Social Justice Warriors and the Savior

Popular in My College Days

When I was in college, political correctness was just starting to make the rounds of campuses in the United States. On my campus it was barely noticeable, and the "activism" of the time seemed forced or maybe anachronistic, sort of a 60's revival which was taking place during the Reagan/Bush/Clinton years where the dominant theme of the day was revitalization of the United States economy through tech.

Today's iteration of student activism on campus seems to be PC version 2. The social justice warriors are energized by the string of shootings and beatings by police that took place in recent years. The SJW's are making noise all over the country.

One aspect of the SJW movement that's interesting to me is how it seems to be imbued with an outsider/savior concept, that is, anyone who might want to advance the SJW cause can imagine themselves to be a savior, and the SJW cause seems to be about raising the status of outsiders, usually defined in the most basic, crass racist terms, that is by counting how many people of a specific race or gender are in whatever category. The SJW validates himself or herself by becoming the supposed champion of people who they perceive to be weaker than himself. Another interpretation is the SJW completes himself through wandering in the wilderness.