel "marginalized", "estranged" of society because of their non-standard race or sexual orientation or whatever. What they do not get is that everyone feels the same in some aspect. Every single person is a member of some marginalized, ignored minority, often consisting of a single individual. This is our tragedy but it is also a thing which makes us human.

When I see how society reconstructs concepts of marriage and gender to accommodate to whims of a celebrated minority, I know full well that my own needs will never receive such a consideration because I cannot fight the PR battle on this level. I will freely admit that I feel anger and bitterness, even though I generally embrace the idea that the world is of necessity cruel and unjust. Imagine, however, how a typical uneducated white blue-collar worker would feel about that.

If you want to know why "right-wing populism" is on the rise - look no further :-)"