Honor, Dignity and Victimhood

The Art Of Manliness recently published a podcast about our society's move to a victim culture. It's worth a look if you're interested in this sort of thing. 

In Episode 153 Brett talks to two sociologists about honor and dignity. Honor in this context means having a reputation for physical courage and a willingness to retaliate. Honor cultures tend to form where the rule of law is thin on the ground. The Southern United States, for example, has a higher per capita incidence of violence than the North and it also (I think) has fewer police officers per capita. As a consequence honor is more a cultural feature in the South than in the North.

One might also point out that honor is more a feature of life in the West. Aggrieved ranchers in rural Oregon, for example, might see percieved abuses of power by the federal government as a matter of honor and in response stage an armed revolution. Not much law enforcement activity out in the vast open spaces of the West... I don't know how true that is, but there does seem to me to be something to it.

A dignity culture can develop where there is strong state authority. In a dignity culture serious insults or abuses are referred to the state, and minor slights and insults are ignored. The difference is that in an honor culture ignoring insults signals weakness and brings more abuse, while in contrast in a dignity culture ignoring minor slights is a sign of self-control and maturity. Responding in kind is undignified; it means lowering oneself to "their" level.

Most of us would much rather live in a dignity culture. In an honor culture things can get out of hand quickly. If a member of one group insults the member of another there will be violence. Then there will be an endless chain of revenge killings. Feuding, in other words. This broadly describes the behavior of street gangs and genocidal tribal conflicts. That's no good.

Much better to live under the rule of law. Stoicism developed under the rule of law, yes? Is Stoicism the product of civilization? Can people living in an honor culture be Stoic?

I think so, but there may be consequences. On the other hand perhaps a Stoic would recognize the need to function in an honor culture for the good of the tribe or clan. Stoics did soldier for their country, after all. Marcus Aurelius slaughtered a generation of Germans for Rome.

Brett brings up an interesting point in view of this; nation states function in an honor culture, not a dignity culture, even though within the state the citizens are expected to maintain a dignity culture.

On to victim cultures... the idea here is that words actually damage people. It's as if we all have a mental health score and people can reduce that score with things like micro agressions.

Micro aggressions are hidden aggressions against minorities and people of color. They range from genuinely rude behavior (such as asking a Caucasian woman if her darker skinned child is "really hers") to using terms like "politically correct." Political correctness is no longer politically correct. Being male and taking up too much space on a bus is a micro aggression. Stating that one is for meritocracy is a micro aggression. Wearing a kimono is a micro aggression. 

A victim culture combines honor and dignity cultures. Minor slights are dealt with harshly and instantly, as in an honor culture, but the retaliatory violence is done by the state rather than by the individual, as in a dignity culture. 

Claiming victimhood in victim cultures, then, actually brings status and power. Claims of victimhood are incentivized. Victims have the power to do violence to people without having to display physical courage. Violence for free!

Lying is also incentivized in victim cultures. Micro aggressions are given serious consideration when there aren't macro agressions to fight, but macro aggressions are preferable. Sometimes people make up macro aggressions. People lie and claim victimhood even when they haven't been victimized. Even when these hoaxes are made public the response from the victim culture is "yes, it was a hoax, but it raises a serious point."  

Brett's sociologist guests seem to assert that we generally live in a dignity culture, but that college campuses are often full-blown victim subcultures. 

Worth a look.