As with so many US products, the idea of victimhood as a form of social capital has taken hold here in Australia too.
It’s a tough one, because it’s obviously arisen in response to a (now old-fashioned, and perhaps flawed) idea that people should maintain a ‘stiff upper lip’ in response to hardship. That is, they shouldn’t talk about it, they should process it, and get on with their lives. While this approach probably works for many, for others it doesn’t.
That said, we now have a situation in both our countries where, notwithstanding genuine cases of ‘trauma’, many (often middle class) people cynically use claims of hardship as a way of gaining status and prestige.
I think about whether there’s a middle ground and I’m not sure there is. For example, if we were to consider ‘trauma’ or ‘hardship’ as part of a suite of other considerations in (say) an admissions process, we inevitably end up with situations in which people ‘miss out’ despite their ‘trauma’, which to many, would be to essentially disregard it.
Ultimately, the problem I think is the idea of ‘equity’, which is at the heart of the matter. I’m totally on board with something like ‘equality of opportunity’, but the more I think about it, the more I realise that the pursuit of equity is doomed and dangerous.
As with so many US products, the idea of victimhood as a form of social capital has taken hold here in Australia too.
It’s a tough one, because it’s obviously arisen in response to a (now old-fashioned, and perhaps flawed) idea that people should maintain a ‘stiff upper lip’ in response to hardship. That is, they shouldn’t talk about it, they should process it, and get on with their lives. While this approach probably works for many, for others it doesn’t.
That said, we now have a situation in both our countries where, notwithstanding genuine cases of ‘trauma’, many (often middle class) people cynically use claims of hardship as a way of gaining status and prestige.
I think about whether there’s a middle ground and I’m not sure there is. For example, if we were to consider ‘trauma’ or ‘hardship’ as part of a suite of other considerations in (say) an admissions process, we inevitably end up with situations in which people ‘miss out’ despite their ‘trauma’, which to many, would be to essentially disregard it.
Ultimately, the problem I think is the idea of ‘equity’, which is at the heart of the matter. I’m totally on board with something like ‘equality of opportunity’, but the more I think about it, the more I realise that the pursuit of equity is doomed and dangerous.