There is a common notion among people about how someone being easily offended is an indication that they just can’t control their emotions. While this is true, another dynamic is being overlooked. When someone gets offended about something you said, what they are really doing is subconsciously signalling their perceived higher status, as the ability to be easily offended and be taken seriously is a privilege only high-status people can possess.

Although one occasion of being offended doesn’t say much, if this trend continues, that person will eventually have solidified their superior status over you in a social hierarchy. And it will show as you are limited on what you can say while there is no limit to what the easily offended person says. If this is just one person, you can disassociate with them; if this is a trend in society, then it becomes a problem.

In feudal times, it was always the aristocrats who were the thin-skinned ones, in comparison to the peasants, who were used to grovelling to their landowners, lest they want to be thrown in the gallows. Aristocrats needed to be easily offended to justify them owning all the land. If you could bring into question their social status without retribution, do they really care that much about maintaining their privileged position in society? 

This sort of lax attitude would indicate to a separatist faction that an insurrection to overthrow their rule would be advantageous. Unconsciously, aristocrats gained the easily offended personality type to signal to all the peasants that they are and will always be high-status. They cared about maintaining their high-status so much that they’d challenge anyone to a death match (duel) if they disrespected their honour. 

We don’t live in feudal societies anymore, but a great example of this offence-taking being a form of status-signalling is in secondary schools. Good teachers will be personally offended if the students break one of their classroom rules, as students not following the teacher’s rules is an attack on their high-status in the classroom. 

Although many students may not have realised this, the act of breaking the rules was never the issue, what they were really mad at was that they were challenging the teacher’s status. Many young teachers don’t realise this, so they don’t make an issue about students breaking the rules, and then proceed to be baffled when students don’t respect them. “I’m nice to my students, why aren’t they nice to me in return?”

80 years ago, a bishop would be high on the list of those who get easily offended, nowadays, a bishop would be on the bottom of the list. This makes perfect sense if you understand status-signalling. A bishop became offended because he was status-signalling that he was high-status; he could inflict punishment on that person if they disrespected him or the Church. 

This ability to inflict punishment is no more as clerics are now low-status, so a bishop loses the privilege of being easily offended. In fact, priests seem to be continually denigrated as paedophiles and oppressors, in reaction to this slander, they apologise for being so mean and oppressive in the past. Even though the priest was just slandered, he acts submissively towards the person who just denigrated him because the priest has internalised his low-status.

We all know those who are not to be offend in today’s society: transsexuals, homosexuals, blacks, women etc.; the coalition of the downtrodden. If one of these groups gets offended (or an ally that gets offended on their behalf) about something you said, what they are really saying is “get back in your place, I’m higher status than you”. If you capitulate, you are agreeing with their assessment. 

If you disobey their order to apologise, they will hurt you. In a social environment, they will denigrate you as a racist or a sexist and get the people around you to think twice about associating with you. They may even be nice enough to get a twitter mob after you that will harass your whole family and get you doxed. In a work environment, they will report you to HR and get you fired for creating a ‘toxic work environment’. Getting someone fired because they offended you (challenge their high-status) is raw power. Getting drunk on this raw power turns many into cry-babies, which is becoming more prevalent these days as these groups are growing in status. 

The irony is that these powerful people claim to be oppressed; and the more oppressed they claim to be (disabled non-binary minority), the more easily offended they seem to be. Can what they view as the most privileged group, the infamous cis white male, exert this kind of power? Of course not. The fact that they can’t exert this form of power shows that they are low-status in today’s society. It is rarely the case that the truly oppressed take offense. The truly oppressed know better than to take offense – unless they want to get smacked down. 

Conclusion

This offense-taking which is being used to covertly signal status is just a natural component of sociology, it shouldn’t be seen as something that needs to be stopped. Although just like all things, it should be used for good. For the good to be promoted you must make it politically incorrect for people to challenge your group’s beliefs. A simple example is to promote people getting offended if they challenge an axiom of your beliefs, and conversely, stop giving your opposition the liberty to be offended. 

Posted by Seán Joseph

6 Comments

  1. Alexander Fretheim 25/01/2021 at 4:18 pm

    In this case, it may actually be an objectively bad thing, because eventually there will be bloodshed unless these offense-takers are put back in their place.

    Reply

    1. btwixts death wish 25/01/2021 at 9:31 pm

      and for the record. my paper was gonna be 24 pages, the first draft had 12, and I did it without anyones support.
      nialls paper has 13 and 3 of his pages are full color pics of the virgin mary.
      and they slagged me over it. me who wrote and sold 268 page advanced philosophy book in 21 days and another one in 12 days fully made. and I sold it as well lest any jealous inferior wankor critique (a gobshyte) my intellect.

      and that’s the end of it
      I’m not doing shyt for any of yous anymore.
      yous are a shower of disorganised ungrateful spiteful jealous resentful incompetent secretive cult of up yer own ayrse anti social weirdos and you deserve nothing from nobody except contempt for being vile people
      and I wouldn’t trust yous with a dog walk,. i d expect yous to poison me dog if you brought it on a walk
      and I saw that barrister called yous out without naming and shaming
      and I’m glad to see serious people distance themselves from that online cult
      because I certainly will and any stalker continuously making ridicule videos of me months after I quit youtube
      will be dealt with and it will be devastating and I’m working on it seven days a week to get justice and satisfaction
      and you’ll be sorry ya sad little man. yer all sad little men with big egos livin’ in a fantasy of grandeur.
      reality will bite yous in the end you wait n see. and when you’re sleeping I am working on your downfall.
      and when you’re in your stupid little carnivals walking around like a weirdo
      i will be watching and I will strike at a time I choose
      you are a psychopath and I will treat you as one
      and I will destroy the threat to me and my family

      Reply

      1. Alexander Fretheim 26/01/2021 at 3:04 pm

        Has anyone ever told you you’re insane?

        Reply

  2. nah i disagree wit dis, and i will be pursuing legal recompense for being doxed slandered and harassed by btwixt (I have all his videos and have been in contact with gards solicitors and Spanish police as well) (and if that doesn’t work ill get you another way that you may not like)(make a video about that ya sad obsessed little stalker )

    The country is saturated with injustice and most of it affects people at the bottom.
    In that sense I think arming the people who are habitually victimized with legal weapons to thwart the type of abuse they get is a brilliant idea, and therefore I want to go on record saying that I am in favor of anti discrimination tools so that habitually victimized lower classes people are given equal access to goods and services without cute hoorism and cronies exploiting the corrupt health service to keep them in line and using nepotism to prevent meritocracy etc,
    and I am gonna say as well that I intend to make tonnes of complaints under those hate crime laws and the reasons are that I get tonnes of abuse and I know what its like living at the bottom and I will fight back
    and to that end I have a wearable camera and record calls and screenshot everything online concerning me
    and i am due a lot of compo and revenge / justice.

    there i said it
    and i wont forget about any of the traitors who crossed and betrayed me
    and when yous are not expecting it after ye forget and laugh bout what ye done
    it is then i will strike and when i do it will be comprehensive
    and i will do other things as well that you wont know about
    and why
    because I’ve nothing better to do and i can be an obsessed vindictive cnt
    keep making those videos about me ya twisted sad little loser and your carnivals and resteraunts dinners
    10 years time i will still be after you
    20 years time i will still be after you
    you will be thinking of this when you’re an old man
    and you’ll have a rich and powerful and connected dodgy enemy making you repent
    and ill t ake pleasure in it

    Reply

  3. Paper Woman 26/01/2021 at 2:03 am

    This is an excellent piece of work; Well done; you really expose these not only dangerous lunatics but total hypocrites as well who live in glass houses they should remember as they cast stones upon those who have mostly built up our comfortable societies. Who were put in the front trenches in world war 1 and 11? not woman. I am a woman myself and I have sure enough met many nasty white men but I also have the brains to know that there are good and bad eggs in every basket and I know that white men have suffered many types of abuse including physical and sexual just the same as other groups and how do we know not more. They just have a tendency not to constantly moan about it and instead pick up a shovel and work.
    We are living in a world where there is a competition for being the biggest victim and it is destroying humanity. We need to snap the hell out of it. One day being a victim won’t be cool anymore and where will all the victims be then. I am clearly sorry for anybody’s troubles whoever you are but if you are offended then it is your problem and you need to work on yourself . If you are offended what is that saying about you and remember not everybody will like you or what you do or how you look. Also remember some people are nasty and you need to deal with that reality.
    Well done on this article Sean Joseph and Burkean. Maybe you could do an article on do-gooders next or virtue signalers.

    Reply

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