The Currency of Victimhood, Oppression Olympics, I am Doughnut Man

"As soon as you look at the world through an ideology you are finished. No reality fits an ideology. Life is beyond that. … That is why people are always searching for a meaning to life… Meaning is only found when you go beyond meaning. Life only makes sense when you perceive it as mystery and it makes no sense to the conceptualizing mind."
— Anthony de Mello

Good morning, good evening, good afternoon, or whenever you are finding these words from a man of color. Today I am identifying as Olive. I think I have been lazy calling myself white, there are multiple skin tones. Based upon my tan and feeling of the day, I will be adjusting my color moving forward.

I had my board meeting yesterday, we had a new fellow join, his name was Matt, a digital marketing fellow with a large business, a nice man, I think he will add to our group, we will vote and see if he is a fit, he’s a good egg, I’ll turn my thumb up.  

There is much happening in the business world, yes, there are some supply chain issues, but we are all doing well, some having their best year ever, it is a fun time to own a business. I wrapped up my board meeting and did some project work, pushing my Ted Talk forward, I will work a little each day trying to craft a suitable message for the masses.

Cousin headed back home, he had to work and then will return this weekend and hang out to enjoy our daughter’s wedding. I have one job; I oversee picking up the doughnuts the day of the wedding and getting them there. I am not a doughnut guy so that is why I was selected; we have some in our family that might want to evaluate the “merch.”

I am trying a new editor today, you might be shocked I use an editor, I use an A.I. editor called Grammarly most days, but today I am opting to use WORD’s built-in tool, it is giving me a different tone, I thought I would try it out. I have noticed I use the word “some” a lot, I will be more aware of that moving forward.

Some days I have a militant mindset, today I am feeling a little folksy. I will not try to push buttons; I will try and keep your blood pressure low. I often wonder why if someone gets angry with my work why they keep coming back, but I do have my critics and they make me a better man. I have this silly trait called love of all, I suggest you try it, it is a wonderful way to live. Love all, but don’t stray from your ideas or principles.

About 5:20, we walked to Blue Beards restaurant, it is a James Beard Award winner. If ever in Indy, you might want to add that to your list. We met Tom, Judy, and Mark, this was our first in-person meeting after many emails and a Zoom or two. Lovely people in our industry, we had a nice dinner. Of course, I gave some vinyl love and a copy of my new book, standard-issue gifts these days for beautiful people. We got home, had a nice glass of red before retiring, and got 9 hours of beautiful sleep.

I did have a few dreams, I went back to college, it seemed like a liberal arts place, I asked what it was called and was told “Ren-Ski.”  My next mountain will be to create a school. I had a warm feeling in the dream, I thought, this is going to be cool! The building was incredibly old, and I kept getting lost, but finding some amazing spaces in that piqued my interest. My dreams have been vivid lately, I like to dream.

Occasionally I will have a friend shoot me an idea for my daily word soup, Jeremy asked me if I could pen a few thoughts on the currency of victimhood. So, for you my friend, here’s my “two sense” on victimhood and its so-called currency.

It seems to me there is a hierarchy of victimhood.  You get points based on how many boxes you can check in the Oppression Olympics.  If you are not oppressed, you have no points and thus you have no status or stature of being a victim.  Perceived white males are exempt from the “OO”, we have every right, light, and benefit given by something bigger than ourselves.

People born with a vagina get a point.  People with various skin tones can get a point or two as can people of small stature.  There is a word for these folks, but I will keep this one clean. People that identify as gay, bi, tri, “Y” and “Z” get a point and transgender people I think get the most points.  Income does not seem to come into the equation. Sorry poor people in Appalachia, you get no points.

The points can be used in society as currency.  If you have a point or two, you are entitled to benefits that others are not.  As an example, you may use words that others cannot use.  Why? I am still trying to figure that one out.  You might get a promotion based on your points, forget about the best person for the job, give the job to the person with the most currency.

We are moving to a point in society where hard work, ability, and one’s achievements are discounted.  Diversity is a big buzzword these days and I’m a supporter of having a diverse collection of people, but let’s not forget the diversity of ideology, it’s important to have people with all different values and opinions to round out any group, company, or movement.  If an entity all has the same views, it is doomed to fail.

During his run for president, President Brandon made a little error in saying “my running mate will be a woman of color.”  Throw out the idea that his running mate should be the best person for the job, someone that could unite and lead our country knowing that person is one breath away from being the leader of the free world.  His choice was a celebration of “the first black woman to ever hold the office.”

The problem is his choice had run a poor campaign, called him a racist, sexist, and was not a good politician.  Her poll numbers today are the worst in the history of the country, she is usually held up in a bunker away from the public eye only getting to see the sun when something big happens and she gets to stand 6 feet masked behind President Brandon.

So, my example for victim currency is the second most powerful position in the world.  She gets a point for being a woman, a point for her skin tone, other possibilities only had one point.  Poor Pete, a white guy, but gay, only had one point, Amy Klobuchar and Elizabeth Warren only had one.  Now Elizabeth tried and did claim she was an Indian due to her cheekbones, but that was fact-checked “wrong.”  Sorry Liz, but nice try. 

Well, Jeremy is this what you were thinking, or did I miss the mark.  When I think victimhood, I think life is not fair, but life is just.  If you want special attention or gifts based on anything other than your contribution to society, you are doing it wrong.  Work hard, use your mind, body, and intellectual talents to secure your best seat at the table.  For the rest of us olive penis-born folks, we’ll be at the kid’s table.

"As soon as you look at the world through an ideology you are finished. No reality fits an ideology. Life is beyond that. … That is why people are always searching for a meaning to life… Meaning is only found when you go beyond meaning. Life only makes sense when you perceive it as mystery and it makes no sense to the conceptualizing mind."
— Anthony de Mello