that had me nodding in agreement from the opening sentence to virtually
the closing word.
The book's entitled “Drawing Life,” and it was written by David Gerlernter
who, as a faculty member at Yale received a package in the mail from the
Unabomber. He survived the resulting explosion, but lost part of his right
hand and part of the sight in his right eye.
Here's how the review opened, more or less:
Historians of the future will doubtless note with bafflement that towards
the end of the 20th century, Americans ceased to esteem courage and chose
instead to embrace victimhood. It was done with the best of intentions.
But good intentions are no excuse for bad ideas.
The review opened that way because of the book's major theme: namely that
by lowering the bars of expectation because of race, ethnicity, gender,
and so on for those who struggle against great odds because of those factors,
we devalue their achievements and make it easier for them to succumb to
self-pity. “When you encourage a man to see himself as a victim of anything
— crime, poverty, bigotry, bad luck, whatever — you're piling bricks on
his chest” was the way the author put it.
The book also details what he suffered, because of the letter bomb he
received, and how he overcame his injuries, both physical and mental. As
André Malraux would have put it: “He didn't return from hell with
empty hands.”
So the next time you think of meddling in someone's life by unilaterally
imposing upon him or her the status of victimhood, especially someone you
don't even know, think again. Not only could you be destroying his or her
sense
of self-esteem, you may be interfering with his or her destiny as well.
Think about it. |
