The danger of raising a generation of victims

by Stephen Kastner, for The Sceptical Stoic

I’ve heard several people say that Carmelo Anthony is guilty of murder because he brought a knife to a fist fight. That simple observation stuck with me ever since I first heard it.

Whatever else may be true about the case, a young man is dead because another young man made a choice to escalate a confrontation into a killing. Anthony is responsible for that decision, and nothing in this essay should be read as an attempt to excuse it.

What interests me is a different question. What are we teaching young people about themselves and their place in the world?

Over the past several decades, many educators, activists, media organizations, and political leaders have encouraged young people to view themselves through the lens of identity. Race, class, gender, and other group affiliations are increasingly presented as the primary forces shaping a person’s opportunities, challenges, and place in society.

There is some truth that circumstances matter, families matter, communities matter, and history matters. The problem begins when those influences are treated as destiny, and when personal responsibility is pushed aside in favor of grievance and blame.

A person who comes to believe that every setback is caused by forces beyond their control eventually stops looking inward. Responsibility gives way to resentment. The world becomes divided between victims and oppressors, and personal agency begins to vanish.

This is not a problem confined to one side of the political spectrum. The political left often frames people as victims of systems and structures. The political right can be equally guilty of encouraging people to blame cultural enemies, political opponents, or social decline for every frustration they experience. The particulars differ, but the habit of mind is remarkably similar.

When people are taught that someone else is responsible for their unhappiness, anger becomes all too easy. Self-examination begins to feel unnecessary.

The Stoics approached life from a different angle. They understood that human beings do not control most of what happens to them. We do not choose our families, our circumstances, or many of the events that shape our lives. What we do control is how we respond.

That distinction matters.

A healthy society should acknowledge injustice where it exists. It should seek to understand the forces that shape human behavior. But it should also be careful not to undermine the idea of personal responsibility in the process.

Understanding why someone made a destructive choice is not the same thing as excusing it.

Carmelo Anthony chose to bring a knife to a fist fight. By the time the confrontation occurred, the beliefs, influences, and attitudes that had shaped his character were already firmly in place. The knife did not appear out of nowhere. Neither did the mindset that made using it seem like a justifiable response.

If we truly believe people are predetermined by forces beyond their control, then victimhood ideology wins completely. The individual disappears. All that remains are systems, influences, and circumstances.

The real lesson of the Carmelo Anthony case is that a free society cannot survive on that premise. Circumstances matter. Culture matters. Influence matters. But unless individuals remain responsible for their choices, responsibility itself becomes meaningless.