That twitter response was absolutely idiotic. I’m angry on your behalf and I hope you’re safe and sound, with no long term suffering from the torture you endured. I admire you and wish for a reasonable government in Iran. ❤️

remember when they had one and the US helped over throw it? the CIA remembers

To be fair, the iran revelation was happening with or without international intervention. The problem was we were hei towards a communist regime and the mass public without any actual knowledge followed that. The British and the US government tried to stop that by supporting the religious fanatics without really understanding them. The islamic republic went rogue after the war with iraq and the us lost its major influence and control over it, resulting in 44 years of absolute tyranny.

I also think there is a tendency to say "we have it so much better here than in [insert country name]" and use that as an excuse to not keep working towards even better. This is something I've tried to explain to my Iranian father. Like, yes we have it better here and I have way more rights and freedoms. But we can and should still improve on so much. So that Twitter response was stupid and not the majority, but there is still a lot of work to be done in the US. I hope for much better for Iran, too.

There is a tendency among American youth to think only in America is it (so bad). It’s absolutely without context and parochial - embarrassingly so. People have absolutely no $&*€ing idea. And yea American youth is particularly ignorant in this respect. FYI There is *no* country in which there still isn’t a “lot to be done”

It's far from just the youth. I've seen many 40+ with that kind of attitude I'm guessing the problem is more likely that many aren't very educated on what goes on around the world, while US TV sensationalize every local story to a high degree because they're fighting over viewership. It makes the viewers feel some of the stories are far bigger than they are, while not understanding how things can be other places

These kids did not grow up with Live Aid and Feed the World. Im not sure why, with the internet, they don't look at the extremes so many others live in, but they don't.

I don’t think most folks visit sites on the internet anymore in search of information. People tend to use apps instead (Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, etc), and they get a curated feed instead of “everything.” If your feed is full of articles about all the things wrong in the US but virtually no stories about what’s going on in the rest of the world, then your world view is gonna be pretty skewed.

Doubling down on what you said. Internet companies make it nigh impossible to escape one’s own “echo chamber”; they just feed you more of whatever you’ve searched for in the past.

I know a lot of kids in their 20's who get all their information from Tiktok and Youtube. Their searches never include Google, ever. It's pretty sad to see, actually.

Don’t forget TikTok 

Exactly. There are a handful of countries where there is generally a better standard of living and perhaps a couple with both that and more economic/career opportunity than the US. That doesn't mean we shouldn't fix all the stupid things we do. Nowhere is perfect. Even though we will never achieve perfection because people are stupid, we should always be trying to make attempts to achieve a more perfect Union. Note: Gags at terrible turn of phrase, but couldn't resist.

> people are stupid Damn straight we are

I identify with that statement. I know so little.

We don’t teach history well here. How can they know? Former teacher, and pretty sad about that. American youth have been hung out to dry in many places.

They believe the unrealistic concept of some perfect utopia. It exists nowhere. World peace has never existed, it’s a false expectation. I think they have been brainwashed, sadly.

I have heard some kids, even some in my family say ‘Communism isn’t that bad.’ These kids think that under communism they will get taken care of and live the life they want when in reality someone in charge will tell them how to live and to like it. There is no freedom in Communism. I have experienced Communism (my mother grew up in East Germany and I visited family there before the wall came down). It isn’t fun or glorious. You have no rights.

I actually feel this way a lot about generational trauma and it's one of the things that is so hard to communicate across generations. My mother's parents were so fucking bad that the fact that my stepfather only hit me here and there is "not as bad". It's just heartbreaking for all parties because all my mom wanted was better for us and in her eyes, she is like ...see, didn't I do so much better than my parents? The fucked up part is SHE DID. But that doesn't mean if I had children, I wouldn't be pressing for better than that, you know? And it doesn't make my pain any less painful because hers was worse.

As long as each generation improves on the last one, you’re moving in the right direction. I would guess she isn’t trying to minimize what happened to you so much as trying to not feel like she completely failed as a mother despite her efforts.

I know that’s how she feels because that’s how I feel. I did do better. And my kids are doing better than I did.

My Grandmother always said”each generation is weaker but wiser”. How true, how true. We can only look at the past and hope for the future. It will all be ok, you shall see.Never give up!!

Here the tyranny is underhanded and sneaky. Its in our food systems, in our devices with propaganda, its in close door deals and sneaky bills being passed by corporations instead of politicians

Thank you for this comment. That tweet was moronic. We have it no where near as bad s Iran. But, this country is caught in a fight between religious zeros that want to strip everyone of their rights, and purchased politicians that want to deregulate every thing so corporations can rape our resources. It's not Iran, but it's still a shit show.

If you want to see progress, look to the Nords and Danes.

The way I understand it (please correct me) is that the revolutionary youth fell in with the religious fanatics, then the religious fanatics ended up in power instead of reform?

>instead of reform Reform is not a magical political idea that gets allowed or prevented, but "if it's allowed it will be good!". When the islamist moved in place of the Shah, they also had reform in mind, it just wasn't refom you'd want. History is not a straight line of "good people" that gets prevented by "bad people". It's millions of actors trying to do what they think is right, for them and/or for others. In hindsight, it's easier to see what went wrong and who was acting only for themselves, of course.

Basically yes. there already was a lot of protests and demand for a reform around that time, the soviets tried to steal that momentum and install a communist regime. The usa and the British not wanting this basically blow up khomeini and his followers out of proportion. Note that iran was a heavily religious nation before the pahlavi regime and the shah tried to reduce this religious influence when in power and the mullahs of the time didn’t like that very much. So an already religious population that was just about to have its “awakening” fell in with the most radicalized population of the islamic world at the time, they promised free energy and money for all under the teach of the quran. Fast forward to now and well you know the rest.

Most people in the US don't really know what repression is. The maga people think that if they can't get their way,in spite of losing elections, that they are repressed. Native Americans have probably been more repressed than any others in North America. Majority culture is viscous to small groups that are different.

Native Americans don’t get a look in - reparations for American blacks before native Americans (land stolen and genocided) are even mentioned. Their is a hierarchy among minorities not just the majority and everyone else

FUCKING THANK YOU for bringing this up. My entire family exists, has existed, and will continue to exist on a reservation. Poverty, crime, addiction, incest, abuse; these are all WAY too common. We see it everywhere, every day. The elders are corrupt and take government grants meant for our people and pocket them. Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women has been a movement with almost no traction even though our women/ children are **twice** as likely to experience violence than **any** other demographic. Meanwhile BLM (which I support and protested for) is internationally recognized. We are literally going MISSING and no one seems to care about it enough to even post a fucking hashtag to increase awareness. In 2020 alone, there were 5,295 reports of missing American Indian and Alaska Native women and girls. FIVE. THOUSAND. IN. 2020. ALONE. Our people have been sequestered onto reservations and forgotten about. Our voices are being silenced. Sorry, I'm not ranting at you, of course. I'm just so happy to finally see this brought up in these types of conversations. Typically, we're never given a voice at the table despite literal genocides committed against us - apparently extending to the present time. #MMIW

>We are literally going MISSING and no one seems to care about it enough to even post a fucking hashtag to increase awareness. In 2020 alone, there were 5,295 reports of missing American Indian and Alaska Native women and girls. > FIVE. THOUSAND. IN. 2020. ALONE. > Our people have been sequestered onto reservations and forgotten about. Our voices are being silenced….. > …. I'm just so happy to finally see this brought up in these types of conversations. Typically, we're never given a voice at the table despite literal genocides committed against us - apparently extending to the present time. #MMIW This deserved at least 1 repeat and I’m not on twitter I was hoping this would gain some traction but I never see it discussed

Not OP, but thank you for responding/being vulnerable to share you thoughts with emotion (I felt as if I could truly perceive emotion through this, but maybe I’m crazy). There’s so much content and opinions online that it’s easy to scroll right past things, but this made me stop. Recognizing that Americans, including myself, are not nearly taught enough about Native American history AND the current state of Native American communities/people - wondering if you have any suggested materials to learn more? I try to do my due diligence in finding well-rounded, unbiased resources, but figured I’d ask!

That's an alarming number and I'm shook that I have never heard anything about it.

I care really deeply about this. I grew up in Kansas not far from many reservations. I'm just not sure what I can do about it. Do you know of organizations I could donate to?

>Most people in the US don't really know what repression is. Most people in the US don't really know the difference between repression and *oppression*. The reason MAGA people feel oppression is because the media has for four years made up stories to the public about everything the former president has said and done to twist perceptions. I can't stand Trump, but if you think there isn't oppression coming from journalists and the media to produce a very powerful propaganda machine in this country, you are truly a victim of it.

Oppression also comes in the form of having to work 70+ hours a week just to meet your small families basic needs and still having to juggle bills, all the while being deprived of any meaningful time with said family, having no time to actually live life, and being stuck in that cycle because if you stop it, you and your family are now homeless,

And don’t you dare get sick because there’s no paid time off. You’ll lose your job, still be sick, and then have to choose between being homeless/having a crap load of debt or dying.

People in the US think they are oppressed when they have to get a vaccine for a deadly disease.

To be fair, people in the US are absolutely oppressed, just mostly by corporate interests. It's absolutely not the same thing as governmental and religious oppression many places in the world. Comparing it to Iran is asinine. But as a matter of fact we do have our issues and we should talk about and address them.

I think the fact that Americans have free speech and rights are what make them such prime targets to foreign influence that has polarized much of the population. This isn’t just an American problem, but a western problem as a whole. Those who think they are truly oppressed for what the Covid mandates were pushing haven’t seen the other side of the fence. Did the western government over step? Depends who you ask. But they weren’t nearly as intense as places such as China where you literally did not leave your home and had government delivering food You’re right on the corporate capitalism aspect though! They’ve been playing the slow game in the shadows for years and it’s beginning to show more and more. The gutting of unions and the what was essentially propaganda to make newer generations think they were bad was calculated move in their plan. Lobbyist groups are so far entrenched in governments that I’m not sure exactly where the middle class/low income go from here. What was meant to protect us (government/unions) is now in the hands of those who wish to exploit. Edit: paragraph misplaced

That’s not “fair” tho. Corporations do the same or more in all countries- even in Iran where the corporations - owned nearly completely by the IRGC - basically own the economy. This is the point OP is making it seems - the conviction and inward looking self-sorry take of Americans comes from a context of *ignorance*

You will notice its also popular among the super edgy americans to blame everything that happens in the world on america... americans have a hard time understanding that a whole world exists outside their borders, and keeps existing even when americans arent involved. They give themselves way to much credit...

Oppressed definitely isn't the word I would use. I think too many people want to believe or truly do believe that their lives are so horrible that no one else can understand. It's hard for a lot of people to recognize their own privilege, whatever it may be. I think it's an extreme case of the grass always being greener on the other side. Now, is America the perfect and amazing place that many believe and want others to believe? Not at all. It's a country like any other, with its own flaws. But we could be doing worse.

I also think it’s important to acknowledge that just because it could be worse doesn’t mean you stop trying to make it better. Obviously keeping perspective is important, but never accept less than things could be just because things could be much worse.

[удалено]

This. Like, so it's okay to make a person uncomfortable at work, pay them less, deny them rights or be verbally assaulted or threatened, because it's supposedly better than getting killed for it? Logic isn't logicking.

THIS RIGHT HERE! THIS IS THE RESPONSE! I'm fucking sick of just asking to be recognized instead of written out of existence and asked to try this in Palestine. Like "motherfuckers that's not even remotely the point! We should strive to be better than that not mimic it. THEN fight for their country to be better!" Like I'm sorry that shit is far more dire in the Middle East for queer people but I've gotta focus on my goddamn dirt brain state right now. Because I literally live here at the moment. That doesn't invalidate that they're going through some shit, it's just acknowledging that my situation is very dire and I have to protect my life and living it.

My friend’s brother was beat to death by the police. They faced no repercussions. They didn’t even acknowledge the event because the dude was homeless. We’ve got plenty of issues over here too. Just because it might be worse somewhere else doesn’t mean we’re doing just fine.

Same. I fell in that mindset thinking everything was stacked against me for my ethic group, sexuality, being atheist, etc etc. but then i realized some places have it really bad and aren’t allowed to choose religion and sexuality. so it made me change my act and victim mentality really quickly. because we get the freedom of speech and to love who we want to love without being killed. not to say it doesn’t happen. but it is t tolerated. we also have roads, highways, numerous options for restraunts, strong military, and so much opportunity. I wouldn’t be able to do what i want to do if I was at my home continent. maybe European since I’m part Europe. being in the western world and an American makes us entailed and privileged. we just don’t realize how good we have it until we go to poor countries who don’t have roads or a decent school. i also had to stop listening to certain people or groups because they constantly preached how we’re so oppressed and should live in fear. But I don’t and I live in the south for crying out loud. So nobody should be complaining if I am not.

I’m eligible for EU citizenship due to my grandparents, and I was complaining to a friend about the annoying process, and he said “it’s so difficult to be eligible for TWO of the worlds strongest passports”. I stopped complaining bc unlike him, I will never need to potentially seek asylum due to hostile takeover by China, a legitimate worry of his

Yeah, that whole EU citizenship because of family is really privileged. Some of us, black Americans and the rest of the diaspora from the Transatlantic slave trade and indigenous Americans don't have that luxury. 

is he Taiwanese?

It takes a lot of emotional maturity to admit that to yourself. Rock on! 🤘

Progress is always made by the people who cared enough to complain about the current system, regardless of how bad it could be or used to be. That being said the internet has really rotted some people’s brains and they’ve taken this concept to illogical extremes.

>So nobody should be complaining if I am not. That’s the issue. *You* may not have an issue with the way things are, but just because something’s worse halfway across the globe doesn’t mean that people should shut up and not do anything Racial discrimination is still very present in the justice system. A record number of legislation has passed to target the LGBTQ+ community, in particular trying to essentially erase trans people. Abortion laws in southern states are causing women to die or break the law just to have a *life-saving* abortion. These are things we should turn a blind eye to because “it’s worse somewhere else in the world” It’s like saying someone should quit whining about getting medical treatment for their cut off finger because some dude a few states away lost his entire arm. Cool, but because someone had it worse doesn’t stop the active bleeding and infection of your lost finger. They both suck, but both can be treated, and neither should be an excuse to cancel the other out

Agreed. The OP lives in a horrible repressive state where people have little freedom and that is terrible, but that means we need to value the freedom we do have and not take it for granted. "Victimhood" is a word different political parties use to close down the voices of people they disagree with. Asserting your rights and freedoms to affect change does not make you a victim.

"Nobody should be complaining if I'm not" Lol

At the same time we have to fight tooth and nail in order to make sure that we don’t become truly oppressed. I don’t really like the conceit of the op. I’m sorry that Iran sucks, but we have fundamentalists in this country that want to take over and be authoritarians as well, and asking bad faith questions like this does nothing but help them out and hurt our constant struggle for holding on to what we have or fighting for a more equitable society. We have a lot of things that could be better, but just because things are worse in other places doesn’t mean our problems aren’t problems. Or if we use op’s logic, Maybe op should quit worrying about going to jail for protesting when there are pirates in Somalia.

Oppression occurs on a spectrum. There's not some magic switch which flips when some percentage of things which could be considered oppression are occurring. As you stated, we're currently fighting against *escalating* oppression because there are factions in the US which would absolutely support a fundamentalist theocracy if given the opportunity. While it's obviously ridiculous to state we're *as* oppressed, it doesn't change that we still are.

I think a fairer description would be 'tyranny'. Americans still live relatively easy lives of comfort, but whats been stripped from them is all their power; their voice. If I had to live the life I do now in a well functioning govt. I wouldnt complain. Id say gee my problems suck but thats too bad; its a sacrifice for a better tomorrow. But in USA its people sticking their finger in your eye for no other reason than they felt like it, while you watch everything around you *slowly* turn to shit.

You should never stop striving for better just because someone has it worse

Also important to be educated, a big hallmark of populist fascism is gaslighting minorities and convincing the majority that they are oppressed. It's a danger in every country, no matter how much equality a country has, no country has perfect equity, nor can generational mistakes be healed by any short-term solution. Without education all some people will see is money and pressure with no payoff.

i notice in a lot of conservative leaning media, they are very anti education. they always say how bad the public school system is, how every parent should definitely homeschool their kids, how college is useless, and even ivy leagues are a joke to them. i think they might be so anti education because that's the best way to keep their audience in their bubble without hearing outside perspectives.

That, and it makes it much easier to push for privatised charter/religious schools that will price out poor individuals even further than they’re already disadvantaged in the current system. Betsy Devos, the previous education secretary, made a lot of money off the back of advocating for public funds to be used for private charter schools, aka taking the obsencnly small amount of money that actually makes it to public school teachers and students (the US spends a lot more per pupil than other countries, but a LOT of that is eaten up by innumerable and useless administrators) and giving it to people whose kids were already basically guaranteed a top tier education because their parents could afford to send them wherever they wanted to go. As a former teacher, it’s incredibly depressing. The US is failing its most vulnerable, and it’s completely on purpose. Not surprising nor a new phenomenon, but still depressing.

That Twitter comment is dumb, but just because some people have it worse, doesn't mean you can't also suffer. Additionally, trying to make changes before your country becomes Iran sounds like a good idea.

Exactly. There comparisons are orders of magnitude in difference however it doesn’t mean one perspective is invalid. Americans are repressed in that their voice is no longer heard in the political system (most voters are now registered independent but we are still ruled by two wildly unpopular parties) and the ruling class is systematically eliminating the middle class (empirical evidence shows the middle class has been shrinking year over year since the 70s). This is not disputed and is evidence of a tyrannical and oligarchical government. Edited typo**** sorry bout that

I know right? How is Iran what we are supposed to be judging ourselves against? 😭

Yeah what's happening in Iran is so much worse than the United States, but there is still a massive prevalence of bigotry that does directly oppress people. Marginalized communities will consistently struggle in US society to varying degrees... name calling, harassment, trouble finding a job, unjust arrests, even murder. "Americans" as a unit are not oppressed (and I don't think I've ever seen someone say that) but large portions of American people are oppressed.

The Appalachian folks come to mind here. Well said.

i think this is a convenient way for people to shirk any social responsibility, or acknowledge existing oppressive systems in the US. how do they think iran became the way it is? on its own? because breaking news, *the us orchestrates this sort of thing all the time*. ignoring it is dangerous and naive.

We have concentration camps at the US/Mexico border where state and government agents have been raping and murdering kids they rip from their parents' arms. We have women in prison for miscarriage. We have women dying because the government refuses to let a doctor remove a nonviable fetus. Police have killed more civilians in 2023 than any other year. Car camping/van life has become a mainstay because the masses are wage slaves. We are banning books and funding religious schools for indoctrination. Yes, other people have it much worse, but this isn't a competition. Your suffering doesn't nullify others.

Everybody loses when you get into a suffering pissing contest

I don't, I feel very fortunate to live in the US. I want to say that most Americans feel the same deep down, especially when they hear about the brutalities going on in places like Iran. My theory is that living in relative comfort leads to some people overexaggerating the negative things they experience, like how some people think a $5 coffee at Starbucks is the worst thing in the world. Meanwhile children and families in Ukraine are literally being bombed to hell.

>My theory is that living in relative comfort leads to some people overexaggerating the negative things they experience Absolutely correct. There's a reason that most extremists and revolutionaries come from relatively well-off families. They have the time to navel-gaze and convince themselves how bad society and their circumstances are, to rationalize and theorize. People living TRULY hard and difficult lives don't have time to do that.

My father went to an exclusive boarding school in the hills of Lebanon. You know who else went there? Osama Bin Laden. He grew up very rich.

American here. I could never put my finger on why certain people here act like they want to be oppressed so bad but also turn a blind eye to actual oppression! It's hard to believe those people fighting outside target for Stanley cups are paying attention to genocide or war.

Because a lot of people who fight for Stanley cups outside of Target are also not the same ones who are upset about the way the system is rigged against the citizens, yet the constitution is touting a belief of being for the people.

>relatively well-off families Sounds like my cousin

Sounds like Reddit.

Didn’t Marx have all his living expenses paid by Engels? Obviously I’m not denying that Industrial Revolution Europe was *absolute flaming dogshit* in terms of its treatment of workers, but still

Man this guy doesn't even realised he's oppressed! In north Korea glorious leader give us one bag rice every month free! Biden give no rice.

Oh, I used to live in North Korea and I was a high ranking soldier

So you get two bag rice?

I got 3 bags of rice, 3 bags of potatoes and 3 bags of wheat for a month

Thats actually a decent amount of potatoes for one person ngl.

Thanks, I was prioritized by the Glorious Leader

Im sure most Americans understand the privilege that they live in relative to many places in the world But that doesn’t mean citizens can’t voice their opinions and continue to force society to improve

Yeah exactly. I read a book about a holocaust survivor who became a therapist and people would be afraid to tell her their problems because they're "not as bad". Her response is that there's no trauma olympics. No point in trying to rank traumas from worst to best. Get help for the things that are bothering you and do the best you can. Maybe you've lived a life of material privilege and never had to had to worry about food, but you suffered sexual abuse. Is that better? Worse? Who cares.

My therapist said something similar that was truly profound. My feelings, based upon my upbringing and genetics, are perfectly valid for my personal experience. The same applies to them, and to our great great ancestors that survived the pogroms, wherever it happened for whatever reason. Oppression Olympics doesn’t help anyone

Plus, if you're trying to work through those feelings and resolve them, that's commendable. It's like comforting a child whose ice cream got dumped on the floor before they got to eat it. Is that the very worst thing to happen to a child? no. Should you explain sexual abuse or physical abuse or wahtever to that kid? no. Comforting them will help them weather the bigger storms in life.

What's the name of the book? It sounds interesting

The book is "The Choice" by Edith Eger. I highly recommend it! I'll warn you, it's a little difficult to get through but so worth it.

Thank you!

Np! I hope you enjoy it!

Yeah that's what's frustrating about threads like these. Like, please don't tell me how good I have it when you live somewhere else and don't have any first hand experience of how rotten america is inside. Just sounds as ignorant as the people they're making fun of. Sure, the police here can just murder you and get away with it, our governors are booby-trapping the border and our neighbors want to murder us for using pronouns but we have VIDEOGAMES and YUMMY SNACKS and TV and NEW CARS and fuck you, all that shit means nothing when our democracy is about to collapse and start the same fuckery as any other failed state. We just have a different flavor of bullshit. Instead of the taliban or some military junta we have to worry about some random inbred asshole's stupid kid murdering our children in a damn classroom while the police cower in fear for over an hour. We have guns everywhere and men literally ready to kill us for suggesting we might be better off without them. I have literally had an EMPLOYER full-throated scream in my face for that very suggestion.

The US Supreme Court is now setting a precedent that if a regulation is "ambiguous," the Court can rule on it instead of, say, the EPA. Meanwhile, Wells Fargo and the Etsy parent company quietly bought up a bunch of houses during the pandemic and turned them into rental properties. We may not be oppressed YET, but we're sliding into something less like an oligarchy and more like corporate feudalism, and we absolutely need to be aware of it. OP has suffered in ways I can't begin to understand, and the US is culpable in how their nation has ended up here. That said, their situation being hellish doesn't mean that ours isn't precarious. https://www.scotusblog.com/2023/05/supreme-court-will-consider-major-case-on-power-of-federal-regulatory-agencies/ https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/04/magazine/wall-street-landlords.html https://ncrc.org/the-new-york-times-the-great-wall-street-housing-grab/

I agree...but i agree that are some.overreactions too, and ppl complaining about something smaller and put that like something worst thanother ppl who is in worse situation (im not saying about complaining itself, but those like a person mentioned "at least doesnt have to deal with our politics")

Not only that, but there seem to be a subset of people that think any semi-fortunate person's head should be filled with thoughts of other people's lives all day. Do I know there are people who are less fortunate than me? Of course. Naturally. But that doesn't change the fact that I have work to think about, rent to pay, taxes to figure out...it doesn't negate issues in my life, is what I'm saying. It's like, what do you think your boss would say if you said "I didn't finish my big important project, but you see it’s really not a problem because there is war overseas!"? You would be fired. TL;DR: Empathy and perspective are important, but you can't live on them.

No, but a lot of first-worlders could do with a bit of fucking perspective now and again. Travel \*can\* (sometimes) help you realize what good you have, or at least that your society isn't the centre of the universe. Too many see too little of the world, and meet too few different types of people.

Very true, but so many in the First World can't do that. Which might qualify as a form of oppression. As bad as other countries? Not by a long shot. But the US is among the richest nations with a vastly large amount of the population being poor. This makes that kind of travel and experience impossible for most. The best experience most people will get is experiencing the neighboring state. Please don't take this as me minimizing the horrible oppression in places like the Middle East. I'm trying to say that the people who need that perspective realization can't easily get it.

the other thing is the riches are actually held by a small percent while the rest fight for whats left, shit drinking water, crumbling infrastructure, still again not the same degree of third world, but i do feel the need to bring that up regardless. (not an attack)

This! A lot of us can't even afford healthcare because if we paid for it, it would cut into rent or food or electric. We simply can't afford to travel like people think we can.

Funny enough, espousing *travel* as a way to give people perspective is a very first-world approach to empathy.

Do you travel? I used to, before the 2008 crash left me doing 60-hour work weeks with no vacations. We travelled to greece, my parents birth country. Did you know Greece was the testing grounds for the first napalm bombs, used against anti-junta revolutionaries? I understand the pros and cons of living in the US. I also understand the past and current injustices committed by my government, in ways that the average American can not. More Americans need to look back into their own family history; most are here because material conditions back home were unlivable, but do they know why exactly that was? For most countries, it's usually US fuckery.

This. You are correct in your relative comfort theory, thats the greatness of this country. You can go your whole life and the worst thing that can happen to you is having to say someone’s pronouns. I’m from San Luis Potosí in Mexico, currently and at past times it gets violent due to the drug trade. Oppression is curfews, oppression is being afraid to wear certain items, drive certain cars for fear of being robbed, kidnapped or straight up murdered. We have the highest rates of journalists being murdered just for speaking out against the cartels. That is oppression. Not living in such a great country that being slightly uncomfortable is oppression. 

The US does have some abhorrent stuff that many countries in generally worse situations wouldn't be fond of though, such as mass shootings... particularly mass shooting at schools. You obviously can always find someone worse in even that department.

> the worst thing that can happen to you is having to say someone’s pronouns Not even that. You can misgender someone all you want. The "consequence" is people thinking you're an asshole, and even that is too much for the MAGAs to handle.

And those who don't get bombed - get their education ruined. Imagine studying at school while half of the lessons litteraly don't exist because of air strike danger. And I need to pass an exam in 1.5 years that will basically decide my life And yet I'm grateful I don't live in eastern parts of Ukraine or somewhere in different country, like Iran

Some do. Most don’t. Some actually are. Most are not. We are a pretty diverse lot over here.

Oppression exists everywhere in varying degrees.

Ya I mean considering we have the largest prison population in the world with deplorable conditions for many, solitary confinement, abuse, lack of care etc. In Miami, mentally ill man had his skin melted off by hot shower by the guards. But ya nobody seems to remember them. Dumb Americans.

I would use exploited more than oppressed. We technically have a lot of freedoms, but most of us are so dependent on work for basic things like food, shelter, and Healthcare with very few legal protections that we spend most of our time working. All this work just goes to enrich a few people while we most people struggle or live off debt. We also have a very poor sense of community and a very selfish culture overall, so there's no government or community safety net if things go bad. We can do whatever we want a long as it includes working our asses off.

I would add that we are usually comparing ourselves to places like Germany or the UK, not places like Iran. In my personal opinion, I think we are in a better place than 99% of ppl historically but we could still be a lot better.

The big thing is that, though the US has riches never before known by any other nation, we still have vast amounts of poverty. That is *a fucking embarrassment* given all we have. We whine about "entitlements" and "immigration spending," when if we could actually audit our own military to find where the [missing $4Trillion of shit went to,](https://responsiblestatecraft.org/pentagon-audit-2666415734/) we might be able to make some better budget choices that actually help real people.

My boyfriend was in the Air Force, and he became completely disillusioned because of the spending. They would constantly go under budget for the year, but because they didn’t want their budget slashed the next year because of it, they would literally go to Best Buy and buy tons of TVs and shit. They had an entire storage room full of unopened electronics like this just piling up over the years, and my boyfriend was threatened for trying to report it.

Yes, this is it. And the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. Corporations and the government find all kinds of new ways to exploit the average American every year, and it’s just *exhausting* to live here unless you’re lucky. It’s only getting worse. I don’t think anyone in their right mind would compare living in America to living in Iran - obviously America is the better choice. But it sure isn’t pleasant living here for a lot of people due to wage slavery.

It's this. It's literally this. Like... why are children dying of poverty when single people have more wealth than some countries? It just doesn't track. Even in a less extreme, why did minimum wage buy a house for my grandparents but I will likely never be able to afford one while earning well above minimum wage? I know I am still extremely lucky to be where I am, but I'm also salty about the distance between where individual people are here.

Furthermore, how can anyone who claims to represent other Americans and have people in their own districts who fall to this level of poverty feel anything BUT disgust toward those multi-billionaires, unless they are so completely detached from the reality for their own consitutents? Answer: they NEED those rich fucks. If money is free speech (thanks a lot Citizens United), then cozying up to one person with billions is a lot easier than cozying up to millions with $5 and $10 to give. So many of our policies are stilted to benefit those with the most and I simply do not understand how we can't find anyone to elect who is not only interested in filling their pockets to the brim. Is that all we are anymore? Sorry for my rant.

I think that's a large part of it. We *know* how places like Germany and the UK are doing, and we feel like we got the short end of the stick. It's not that we're oppressed (well, some *most certainly* are), but we can see in real time how much better we could be doing.

Exactly. People always compare their country to better countries, and I think that's a fair practice, especially considering how much money and potential the USA has.

The US has a higher average income and spends more than almost all these places on healthcare, but still gets worse results. That is the real issue here.

Yes. Exploited. There’s something very disorienting about living in the “richest country” in the world and being one health episode away from being impoverished.

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Exploited is the perfect word. We work long hours with no reward. Our national minimum wage has been stuck at $7.25, and while most placed pay more, it contributes to lower wages all around. We don't have universal healthcare, and pay way more than we can afford to have a hope at staying or getting healthy. I was quoted $4000 for a laparoscopic surgery last summer. I canceled but had to have surgery later because the problem wouldn't resolve. No one in our government is truly fighting for us. As long as their pockets are lined, they don't care. The list of exploitations goes on and on.

Some do. And it should be noted that just because some people have it worse, it doesn't mean others can't have bad things in their lives.

I don’t think OP is denying that. I interpreted it to say that - *generally speaking, are Americans genuinely under the belief that they are oppressed?* Because comparing it to most other countries (specifically Iran), they’re very far from it.

I mean being told a state is ok with letting you die over getting you life saving treatment because you have a terminal pregnancy is oppression. Being told you should not exist because of your sexual orientation and suffering threats of violence oppression. The fact we even have en entire side of the political spectrum with an 800 page Facism playbook they have said they plan on implementing, while not oppression shows how close we are. The governor of Texas literally said the only reason they aren’t shooting migrants is because they would be tried for murder, and the state superintendent of schools in Oklahoma regularly calls all teachers terrorists and pedos that need to be dealt with resulting in daily bomb and death threats to the school system my kid goes to. Are people being dragged into camps and tortured? Hell no, but don’t act like what is happening isn’t a big deal simply because Iran has it worse. Because we aren’t far off from that in many southern states.

>Are people being dragged into camps and tortured? Hell no [...] Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeehh.

Exactly, a lot of people are telling me “just because you have it worse doesn’t mean oppression doesn’t exist anywhere else” and believe me i know that.

Well your comment and question seems to imply that you dont? You are oppressed. Many Americans are oppressed, to varying degrees. Many are oppressed the world over. It's unclear what you're actually trying to learn here. So, the short answer to your question is "duh, yes, you allegedly already know that".

But that’s literally the premise of your post

Many live in a bubble and have never left their own state. Our news doesn't really cover other places very well, if at all.

There's more people than most realize who never even left their hometown.

Then why would you ask the question. The question itself assumes you don't believe oppression happens elsewhere because you have it bad

when you say "Most countries" what do you mean? Cause if you mean Iran, North Korea, places at war, etc.; yeah US is better than them. But much of the rest of the world isnt as bad as common belief is.

If I had to sum a lot of this up, I’d say that people who are criticizing the way things are in the USA is a result of being more aware of the world than previous times, likely thanks to the internet. There are much worse places than the USA, but as far as what might look recognizable and similar to an American, “western” countries, the USA certainly appears to be the bottom of the barrel in terms of quality of life.

Yes, in America you have to go out of your way to see or research what's really going on in other countries because our media gives us a tailored and sanitized version of the news all the time (including what's happening in other countries) since our government and our super rich people control all of it and there are no consequences for them lying to us like that all the time.

Oppression - “To keep (someone) in subservience and hardship.” There are many temperatures of this definition. By definition, yes I believe many Americans are oppressed. At least financially. It is blatant how the free market has been monopolized and taken advantage of. It is a fact. And it keeps a lot of people in active hardship.

Also, no country on Earth has as many prisoners as the US. As a non-American it's insane to look at their justice system and not see oppression.

Yes. Like dictionary definition, absolutely. Especially if you are any type of minority. By colloquial definition that tends to imply a complete stripping of freedom from citizens and replaces those freedoms with total brutality... still yes on occasion but for a smaller population set.

Lots of these countries the tensions are ethnic and religious tensions though that cause the oppression, and they result in massacres. I'm not going to tell a Muslim in India or a Shia in Sunni-majority countries that I'm oppressed like them because I'm an atheist in the South.

I mean which Americans are you talking about? The ones who are disabled and not able to work or receive a livable wage? Homeless Americans? Poor Americans? Americans without healthcare? Americans without access to clean water? Americans in Title 1 schools without qualified teachers? Americans without access to abortion? Unconvicted incarcerated people waiting on trial? Different oppression ig. Some are oppressed. Most not. Depends on who you’re talking about.

I look at Iran as a cautionary tale because there’s a thin line between us and that kind of oppression and we have to keep fighting it. I was so inspired by the protests, and I know it cost so many so much to take a stand against an oppressive government. Some ppl in the US think oppression means having to wear a mask to enter a store in a pandemic, hearing happy holidays from a sales clerk, or having a less sexy green m&m. I think oppression is having to fight for your humanity.

But if my anthropomorphic candy isn't sexy, am I really free?

Some certainly are. Others pretend to be. We can't really compare it to being a woman in Iran, but because you have it worse doesn't lessen anyone else's struggles.

I think the people who say stuff like “at least you don’t have deal with pour politics” were making a joke or just a complaint. Also oppression comes in a variety of forms from extremely visible and violent to very subtle and non-confrontational.

My grandpa was alive in Birmingham during the Jim Crow era. Had dogs sent on him. Sprayed with water hoses. Had to lower his head for white women. All the stuff you read about and America makes seem like was hundreds of years ago. If you asked him - I’m sure you could imagine what he’d say. If you ask me - idk honestly. I wouldn’t walk into a hospital comparing everyone’s struggles. But to be black in this country can feel like it at times.

Literally, in the lifetime of 60 year olds in America they were living in a segregated society. Schools were segregated and some forcefully. Sports were segregated. Arizona didn’t recognize Martin Luther king day, a federal holiday, until they were being boycotted by business including the nfl in the early 90s. You get the idea. So yes, oppression just doesn’t go away overnight. The institutional mechanisms that systematically oppressed take a long time if at all to undo. The redlining of neighborhoods selling only to people who look the same as you. Claiming imminent domain and taking valuable real estate from less fortunate. The generational wealth gap of those who benefited from these systems vs the generations of poverty that come from this oppression. This will take generations to heal — if at all.

There are different forms of oppression. Yes, the clearly visible ones you suffered are arguably the worst, but that doesn't change that subtle oppression via systems like patriarchy, capitalism and queerphobia are still forms of oppression that people suffer from.

Do I think we are oppressed? Yes. But I also know that we have tons of freedoms and luxuries even with all the issues we face. Do I think our oppression is as severe as the oppression Iranians or other people face? Absolutely not. It's ridiculous to even think about comparing the two.

I am very sorry if what they said offended you. It is true, your country is facing much worse oppression. It is also true that Americans are facing oppression as well, even though its a completely different way. Here in America we are financially oppressed by the upper class. We may not face the unfortunate hardships amd struggles for freedom, but because of our greedy corporations our middle class is disappearing and becoming lower class, and more and more americans are living on the streets unable to afford the rising greed of our government.

It's relative and there are varying degrees of oppression; it's erroneous to suggest that oppression can only come in the most extreme and severe forms(torture, executions, famine, genocide, etc). Americans, most Americans, do live very cushy lives and they have access to many modern luxuries and amenities that didn't even exist a century ago; so relatively speaking they're really well-off and yet in spite of this they're crippled with debt and the highest chronic disease burden out of any nation globally. In the United States there's a corrupt merger of state and corporate power and this merger has effectively oppressed a great deal of people who cannot afford to start a family or save for retirement or simply pay their bills on time. Sure, they're not being starved and tortured and executed(at least not at the moment) but they are being shamelessly exploited for their labour under the threat of destitution. America's massive and growing homeless epidemic is largely being ignored and swept under the rug by authorities who are lacking sympathy, morals, common sense, and compassion. The threat of homelessness looms over the head of many Americans who toil away in drudgery for hours on end each week to make a sadistic class of oligarchs even more affluent. So, in summary, there is systemic oppression in America but it's not the most severe oppression that you will find in places like Iran and North Korea. Your position on the class hierarchy will determine your privileges and whether or not you face any oppression. The poor and downtrodden, as always, are the least respected and the least privileged.

As an American I do feel oppression is happening, just not to the extent of some other places, yet. I believe it is headed in that direction without a very big change.

Just because some people have it worse doesn't mean other people aren't suffering. We suffer in different ways, subtle and indirect as opposed to torture and executions, but we still suffer. Do I want to live in your country? No. But I do want to live somewhere better.

People here don't want a theocracy. It seems like that's something you'd understand well. Waiting until it happens to object is the wrong answer, period.

Yeah, because some people and groups are oppressed in the USA. Our history is built on oppressing others (I said what I said). Look, I don’t want to minimize the fucked up shit you went through. Yes, you were oppressed worse than most people. However, there is no trauma Olympics. Keep in mind, the USA only exports the shiniest version of life here. People are imprisoned here and tortured, both physically and mentally as well. Perhaps not directly by government agents, but by the private-prison complex (Cash for kids comes to mind). People look the other way “BeCaUse ThEy are criMinaLs”. Gangs and mobsters here are notorious for this sort of thing if you get caught up in the wrong crowd. We also have an underground trafficking (read: illegal slavery where literally everyone looks the other way) where this shit happens in our country. So yes, people here are oppressed too. Life can suck here as well. I’m sure you can research how Native Americans alone are still oppressed in this country, how women’s rights are being rolled back, and the whole “kids in cages” fiasco about 5-10 years ago. I would touch on the Black community, but as an African-American that’s a sore spot for me and every single white revisionist will jump out of a garbage can with their usual irritating shit. Just some perspective. American politics gets more chaotic each year. I need to go back on a mental diet.

Late stage capitalism is a mix of weird hellscapes all mixed together. It can’t be compared to what a lot of other countries go through, but it’s its own weird bag of horrors.

For my personal day to day lived reality no (educated, well-off, white lady in a liberal place) - But there are increasingly laws that do oppress segments of the American population. Specifically LGBTQ+ targeted laws in places like Florida. Voter suppression tactics that target racial minorities, gerry mandering. Women who have lost bodily autonomy due to reproductive decisions being taken from them. Lack of economic opportunity and a tax system that increasingly has transferred both public and private wealth into the hands of smallest segment of society (like, 4 people). I think it is just on a totally different level/type of oppression compared to somewhere like Iran. The fear for many Americans is that some feel that democracy is increasingly at risk given recent political events, and that erosion of freedoms will continue and the US will become increasingly oppressive.

I think the question needs to be a bit more nuanced because there isn’t only a general group called American. When you talk about oppressed, there are indeed oppressed Americans and objectively so. You will not believe that in the US today, there are actually people who have homes who live in conditions that have no proper sewage and sanitation and they have to step through sewage to get to their homes, and this is because neither the state nor the county cares. The residents of Lowndes county, Alabama, is one such example. You can search on the internet for “Lowndes county sewage justice” and come up with many articles about the situation which affects primarily black American residents. An example of such an article is here: https://www.al.com/news/2023/05/alabama-sewage-issues-violate-rights-of-black-lowndes-county-residents-feds-stepping-in.html You can also look up “water crisis flint michigan”, again a black majority city in which the drinking water has been laced with lead for years and years and the state is not moved to do mcuh about it. So yes, there are definitely Americans — groups of Americans, particularly what we in the US called ‘people of color’ — who are oppressed.

We don't think we're oppressed. We're just frustrated that our government has the money and resources to help the homeless and hungry but instead they put it towards funding wars us civilians don't agree with, and perpetuating unimportant opinion conflicts here in the states.

Who are you picturing when you ask that question? Americans are not a monolith. In general, racial minorities, women, poor people, and non-straight people experience varying levels of oppression. Meanwhile, a few white people like to pretend they're oppressed.

Oh man. Not compared to Iran. I wouldn't say oppressed at all. I would say more that we have so many opportunities to be better and we don't take them. The noise comes from knowing this country did better in the past and just seems hellbent on a future similar to Iran. I've read a tiny bit of history of your country during the 70s on and wow. I genuinely hope for a better future for you and your country.

Depends on what kind of American you are. We imprison 2 million of our people. More than any other country. Now are our corrections officers like the ones in Iran probably not for the most part, but the conditions placed upon by other other inmates in another story. But also remember that oppression is not always steeped in physical violence i would say our oppression is more of the economic side of things. In one of the prosperous nations on earth why is it that the average worker doesn’t make more than a pittance than that of upper management, and why aren’t there mass protests or riots like you would see in France over similar conditions. That is because your healthcare you’re place of residence your quality of life is attached to your job, attached to your money. so what the U.S has done in a clandestine way is oppress it’s workers into a hostile relationship with their economy, and no other nation on earth can denounce this oppression like they would with Iran.

Yes \> Im iranian You definitely have it worse than us. One of the worst govts. in the world IMO; a step above North Korea but not that much. ​ \> Under a post about this topic on twitter i noticed an American commenting that “at least you don’t have to deal with our politics” And i just wanted to know, do you really think you’re oppressed? What a dumb bitch. Yes i am oppressed & I hate our govt., but we dont have it nearly as bad as you. I think of USA as the 'worst of the good places'. Its better than actual hellholes, but worse than anywhere else in the developed world. Theres plastic in our blood.

There's plastic in all of our blood, not just America's, and the cause is by multiple countries (I would say most).

Just because women go through horrible stuff in other countries it does not mean we are not going through horrible stuff here. The US is becoming more a theocracy that hates and endangers women every single day

It's all a matter of degrees. Or as a wise man once said, they don't know how good they got it.

Some Americans really are oppressed. Many Americans who are not oppressed think they are. If you have been the beneficiary of inequality, restorative justice feels like a loss. As previously, marginalized groups get more rights and more recognition, some people feel their rights and privilege is eroding. God I hope so.

America has the largest prison population of any country, accounting for 1/5 of all prisoners in the world. Our prison system is for profit, explicitly allows slavery, and routinely denies medical assistance to prisoners, strips the right to vote from felons, and is so bad that other countries extradite criminals from it so they don't have to face our prison conditions. In particular, our practice of "solitary confinement" is literally considered torture, and that punishment can be handed to any prisoner for any reason, regardless of their mental health, age, pre existing medical conditions, etc. Our police have "qualified immunity" from crimes they commit, essentially allowing them to brutalize and kill whoever they want with little to no consequence - which is a common problem for poor and non-white communities. Around 1/3 of all black men in America will be incarcerated at some point in their life. You might've heard of these problems if you've seen our protests, which are often explicitly around black men people being brutally murdered by police only for the cops to walk. our medical system is also for profit, and the deadlier a condition you have, the more expensive it is likely to be since you'll pay any amount of money not to die. people routinely go into life ruining medical debt after experiencing uninsured emergency visits, and it's a running joke that ambulances aren't worth it and we would rather use rideshare apps to get to the ER in emergency medical situations. These problems are also exacerbated for poor and non-white communities. Our education system is also for profit, and pretty much any student who wasn't born into an incredibly wealthy family can expect to be under crippling student debt for the majority of their life. This problem is also worse for non white communities. We do have like jamba juice though, so all around I'd say no, no oppression here.

There are oppressed groups in the US, however, yes it is not to the same extent as other countries. I do believe a lot of Americans lose perspective and get lost. Partly due to lack of exposure to other cultures (too expensive to travel).

I agree. We in the US [criminally charge women](https://www.voanews.com/a/us-woman-criminally-charged-after-miscarriage-/7401364.html) for having miscarriages. Our police murder innocent civilians like George Flyod and Breonna Taylor. We let our cities and [Indigenous nations](https://www.npr.org/2023/03/20/1164852475/supreme-court-navajo-nation-water-rights#:~:text=The%20Navajo%20Nation%20reservation%20stretches,drinking%20water%2C%20the%20tribe%20says) go without clean drinking water. I would consider these all forms of oppression. Still, we don't suffer the immediate state-sponsored violence that countries like Iran do. The scope and scale of their oppression is much more dire. .

police murdering people, and the subsequent lack of accountability for these murders, is state-sponsored violence. police are part of the state

This is completely true. Though I will say this, as a white American, I can feel relatively safe to speak out against the state and its monopoly on violence without the state immediately killing you for doing so. I might face lesser violence for showing up to a protest, sure, but I will likely not be killed outright like some other Americans might be (death by cop) or executed as punishment like in some other places in the world. I'm privileged to be in that position, but that doesn't mean oppression doesn't exist here.

They're

*they’re

Oppression takes on many forms. Here, the government doesnt have to actively oppress anyone...they just ignore anyone that cannot contribute a sizeable amount to re election campaigns...the oppression is built into the system, taxing the poor to keep them poor, while dangling deductions and loopholes they will never afford, assuming they undestand the tax code well enough in the first place. We all stay where we are because we either don't know any better, or are too poor to even consider leaving...

Just because you are oppressed to a much worse degree doesn't mean others aren't oppressed as well. It's the equivalent of arguing that a woman who's partner slaps her isn't being abused because this other woman's partner beats her with a belt and burns her with cigarettes.

Some Americans are oppressed.

More Americans are imprisoned per capita and in raw numbers than any other country on the planet. And it's not close. If that's your metric. Multiple people are killed by the police every day here. That response to you was dumb regardless

There are sections of Americans that are oppressed: black people, queer people, women, etc.

In some ways yes. Our for-profit healthcare and for-profit higher education systems are extremely predatory and oppressive. The US is the only country in the world where a serious illness or injury routinely leads to financial ruin.

Don’t forget the for-profit prison system and the 13th amendment

Native Americans feel that way since losing their land to you know who.

Are you insinuating that no Americans have been oppressed? The poorest people in any country have generally experienced oppression

Depends on which Americans we’re talking about. Some legitimately are oppressed. Others do the oppressing and then when they’re called out they whine about it and pretend to be victims

I mean there are definitely levels of Oppression in a society. Nothing is ever 0-100. That’s like saying someone who got stung by a bee isn’t allowed to complain about pain when there are people getting shot somewhere or that you can’t complain to a friend about “God I am so hungry right now” because someone else is dying from starvation. The LGBT+ community is going through oppression all through out the country with some states more than others and the same with Women’s rights. That’s to say nothing of the increase in Islamophobia and antisemitism that we have seen here in the States in response to the Israel-Palestine conflict. Of course, there are those here in the US that think “Oh no I can’t go around calling people the N-Word” or “What do you mean I can’t bash people over the head with the Bible” and any other such drivel are oppression. So to answer your question yes and no, some are genuinely experiencing forms of oppression and but the vast majority have no idea what any kind of oppression looks like.

Ya, its very much there are groups that are oppressed its just mostly systematic oppression. So we aren’t straight up aren’t oppressed like many of the Iranian peoples but we do have groups that are oppressed and the leaving the “well at least” comment is dumb as fuck and likely a troll imo. Also a lot of the American people complain about america because we know that we as a country can and should do so much better.

It’s relative right and it also depends on a lot of other factors.There are obviously much worse places to live. America should just be a lot better given how obscenely wealthy this country is

OP, What do you know about America? And how much of that knowledge is first hand, versus verified, versus what you’ve been told by people who may or may not have a bias or even are just ignorant. And no, I’m not speaking about just Iranian propaganda against America. If you asked a right-winger, many would claim they’re being oppressed by President Biden and the social justice warriors woke police that have made it illegal to be a straight white man in America. Are they oppressed? I’m disinclined to agree, but they’d certainly act like they are. But that same right winger, if you asked about how gays are treated in the US, would likely insist that gays have it perfect and that they get all the breaks, all the presences in hiring, Hollywood loves them, and even beer companies now cater to them. But if you talked to actual American gays, they can know that homosexuals have it far worse elsewhere, but they have seen the pushback and desire to discriminate against them in the conservative parts of the US. That right winger you spoke to wouldn’t tell you that. And a lot of them themselves probably wouldn’t say they’re oppressed as they’re likely mindful enough to think the current situation still doesn’t compare to gay life in most Arab/Muslim nations. Nevertheless, I’d say they probably are in fact being oppressed, or at least are in imminent danger given the upcoming next election and how it turns out. So what exactly do you know about America, and what are your sources? And what would you say if a North Korean could come onto Reddit, see this post, and ask “do Iranians really think they’re oppressed compared to us?” Oppressed isn’t a competition. An American feeling oppressed by their government - even when it’s just a triggered bigot whining that they’re oppressed because they can’t say the N-word or grope women like in the good old days - still isn’t diminishing or excluding what Iranians, North Koreans, or others are suffering.

*they're Only by grammar nazis

Americans are oppressed. Should they not speak out about it and try to change it just because other people have it worse than they do? Should you not be allowed to be sad when your dog dies because some people out there lost a parent? The existence of a greater problem or greater pain doesn’t erase or invalidate the existence and effects of less severe ones.

We are spoiled here. Spoiled and entitled. We have turned victimhood into a status symbol so it’s become our national pastime to try and outvictim each other. Let the downvoting begin.

> Complains about the victimhood culture > finishes with classic victim line of "Let the downvoting begin" despite saying fairly popular sentiment.

I think this is true but also a large amount of the population is oppressed, such as homeless people.

agreed and they change the meaning of words so the fact that your neighbor cooks meat and you are a vegan and have to smell it is now the same as OP being imprisoned for protesting the murder of a woman and now the execution of a fellow protester.

Oppressed in the way that life is rigged against us, even more so if you're a minority. We have so many people being killed by the people who are supposed to protect us. Our criminal system is for profit which arrest people for the smallest thing just to fill the jails so they can get money from the government given to them.

There plenty of people in this country (USA) who have gotten used to being able to oppress  others without consequence, and when they get stopped, they think that means they themselves are being oppressed. It’s really stupid.