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View Full Version : There Are No Oppressed People in America



jimnyc
10-01-2017, 09:59 AM
This should make for a good argument. :) I think there are injustices in our world today, without a doubt, don't even need to think for a second. But are people "oppressed"? I think that's a term from the past that hopefully will remain in the past. I think some in today's world like to use such powerful words, but it's just not reality.


1. to burden with cruel or unjust impositions or restraints; subject to a burdensome or harsh exercise of authority or power:
a people oppressed by totalitarianism.
2. to lie heavily upon (the mind, a person, etc.):
Care and sorrow oppressed them.
3. to weigh down, as sleep or weariness does.
4. Archaic. to put down; subdue or suppress.
5. Archaic. to press upon or against; crush.

http://www.dictionary.com/browse/oppressed

1 a archaic :suppress
b :to crush or burden by abuse of power or authority The country has long been oppressed by a ruthless dictator. oppressed minorities
2 :to burden spiritually or mentally :weigh heavily upon oppressed by a sense of failure oppress by intolerable guilt

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/oppressed

Wrongdoings and injustices - absolutely. Not that black folks would want to hear this - but that shit happens to white folks too!! At any rate, I'll concede to there being issues that can always be improved upon. But oppression? Sorry, don't think so.

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There Are No Oppressed People in America

Never before have so many claimed to be so oppressed and mistreated over so little as Americans in 2017.

We have men who have gotten extraordinarily wealthy and famous playing a game who protest the flag of the nation that put them not just in America’s wealthiest 1%, not just in the global 1%, but in the historical 1% of everyone who has ever lived.

We have pampered college students at expensive private schools having hissy fits because someone they disagree with is allowed to speak at an event on campus they’re not even required to attend.

We’re told Hispanic Americans are oppressed because foreign Latinos who came to this country illegally when they knew the penalty was deportation are not universally being allowed to get away with their crime.

We have feminists who think they’re oppressed because some guy “mansplained” something to them by finally giving his opinion after listening to them blather on for 10 minutes.

We have black Americans who live in bad neighborhoods, think the cops target them because of their race, can't find a job and are mired in poverty who keep voting for exactly the same government officials to be in charge of their neighborhood. If they’re "oppressed," they’re active participants in their own oppression.

Republicans were not oppressed because Obama was in office. Democrats are not oppressed because Donald Trump is in office. White supremacists aren’t oppressed because of Black Lives Matter. Black Americans aren’t oppressed because of made-up claims that the police are gunning for them that aren’t supported by the data or because someone, somewhere said the n-word. Women aren’t oppressed because of a non-existent patriarchy. Men aren’t oppressed because of angry feminists. Asians aren’t oppressed. Jews aren’t oppressed. Muslims aren’t oppressed. Conservatives aren’t oppressed. Liberals aren’t oppressed.

The only Americans that are actually discriminated against by the government these days are white Americans who are victimized by Affirmative Action. Is that un-American and wrong? Absolutely, but even the relatively small number of people victimized by that policy are getting other jobs and going to other colleges if they’re hustling. So, they’re not oppressed. This country has problems, issues and things to work on, but this is as good as it gets in the real world right now. That’s why few people leave this country and millions try to get in every year.

Do you realize the stunning level of self-absorption and self-deception that it takes to believe you’re oppressed in America? Real oppression is women in Saudi Arabia getting to drive for the first time in 2017. Oppression is worrying that you may be jailed in China for speaking out against the government. Oppression is eating your dog in North Korea because the dictator running the country with an iron fist is just fine with you starving to death. Oppression is Christians across the Middle East being systematically murdered because of their religion while their Muslim rulers shrug their shoulders.

It’s also very interesting to take a look at the “leaders” who say you’re oppressed. For the most part, they are the least oppressed people on earth. Typically, they’re politicians, actors, actresses, rock stars or media personalities with lots of money and influence. The more they tell people that the problems in their life aren’t their fault, the more attention, retweets and money they get. Funny how that works.

Rest - https://townhall.com/columnists/johnhawkins/2017/10/01/there-are-no-oppressed-people-in-america-n2389130

Gunny
10-01-2017, 10:00 PM
I disagree with the premise of an argument that is validated by "X doesn't have it bad because Y has it worse". That doesn't mean "X" doesn't have it bad, It means what it says: "Y" has it worse. It is a relative argument based on what one considers "worse" and "better". There are as many possibilities as there are stars depending on the variables one chooses to us in which combinations.

darin
10-02-2017, 04:13 AM
I disagree with the premise of an argument that is validated by "X doesn't have it bad because Y has it worse". That doesn't mean "X" doesn't have it bad, It means what it says: "Y" has it worse. It is a relative argument based on what one considers "worse" and "better". There are as many possibilities as there are stars depending on the variables one chooses to us in which combinations.

That's not the premise. The premise is "We define words wrongly."

The author states, paraphrased, 'What we have in the USA is NOT oppression.' then lists examples of what oppression really looks like.

jimnyc
10-02-2017, 09:28 AM
Wrongdoings and injustices - absolutely. Not that black folks would want to hear this - but that shit happens to white folks too!! At any rate, I'll concede to there being issues that can always be improved upon. But oppression? Sorry, don't think so.


I disagree with the premise of an argument that is validated by "X doesn't have it bad because Y has it worse". That doesn't mean "X" doesn't have it bad, It means what it says: "Y" has it worse. It is a relative argument based on what one considers "worse" and "better". There are as many possibilities as there are stars depending on the variables one chooses to us in which combinations.

Hey fucker! I was making a comparison when speaking about wrongdoings and injustices in this world. That wasn't stating either had it worse or better. That really had nothing to do at all with oppression and the argument of the article/writer.

Gunny
10-02-2017, 04:06 PM
That's not the premise. The premise is "We define words wrongly."

The author states, paraphrased, 'What we have in the USA is NOT oppression.' then lists examples of what oppression really looks like.And my response corrected the author's misuse of English to convey a message using an incorrect means of example.