"Oppressed" vs "Oppressors"

[ShipTheFlip]

Let me start off by saying that I am typing this on my cell phone while waiting to see the doctor and there are bound to be some errors in here.

I clicked on my "Memories" on Facebook and around this time last year I posted something along the lines of: "It feels like we're on the verge of a civil war" and the consensus in the comments was that I'm crazy or paranoid. It got me thinking about what made me post that originally, and I wanted to share my thoughts here to see what people who are likely more intelligent than me think.

In the oppressed vs oppressors dynamic where the oppressed's weapon of choice is oppression (shutting down speeches, demonetizing speakers with opposing viewpoints, etc.) will, in my estimation, inevitably result in a/multiple role reversal(s).

While fighting oppression is by definition a positive if your goal is overall human flourishing, way some define oppression has changed. People are unfairly categorized into the "oppressor" group based on their skin color, financial situation, or political affiliation. One does not need to own slaves or pay a woman less than a man for doing the same job in order to be labeled an enemy; simply disagreeing on certain issues is enough to do the trick even when the evidence is on your side.

We're starting to see some push-back. The people shutting down speeches are now being seen as the bullies that I believe they are. Shouting over people rather than debating them on an issue that you disagree on is counter-productive. My concern is that eventually in the so-called oppressed's attempt to "level the playing field" they will go too far, and those that were unfairly lumped into the oppressor category will grow tired of it and things will escalate. I live near Charlottesville and we saw what happens when two angry mobs of people with opposing viewpoints collide.

If somebody slaps you and you punch them in the face every time you see them for years, you're no longer the victim.

Do you think we're seeing the beginning stages of this role reversal already? If you don't think that escalation is inevitable, what other outcomes can you foresee?

I'm not the most articulate person so feel free to ask for clarification on anything in this post if you need to.

 

[4usq]

Liberal media blows most social justice issues out of proportion when in reality they are mostly superficial. Any educated person could tell you that the economy doesn't care about your gender and police arrest African Americans in proportion to the crimes they commit.

Yes, there are now more morons than ever in the world, but generally, they start growing a brain at some age.

 

[Shredderbeam]

Let me start off by saying that I am typing this on my cell phone while waiting to see the doctor and there are bound to be some errors in here.

I clicked on my "Memories" on Facebook and around this time last year I posted something along the lines of: "It feels like we're on the verge of a civil war" and the consensus in the comments was that I'm crazy or paranoid. It got me thinking about what made me post that originally, and I wanted to share my thoughts here to see what people who are likely more intelligent than me think.

In the oppressed vs oppressors dynamic where the oppressed's weapon of choice is oppression (shutting down speeches, demonetizing speakers with opposing viewpoints, etc.) will, in my estimation, inevitably result in a/multiple role reversal(s).

While fighting oppression is by definition a positive if your goal is overall human flourishing, way some define oppression has changed. People are unfairly categorized into the "oppressor" group based on their skin color, financial situation, or political affiliation. One does not need to own slaves or pay a woman less than a man for doing the same job in order to be labeled an enemy; simply disagreeing on certain issues is enough to do the trick even when the evidence is on your side.

We're starting to see some push-back. The people shutting down speeches are now being seen as the bullies that I believe they are. Shouting over people rather than debating them on an issue that you disagree on is counter-productive. My concern is that eventually in the so-called oppressed's attempt to "level the playing field" they will go too far, and those that were unfairly lumped into the oppressor category will grow tired of it and things will escalate. I live near Charlottesville and we saw what happens when two angry mobs of people with opposing viewpoints collide.

If somebody slaps you and you punch them in the face every time you see them for years, you're no longer the victim.

Do you think we're seeing the beginning stages of this role reversal already? If you don't think that escalation is inevitable, what other outcomes can you foresee?

I'm not the most articulate person so feel free to ask for clarification on anything in this post if you need to.

Serious question - do you truly believe that a "reversal" is coming? Please, answer as honestly as you can.

 

[ShipTheFlip]

Serious question - do you truly believe that a "reversal" is coming? Please, answer as honestly as you can.

I believe a "role reversal" is coming or has already happened, meaning that the so-called victims are / will no longer be the victims but the aggressors. The rest is just thinking of potential outcomes when people go too far in their attempt to "get even."

Things have died down some but at the time there were a ton of BLM gatherings where people were blocking the street for hours at a time and videos of people who were sick of it driving straight through them with their truck. I don't think it's outside the realm of possibility that things escalate.

 

[ilovegold69]

Something strange to me is that all of this "hogabaloo" is supposedly getting so intense and crazy, but I've almost never met a single person that acts the way they portray in the media. No one really acts oppressed where I live. Everyone is just living their lives. I feel like the Eastern US and the big cities are where this is even slightly a problem. News is blowing it up way out of proportion initially imo and that's what really made it an actual problem. All the people who kinda felt sorry for themselves now think that because the news portrayed their feelings as legit and popular that they can lash out. Now all the big cities and Eastern US are infected with this attitude.

Luckily as I said, I don't have to deal with it in the smaller city I live in. It's not even a slight concern here. So it kinda seems like a non-issue, like all things that don't directly affect you.

I would disagree that it's a predominantly "Eastern US" problem, and say that it's very prevalent wherever liberals can echo-chamber endlessly i.e. major coastal cities.

 

[ShipTheFlip]

This didn't pick up any discussion like I was hoping it would

Here's Jordan Peterson (not a fan personally) a few days ago talking about basically the same thing, putting it better than I probably could.

 

[Shredderbeam]

I believe a "role reversal" is coming or has already happened, meaning that the so-called victims are / will no longer be the victims but the aggressors. The rest is just thinking of potential outcomes when people go too far in their attempt to "get even."

Things have died down some but at the time there were a ton of BLM gatherings where people were blocking the street for hours at a time and videos of people who were sick of it driving straight through them with their truck. I don't think it's outside the realm of possibility that things escalate.

That happens with every social movement. Do you truly believe that a full-on "reversal" is coming?

This didn't pick up any discussion like I was hoping it would

Here's Jordan Peterson (not a fan personally) a few days ago talking about basically the same thing, putting it better than I probably could.

Do you have a tl;dr of that? I can't really watch a 3 hour 20 minute video.

 

[ShipTheFlip]

That happens with every social movement. Do you truly believe that a full-on "reversal" is coming?



Do you have a tl;dr of that? I can't really watch a 3 hour 20 minute video.

The video was supposed to link to a specific part starting at 22:05

It's hard to answer with a yes or a no when I don't know how you're defining reversal. The most literal sense would be people on the right shouting over speakers with opposing viewpoints, screaming "racist" and "bigot" at people they disagree with etc. No I don't think that will happen, but equally silly shit is already happening. I firmly believe Trump and the alt-right (not the same thing!) are a repudiation of the left.

So I don't know how things will escalate, but doesn't it seem likely they will when you have two fundamentally different groups of people yelling at each other because they don't like being yelled at?

 

[Shredderbeam]

The video was supposed to link to a specific part starting at 22:05

I don't know how long I'm supposed to watch, is there a tl;dr?

It's hard to answer with a yes or a no when I don't know how you're defining reversal.

I'm defining it the exact way you defined it originally:

"the so-called victims are / will no longer be the victims but the aggressors"

Do you think that the "so-called victims" will literally turn around to be the aggressors? To use your example of the BLM movement, do you think that black people will enslave white people, or enact a 100+ year long system of institutionalized racism?

The most literal sense would be people on the right shouting over speakers with opposing viewpoints, screaming "racist" and "bigot" at people they disagree with etc.

I wouldn't put it so simply as "people they disagree with", that makes it sound like they disagree about something trivial.

I firmly believe Trump and the alt-right (not the same thing!) are a repudiation of the left.

Why do you believe that?

So I don't know how things will escalate, but doesn't it seem likely they will when you have two fundamentally different groups of people yelling at each other because they don't like being yelled at?

There have been 2 diametrically opposed sides screaming at each other at every point in history. Abortion rights, civil rights movement, the Iraq war, apartheid, etc.