What It Is Like to Be Oppressed Essay (Critical Writing)

Oppression can be defined as the systematic exploitation of one social group by another for its own benefit. It involves institutional control, ideological domination, and the imposition of the dominant groups’ culture on the oppressed groups. For one to understand what it is to be oppressed, one has to realize that oppression is different from discrimination, bias, or prejudice. We shall define the above words; then we shall define the words, then we shall show how oppression distinguishes us from them. Prejudice is defined as the positive or negative attitude towards a person or a group, formed without just grounds. Discrimination is defined as the unequal treatment of people based on their membership in a group. Discrimination is a behavior, and it can be legal as in segregation law or illegal that is discrimination without legal sanctions. An example to help one understand oppression is the study carried out about how man is oppressed. Examples of these situations are men treated as inherently aggressive and violent, violence against men more condoned than against women. It is justified to harm a man for any reason. Another form of oppression is that boys and men are not expected to need closeness, reassurance, and attention, which are thought to be harmful to their sense of place and importance in the world. Oppression was inflicted on the South African people during the years of apartheid. Leaders were imprisoned; people were killed, both young and old. The white rule, which was dominant at the time, stole gold from the land. The poor in the society were forced to work in the mines, and others provided labor in the large settlers’ farms. The gap between the oppressed and the oppressor could not be minimized due to the low wages paid to them and high taxation. The oppressed had to fight for their freedom together with help from other nations. According to (server 67 1998), constraints, through oppressions, are to be inhibited from developing and exerting one’s capacities and expressing one’s experience. Female oppression is another mode of oppression. This is done through wife battering, rape, female genital mutilation, and refusal for the girl child to access education and medical care. We can look at another form of oppression. The colonial oppression. This is where the oppressor and the oppressor live through struggle by the oppressed society. Society is overworked, denied access to school for quality education, good health care, food, and clean water. (Freire: 2007) writes that freedom is acquired by conquest, not as a gift. The oppressed therefore fight the oppressor to obtain freedom. Economic oppression is another form of oppression. This entitles the rich and the poor. We shall look at this oppression in two dimensions. The developed countries are seen to oppress the developing ones by, for example, giving them loans which they pay highly, and they also set very tough donor conditions. The people in a country also because economic oppression to others. For example, the rich have all the money while the poor have to beg, overwork, and suffer to get some coins from the rich. This is oppression that should be overcome. At this jestor, we come to our next question. What is to be poor? Poverty is the state of having little or no money and few or no material possessions. Poverty is also defined by two groups of poverty. At the UNs world summit on social definitions of poverty. The described poverty as a condition characterized by severe deprivation of basic human needs, including food, safe drinking water, sanitation facilities, health care, shelter, quality education, and information. The statistical definitions of poverty, using numerical defined methods to measure and qualify poverty, two are simple enough. Relative poverty and absolute poverty. Relative poverty measures are the simplest ways to determine the extent of poverty in individual countries. The entire population, in order of income and capital, the bottom 10% is then considered poor. This method is, however, appropriate for defining poverty on a global scale. Absolute poverty is the second definition of poverty.This method measures poverty through a set poverty line at a certain income amount or consumption amount per year based on the estimated value of food, shelter, and water. Poverty can come by due to the birth crisis. We shall look at a country like Israel. Due to the fact that Israel is Muslim and ultra-orthodox, Jewish minorities in effect chooses this status by having many children. This causes a high population of people who can not be feed. During the absolute poverty survey, the official measure is determined by the income used to compute poverty status, a measure of needs and computation. Income used to compute poverty status include money income, this includes earnings, unemployment compensation, workers compensation, social security, supplement security, supplemental security income, public assistance, veterans payment, pension, interest, dividends, rent, trusts, educational assistance, alimony, child support, etc. Poverty thresholds also are needed to measure poverty. All the family members are poor. In conclusion, if a person is earning below 1 dollar in a day, according to the world health organization.

Powerless is usually observed in the context of political power. This is the rule of other powers over the less powerful people. An example of this is the exploitation and colonization of third-world countries. Power lee can be loss of control over something or people. Addition to alcohol or drugs is an example of this type of we realize our powerless over something if we can not manage it. Powerless also comes about when a person or a group of people say a nation can not purchase something. This is also known as financial powerless. A particular country also can be defined to have a powerless currency if the value of the currency is compared to the powerless currency if the value of the currency compared to the powerful currency like the dollar is lower. Powerless can be seen in another form. The disability to produce certain cash crops such as coffee, tea, pyrethrum, and flowers. Dry countries which have no other source of food suffer oppressing them with high prices of foods they import into the country. Lastly, powerless can be seen in case a country lacks the equipment to manufacture products like coffee berries into finished products. This will cause them to sell the products in the world market at a throwaway price and after they will import the finished product expensively.

In conclusion, I shall show the relationship between the three elements is oppression, poverty, and powerlessness. They interact so as to form a dominant situation by the oppressor or rather the powerful or the rich to the poor. We shall take an example of a man working in a foreign nation. He is not from the same race like the rest, so the other college does not talk a lot to him and sometimes avoids him. They look down on him because he is black. Because this man is poor, he needs to work so as to make heads meet. So he undergoes overworking, taxation, and other forms of mistreatment. Medical care, as well as food, is not delivered at best a show of oppression. After looking at this example, you can concur with me that the three work together, but they can be overcome.

References

1. Sherover Marcuse, Ricky 1988. Liberation Theory: ASworking Framework. Unlearning Racism Workshops, Oakland, C.A.
2. Yang, Hannah ,1993. an eye opening account Mirebbela p. 343b
3. Fiere, Paulo. Pedagogy as the oppressed. New york. Continuum 2007. Web.
4. Marger, mMartin N (2008). Social Inequality: patterns and processes, 4^th edition. Boston: Mcgraw-Hill,160 ISBN-07-352815-1
5. Gilbert, Geoffrey. World poverty. Santa Barabara: ABC-CLID 2004
6. Reddy, sany G. How not to count the poor. Columbia University