
Victims become addicted to being victims
Please consider the following quote and place your thoughts about it within your reply: quote]
"Zealotry of either kind -- the puritan's need to regiment others or the victim's passion for blaming everyone except himself -- tends to produce a depressing civic stupidity. Each trait has about it the immobility of addiction. Victims become addicted to being victims: they derive identity, innocence and a kind of devious power from sheer, defaulting helplessness. On the other side, the candlesnuffers of behavioral and political correctness enact their paradox, accomplishing intolerance in the name of tolerance, regimentation in the name of betterment."-- Lance Morrow (1939-) Essayist, professor[/quote]
I tend to agree, in fact, one can choose to become a victim, even if not originally, or also when something besets them suddenly, and really is beyond their control - from violence to losing loved ones, disease, etc.
They take the helpless victim path - the "I can't do anything, I'm too wounded to function, someone take care of me, give me this little corner of the world and let me be." If it works, if you're able to start on it, get some of the expected response, then it is very easy to "become addicted" to being a victim, though I think of it more as being in your comfort zone, it is the easiest of the options, even if it involves taking away (or giving away) some personal freedom or rights or ability to do things for oneself, in exchange for stability and maybe even dependence.
I'm not clear on how the second part of that quote ties in with victims, so I can't really comment on it.
Unfortunately, that's because its all they know - how to be a victim. Outside help is the only thing that can pull them away and sometimes it just doesn't work and predators love that.