A self-identity built on victimhood collapses in a world that is actually safe.

Evidence

For the children manqués, the site they occupy in the world, from which they view the world and in which they want to be viewed by the world, is that of martyrdom; but it so happens that they are not, nor have been, personally, the butt of anybody’s wrath and wrongdoing. The world seems reluctant to harm them and make them suffer, and under the circumstances such a world is too good to be true – since the reality of a harmless world means the irreality of a life which derives its sense from the harm done to it and the harm yet to be done. — Zygmunt Bauman, Modernity and the Holocaust, 676

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines ‘children manqués’ — those who claim inheritance of victimhood without personally suffering.
• XREF: connects to: Self-deception is a stable life-style punctuated by abrupt awakenings

Broader Connections

• Self-deception is a stable life-style punctuated by abrupt awakenings #complicates (0.72)