Are we more oppressed than ever?

I know that statement may sound ridiculous to some of you, we are living in times where there is access to more information and opportunity than ever before. The advancement in technology and science has ameliorated many aspects of our lives and to many people things are only going to improve from now on.

But is this an accurate narrative, or is it too optimistic given the circumstances we find ourselves in nowadays?

As much as I believe that optimism is a valuable asset, and am well aware of the tyrannical aspect of society, I'm starting to worry that the level of tyranny in society is gradually being increased in a manner that makes it so difficult to detect until it's too late. At which point the tyranny has become normalised and we've been somewhat indoctrinated into 'the new normal' to use a phrase coined during the 'pandemic'.

So why do I believe we may be more oppressed than ever? There are many reasons, some I have spoken about before and others I haven't. One is the degree to which the news and media we consume is manipulated and cherry picked to an incredible degree, possibly to promote a greater narrative. Furthermore the influence that social media has on us, and the lack of legislation there is around these technology conglomerates and how they use psychological tricks to gain our attention, like rats in a laboratory.

Another is the chemicals that we are exposed to on a daily basis through the food and drugs we consume, and how these are impacting our health. There are benefits to these improvements and maybe the pros outweigh the cons, however it's exactly this kind of thought process that may be maintaining the power these people have over us.

Finally, and possibly the most important reason is the way that we have been manipulated into believing that our group identity is our primary source of identity, and that certain groups are solely oppressors and others are victims. Which may have some truth, but the group must always be subordinate to the individual.

A good example of this is the way that modern feminism tricks women into believing that they have more 'freedom' now and that they are less oppressed than they have been in the past. However the data shows that women are significantly less happy than they were in the 1960's, which clearly isn't conducive to the historical narrative that we are implored to believe. Of course some things have improved for women, and I'm not condoning the levels of oppression they did experience, but to categorise history as an entirely patriarchal oppression is a straight up lie.

This is furthered by the need for households two require two incomes in order to maintain themselves, making it difficult for couples to have, and then care for their children. And if a woman chooses to pursue her career she runs the risk of missing out on her fertile years and struggling to have a baby. Obviously for some women this isn't of interest to them, but from my empirical experience life can be pretty lonely when you're older and the presence of children/grandchildren is something that can can only be appreciated, or not, later in life.

I often wonder if the ways in which we are told we are oppressed are just cover ups for the real oppression that is going on under the scenes, relating to some of the points I outlined earlier.

This is quite a mess of a post, and a bit of a rant as well. I am going to do a YouTube video on it soon, so this was kind of a plan for that as well.

Thank you for reading, and remember that I'm trying to stick up for the everyday person. It's not an attack on anyone, just an observatory piece on how I perceive the world to be playing out at the moment and what we should watch out for in the future.

Adiós,

OzJ