Critical Thinking: Are Some People Addicted To Feeling Oppressed?

Nowadays, it is not uncommon to hear about how oppressed certain people are, with this being something that is often spoken about on social media and in the mainstream media. This is often seen as something that primarily affects minorities and women.
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Therefore, white men are in a very privileged position, as there is absolutely nothing holding them back in life. In fact, white men are often portrayed as the ones who are holding everyone else back.

A Way of life

So, if someone is a woman or minority, they could be in a position where they feel as though the whole world is against them. And, no matter what they do to try to change their life, they may find that they only get so far.

The reason why they are not able to break through the prison that they are in will then be due to white men. These people, who will be seen as a stain on the earth, will be their main problem.

Another Experience

However, while there will be the people who have bought into the whole ‘all white men are evil’ who feel oppressed, there will be others who feel oppressed who haven’t. If someone has, it can show that they have spent a number of years being indoctrinated in college/university.

In this case, someone can feel oppressed even if they don’t believe that all white men are the problem. Somehow, someone like this won’t have absorbed a lot of the propaganda that is disseminated on a daily basis by the establishment.

One Area

They can feel restricted in just about every area of their life, finding it hard to express themselves. It may seem as though there is an invincible force out there that is intent on keeping them down.

When it comes to their job, they could have a boss who is overbearing, and their colleagues might not be any different. Therefore, during their time at work, they are likely to feel weighed down.

Another Area

If they are in a relationship, they might not feel any different when they are around their partner. This person could be controlling from time to time, or they might be like this all of the time.

Going home is then not going to allow them to feel free and at peace, as their partner will cause them to feel just as restricted. If they were to look back on their life, they may find that they have been with a number of people like this.

Emotional Experience

As a result of what happens in their day-to-day life, there is a strong chance that they are used to feeling angry and frustrated. There could also be times when they are overwhelmed by rage and hate.

They could believe that if the world changed, there would be no reason for them to experience these feelings. These feelings are then going to be a perfectly normal response to what they have to go through each day.

Conflict

Based on how worked up this person is getting through experiencing life in this way, it is going to be perfectly clear that this is not how they want to experience life. It could be said that one of their greatest needs is to no longer feel oppressed.

Thus, if another person was to suggest that they are addicted to feeling oppressed, they would be entitled to get angry. One could say that if this was so, there would be no reason for them to experience so much resistance.

Two Levels

Nonetheless, just because one is consciously resisting what is taking place; it doesn’t mean that they are not unconsciously accepting what is taking place. To their unconscious mind, feeling powerless, helpless and trapped could be what is familiar and, therefore, what feels safe.

What this then means, is that they have a strong attachment to feeling this way - these feelings will be big a part of their identity. Having experiences that enable them to feel oppressed, along with interpreting situations in a certain way so that they feel oppressed, will be what feels comfortable.

Self-Knowledge

Unless one is unaware of the effect that their unconscious mind is having on their life and is only aware of what is taking place in their conscious mind, they will continue to believe that they have no control over how they experience life. This will mean that they are a victim.

Something ‘out there’ will continue to be seen as the problem, as opposed to what they are emotionally attached to within themselves. The reason why experiencing these feelings is what feel safe at a deeper level is likely to be due to what took place during the beginning of their life.

The Foundations

This may have meant that they were abused and/or neglected, but it might not have been this severe. Even if they were not abused and/or neglected at this stage of their life, they would still have had moments when they felt powerless, helpless and trapped.

As time went by, feeling this way would have come to be associated as what is safe, as it would have been familiar. This part of them doesn’t discriminate, which is why negative feelings and circumstances can be associated as what is safe even though they are destructive.

Awareness

Now, this doesn’t mean that oppression doesn’t exist; what it comes down to is that if someone feels comfortable with being oppressed, they are more likely to experience oppression. If someone can see that they are emotionally attached to feeling this way, and they want to change their life, they may need to reach out for external support.

This is something that can be provided by the assistance of a therapist or a healer.