Michael Mitchell: Archive

"Trevor Noah is a great, relevant young comic, and Comedy Central is smart to stand by him. I read the tweets he was 'under fire' for, and some were funny, some weren't. The thread that connected them all for me is the embarrassment I feel for anyone claiming to be offended by them. They weren't vicious or written to be harmful. And everyone reading them knows that. But knowing his tweets weren't intended to be harmful isn't important when people who list 'victim' as their occupation smell blood in the water. Because their outrage is a lie and their motives are transparent. They are simply using his tweets to get their dopamine drip."

--Jim Norton, Trevor Noah Isn't The Problem. You Are.

I admire Jim Norton for honestly speaking his mind while on the minority side of an immoral majority, but I disagree with his ultimate conclusion. Though it seems he's trying to bravely take a stand against a much bigger opponent, he does his cause a disservice by pulling his punches.

We're not addicted to outrage. We don't enjoy feeling offended, not even pretentiously. What we enjoy, what we need -- when we smear, bash and "hate on" others for any reason -- is moral superiority.

Unfortunately, some people think they get a boost in self-esteem when they compare themselves to someone who deserves less. It's deplorable, but understandable. Self-esteem is a fundamental human need. People with low self-esteem, i.e., people who do not value themselves highly enough, don't feel like they deserve to be happy. The ones that don't jump off bridges merely learn ways to fake it. One way is to smear and bash others.

By their own choice, such people are culturally and politically inconsequential and insignificant, and devoting an article to their "addiction to outrage" is equally so. The real problem is hatred and discrimination and any negative form of judgment is considered taboo, except when it is directed towards those who practice hatred and discrimination and any negative form of judgment. We're not allowed to hate someone because of their race or sexual preference, but we are encouraged to hate those who do.

The only thing political correctness has changed is the object of the lynch mob's hatred. And that's not very inclusive, if you ask me. As long as no one's rights are violated, we should all be able to love, hate or ignore whomever we please. We need to rediscover the virtue of justice -- not "equality," justice.