Opinion: Being a victim has become a badge of honour

Martin Ehala, editor of Fookus, argues that society has gone to an extreme in absolutising equality and rights, and that this victim culture is harmful to everyone. The piece examines how victimhood has become a source of pride and social currency. Ehala contends that this trend is damaging the broader social fabric.

In a new opinion piece, Martin Ehala, editor of the Estonian publication Fookus, argues that contemporary society has pushed the concepts of equality and rights to a damaging extreme — one where claiming victimhood has paradoxically become a mark of status and pride.

Ehala's central argument is that the rush to identify as a victim, or to be recognised as belonging to an oppressed group, has transformed from a means of seeking justice into an end in itself. Rather than serving as a corrective to genuine injustice, victimhood has become a competitive social currency that people actively seek out and display.

According to Ehala, this shift has not been without consequences. When victimhood confers social rewards — sympathy, moral authority, exemption from criticism — it creates incentives that distort public discourse and undermine the ability of communities to have honest conversations about shared problems.

The piece raises broader questions about how liberal democracies balance the legitimate protection of rights with the risk of fostering a culture in which personal grievance overrides collective responsibility. Ehala suggests that absolutising equality and rights, taken to its logical conclusion, produces outcomes that harm everyone — including those the framework is meant to protect.

Ehala's commentary reflects a growing debate in Estonian and wider European intellectual circles about the social costs of identity politics and grievance culture, and whether democratic societies have the tools to course-correct before the damage becomes entrenched.