Victimhood Fragility: 4 Ways We’re Weakening Our Bodies, Minds, and Culture

Abraham Lincoln shared the following words in 1838: At what point then is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer, if it ever reach us, it must spring up amongst us. It cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide. Abraham Lincoln, Lyceum Address, 1838 If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. Interestingly, the Civil War didn't take place until 1861, the same year Lincoln became President. And even though his speech above foreshadowed the Civil War, the words are possibly more relevant today than they were back then. As individuals and as a culture, you could argue that we've never been as weak or as fragile as we are today. Article ShortcutsThe Great AweakeningWhat Does It Mean To Be "Strong?"4 Ways We're Weakening Our Bodies, Minds, and Culture1. Competitive Vulnerability2. Echo Chambers & Anti-Tribes3. Microaggression4. Stress AvoidanceBuild Strength Or Succumb To Weakness The Great Aweakening How have we become so weak in body, mind, and culture? Why is there so much focus on what's bad about life today when things are actually pretty good? There’s an anonymous saying that goes like this: Bad times make strong men. Strong men make good times. Good times make weak men. Weak men make bad times. You might scoff at the idea that things are good, but they actually are. In almost every measure of humanity, from the percentage of the population that's poor, to the rates of crime and disease, life is better today than at any other time in history. You might feel conflicted about this idea that "things are good." Perhaps, prior to reading this article, you were just scrolling through your Facebook newsfeed and read how depressed a friend felt about needing to go back to work after vacation, how someone else was struggling to make it through her first day on a diet, and how a co-worker felt slighted for the barista misspelling his name again. We're surrounded by first-world problems that, in the grand scheme, are quite unimportant. But we stress out and lose sleep over them, nonetheless. If it's hard for you believe that life for most people is "pretty good," it's probably related to your negativity instinct, a skewed perspective of reality. In his book Factfulness, Hans Rosling explains the negativity instinct as "our instinct to notice the bad more than the good." It is based on "the misremembering of the past; selective reporting by journalists and activists (and bloggers and social media personalities, in my opinion); and the feeling that as long as things are bad, it's heartless to say they are getting better." When things are generally good, our minds keep searching for problems to solve. If we don't find problems to solve, we have a way of making them up. If you're hung up on the fact that the quote above references strong men, you're proving that point. The quote was written when "men" was synonymous with "mankind," men and women. Sometimes we make a big deal out of something because the drama gives us a an emotional jolt and a reason to complain. We make the good times bad because we lose perspective of what the bad times are really like...famine, war, poverty, etc. The tone and attitude of a growing percentage of adults is frightening, as it showcases a culture of weakness and victimhood, rather than strength and responsibility. In this article, I cover four ways we're weakening our bodies, minds, and culture as a whole. I hope to create more awareness of the problem, so you start to see it in social media posts, on the news, and in everyday language. Perhaps, you'll realize some of your thinking and action even contributes to the victimhood culture becoming so prominent today. I also hope that you, the person reading this, take responsibility as a grownup and citizen,