Evidence of America’s disturbing trend toward mutually assured victimhood is everywhere, but if you’re looking for a useful recent example, Sarah Palin’s ill-considered libel lawsuit against the New York Times will do well. | John Minchillo/AP Photo
By Vivek Ramaswamy
09/12/2022 10:00 AM EDT
Vivek Ramaswamy is an American entrepreneur and author of the upcoming book Nation of Victims: Identity Politics, the Death of Merit, and the Path Back to Excellence.
This excerpt is adapted from Nation of Victims: Identity Politics, the Death of Merit, and the Path Back to Excellence (Center Street) to be published on Sept. 13.
It was a dark day for democracy. The loser of the election refused to concede the race, claimed the election was stolen, raised hundreds of millions of dollars from loyal supporters, and is running for executive office again.
I’m referring, of course, to Stacey Abrams. To this day, even as Abrams campaigns for governor again in the 2022 election, she still refuses to concede that she lost the last one.
But conservatives have their own victimhood complexes these days; we are, after all, a nation of victims now. All that differs is whom we see as our oppressors. The worst victimhood narrative that afflicts modern conservatives is their budding belief that any election they lose must have been stolen. Instead of distinguishing ourselves as the party that strives for excellence and rejects the easy path of victimhood narratives, we simply created our own.
While...
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