1 00:00:02,200 --> 00:00:05,040 Vanderbilt University, November 2015. 2 00:00:05,040 --> 00:00:10,540 200 students rise up to protest the white privilege and micro aggressions of the “racist,” 3 00:00:10,540 --> 00:00:12,900 “bigoted” Vanderbilt administration. 4 00:00:12,900 --> 00:00:17,540 The protestors don’t offer any specific examples of discrimination, but that doesn’t matter – 5 00:00:17,540 --> 00:00:20,200 what matters is that they feel victimized. 6 00:00:20,200 --> 00:00:25,640 The next day, a bag of dog poop shows up at the front door of the university’s Black Cultural Center. 7 00:00:25,640 --> 00:00:27,640 All hell breaks loose. 8 00:00:27,640 --> 00:00:33,160 Full of righteous indignation, student activist groups rush to Facebook to denounce the racist act. 9 00:00:33,200 --> 00:00:38,320 The police investigate, they quickly find the person responsible, but nobody is arrested. 10 00:00:38,320 --> 00:00:39,300 You know why? 11 00:00:39,300 --> 00:00:42,900 Because it turns out that the bag of excrement wasn’t a racist attack. 12 00:00:42,900 --> 00:00:45,380 It was left by a blind girl with a service dog. 13 00:00:45,380 --> 00:00:49,360 She couldn’t find a trash can, so, wanting to do the responsible thing, she left the 14 00:00:49,360 --> 00:00:53,940 bag outside the door of a nearby building, knowing a janitor would pick it up and throw it away. 15 00:00:54,000 --> 00:00:58,620 The student group did apologize – but then they added another charge against the administration: 16 00:00:58,620 --> 00:01:03,560 “The needs of students with disabilities on this campus are also marginalized.” 17 00:01:03,560 --> 00:01:05,240 Seriously, this is not a joke. 18 00:01:05,240 --> 00:01:09,760 On the college campus today, feelings rule facts and victims are heroes. 19 00:01:09,760 --> 00:01:14,340 According to the left, all inequality in America is due to victimization. 20 00:01:14,340 --> 00:01:19,720 They start by claiming that all non-white people in America are victims of “white privilege.” 21 00:01:19,720 --> 00:01:22,820 Then come women.They’re all are victims of the patriarchy. 22 00:01:22,820 --> 00:01:27,580 Then come gays, and lesbians and the transgendered – they’re all victims of our “heteronormative” 23 00:01:27,580 --> 00:01:29,440 and “homophobic” society. 24 00:01:29,440 --> 00:01:32,480 But what if you haven’t actually been victimized by anybody? 25 00:01:32,480 --> 00:01:33,640 It doesn’t matter. 26 00:01:33,640 --> 00:01:37,080 To the left, so long as you feel victimized, you’re a victim. 27 00:01:37,080 --> 00:01:41,660 Even if you have never actually experienced discrimination, you’ve surely been targeted 28 00:01:41,660 --> 00:01:42,960 by “micro aggressions.” 29 00:01:42,980 --> 00:01:47,620 You know, nasty little words and phrases that weren’t meant to be insults, but just are. 30 00:01:47,630 --> 00:01:49,499 If somebody asks you “where are you from?” 31 00:01:49,499 --> 00:01:54,219 that’s considered a xenophobic micro aggression – they’re implying that you are a foreigner! 32 00:01:54,219 --> 00:01:57,340 If a man holds open a door for a woman, which, but the way you’re supposed to do, that’s 33 00:01:57,340 --> 00:02:01,719 a sexist micro aggression because he’s treating her like she’s a helpless female. 34 00:02:01,719 --> 00:02:05,520 Of course, he’s also treating her like she’s a woman – BUT HOW WOULD HE KNOW? 35 00:02:05,520 --> 00:02:09,110 And heaven forbid anybody address you by your biologically accurate pronoun. 36 00:02:09,110 --> 00:02:11,140 WHAT IF SHE IDENTIFIES AS A MAN?!? 37 00:02:11,140 --> 00:02:15,360 In short, everyone is a victim – except, of course, straight white males… 38 00:02:15,360 --> 00:02:17,700 Also anybody who dares to disagree with the left. 39 00:02:17,709 --> 00:02:22,909 If you’re guilty of either of those crimes, you must be confronted, even if doing so requires 40 00:02:22,909 --> 00:02:25,760 actual aggression like, say, a riot. 41 00:02:25,760 --> 00:02:28,560 Here’s a trick the left plays to justify their violence. 42 00:02:28,560 --> 00:02:31,420 First, they say it’s okay to punch Nazis. 43 00:02:31,420 --> 00:02:34,940 Then, they say that every conservative – in fact, everybody they disagree with – 44 00:02:34,940 --> 00:02:36,300 is a Nazi. 45 00:02:36,310 --> 00:02:40,170 But here’s the biggest problem with the left’s argument: They’re based on feelings, 46 00:02:40,170 --> 00:02:41,379 not facts. 47 00:02:41,379 --> 00:02:42,769 Take “white privilege.” 48 00:02:42,769 --> 00:02:46,200 The only real privilege in America is American privilege. 49 00:02:46,200 --> 00:02:50,160 Everybody in America has it – more than citizens of any other country in the world – 50 00:02:50,160 --> 00:02:54,000 the privilege to make your own decisions and live the life you choose. 51 00:02:54,000 --> 00:02:58,380 According to the liberal Brookings Institution, if you make just these three decisions, 52 00:02:58,380 --> 00:02:59,360 you’ll do fine. 53 00:02:59,360 --> 00:03:02,460 And with drive and ambition, you'll probably do better than fine. 54 00:03:02,460 --> 00:03:04,840 First, finish high school. 55 00:03:04,840 --> 00:03:07,960 Second, don’t have babies before you’re married. 56 00:03:07,960 --> 00:03:09,660 Third, hold down a job. 57 00:03:09,660 --> 00:03:14,300 If you do these three things, you’ll be on your way to the privilege of middle-class life, 58 00:03:14,300 --> 00:03:18,100 regardless of race, ethnicity, sexual-orientation, or gender. 59 00:03:18,100 --> 00:03:20,000 Also, there’s no “patriarchy.” 60 00:03:20,000 --> 00:03:24,640 Women already make up the majority of college graduates. According to Time Magazine, young 61 00:03:24,640 --> 00:03:28,980 single women without kids already earn more than their male counterparts. 62 00:03:28,980 --> 00:03:32,820 Oh, and gay and lesbian couples, they earn more than their straight counterparts, too. 63 00:03:32,820 --> 00:03:36,200 These are facts, and facts don’t care about your feelings. 64 00:03:36,200 --> 00:03:39,480 Neither will your employer if you get a job after you leave school. 65 00:03:39,480 --> 00:03:42,760 The moment you graduate, reality is gonna to hit you like a truck. 66 00:03:42,760 --> 00:03:45,460 People who give you a paycheck expect you to produce. 67 00:03:45,469 --> 00:03:47,170 They expect you to work. 68 00:03:47,170 --> 00:03:47,940 Hard. 69 00:03:47,940 --> 00:03:51,879 And all the claims of victimhood, all the whining – well, nobody cares. 70 00:03:51,879 --> 00:03:56,560 So, stop worrying so much about your feelings, and start worrying a little more about being 71 00:03:56,560 --> 00:04:00,060 a good person, doing your best, and not getting in your own way. 72 00:04:00,060 --> 00:04:03,160 If you don’t, the only thing you’ll be a victim of is yourself. 73 00:04:03,160 --> 00:04:06,720 I’m Ben Shapiro, editor of The Daily Wire, for Prager University.