One huge question that has been left unattended to do as per the entire Jussie Smollett saga is Why?
Why could be the reason for a famous actor on a network TV show, someone with money, success and fame, for paying people to assault him and risking going to jail in the process?
Well, at a press conference in Chicago today, the Police Superintendent was baffled about the whole thing too.
His words, “I’m left hanging my head and asking why. Why would anyone, especially an African-American man use the symbolism of a noose to make false accusations? How could someone look at the hatred and suffering associated with that symbol and see an opportunity to manipulate that symbol to further his own public profile?
An American conservative political commentator, Tucker Carlson, who is currently host of political talk show, Tucker Carlson Tonight on Fox News has had his say as well.
His words, “Well, the short answer appears to be he wanted a raise at work and he thought this would get him that.
The broader answer, the one that we should all think about and meditate on is that Smollett was simply responding to the incentives that American society has created for him.
Smollett pretended to be a victim because we reward victims. We’ve decided that it’s more heroic to suffer than it is to achieve. That’s the message of our culture, our politics, and our workplaces.”
Jussie Smollett was doing his best to get ahead according to the rules that others made. And in fact, had his hoax succeeded, there is no doubt Smollett would have been richly rewarded for it. He would probably get a significant bump in pay and an extended segment on “Colbert.” He would have been a hero.
So Jussie Smollett was not crazy. He knew exactly what he was doing. Faking a hate crime was an entrepreneurial move.
In modern America, victimhood is power that’s why so many powerful people claim it.
That’s why Elizabeth Warren pretended to be an American Indian. It’s why, at every low point during the entire span of his political career, Barack Obama invoked bias. That’s why so many politicians do the same today. “I have suffered, you cannot criticize me.”
The academic left has constructed an entire theology around the holiness of victimhood, it’s called “intersectionality.” It comes with an elaborate ratings system in which every group in America is assessed according to how much it has suffered.
The more your group says it has been discriminated against, the more moral authority you receive. It’s a pretty good deal for a lot of people and they have no interest in changing it, and that explains why so many on the left initially jumped to Jussie Smollett’s defense. They weren’t simply defending him. They were defending identity politics.”
