Too Many Victims and Lawyers

            I have a problem: I am an embarrassed (at least I’ve been told I should be) member of the privileged class. Let’s see. I am a straight, middle class, white male; I’ve been married only once and never divorced; I’m also a Christian and an American citizen; I have never felt victim of religious bigotry or discrimination in education, the workplace, or public accommodations. So, I have no need for a divorce lawyer, the ACLU, the EEOC, or a Civil Rights advocate.

            What else. I sleep under the roof of my own home, so I don’t need government housing assistance. I have a mortgage and make car payments every month, do not have insurmountable debts, and don’t owe the IRS any money. So, I don’t need welfare, Social Services, or a lawyer to plead for debt relief.

            Other than for a couple of speeding tickets, I have never been arrested for anything (but I did get stopped for jaywalking in Dallas once). So, I don’t need a criminal lawyer.

            I have not always been happy with my medical treatment, but I never thought it was the result of malpractice. And I do not have mesothelioma or any serious injury from an altercation, a fall, or an automobile accident. So, I am not much of a target for that segment of the legal profession that feeds off the physical misery of others.

            Now, I’ve had my share of bumps and bruises like everybody else. But I’ve never felt the urge to run to the nearest courthouse to claim that my rights (real or imaginary) had been violated. I’ve never felt aggrieved enough to protest in the streets. When I was a student, I never asked for a safe space free of offensive speech or ideas. I could have filed charges against someone who stole from me once, but never did because he had been my friend. A long time ago I could have reported inappropriate advances by a priest, but it never occurred to me to do so. In fact, I have never considered myself a victim. It never occurred to me.

            I suppose the courts and the legal profession exist for a good reason. There really are victims who need protection and ills that need to be redressed, just as there are bad people who deserve punishment. But we should all ask ourselves why we have allowed our country to become so suit crazy. Why do we have so many people who see themselves as victims in need of lawyers to make them whole? Why are words like inequality, discrimination, hate, and victimhood so prominent in our national discourse? I prefer to see Americans not as victims, but as beneficiaries of their country’s great abundance and limitless opportunity.