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Comment by s1artibartfast | Hacker News Reader

>The reason for the oppression is, a large portion of every country actually wants to be oppressed.

Nobody wants to be oppressed. A large portion of the population often wants to be oppressors themselves. They are addicted to controlling others. This might be raising tax on X group, or criminalizing Y minority.

Many people don't like voluntary association and choice. They want compelled behavior that conforms to their expectation.

The only way to combat this is to establish a baseline respect for individual autonomy and choice as long as it doesn't harm other people.

Most people are hesitant to allow this because they don't like the choices that others make. Either that or they define harm as doing anything which they don't like.

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are you familiar with the lower middle-class rednecks who form the republican party, and elect people who at every turn scam them, screw them, and try to take away their medical benefits and social security? yes, they do want to be oppressed - but by their own people. not by your people.

my wife is a chinese xpat who got her master's here and stayed. when we go to visit her old parents who have a picture of mao on the wall, half the sites she visits are blocked. She can't get to the things she spends half her free time on. But it's "good that youtube is blocked, there's bad stuff on it."

Most of that country is like that. The millions you see protesting on the street - there's over a billion who are against them and love their firewall which keeps out western propaganda. and when they get their door nailed shut from outside and die of starvation? we don't talk about that, that didn't happen, gramma just died of old age.

i have friends who live in moscow. lots of people - way over half, support the war. when their son gets drafted, given a non-working rifle with no bullets, and shot, and they don't get paid as promised - they get mad at putin for a day. they next day though, they blame the Ukrainians and support the ugly little bald troll even more.

trust me - you are very wrong. probably not in your local social circle - but that has a huge selection bias. go to the DMV, sit there for an hour, and just listen to people talking.

being under the boot is safe, you don't have to make decisions, you don't have to thing as your opinions are provided - as is at whom you should be angry. it's paradise for many a housecat.

Unfortunately this is so true. I made this experience after travelling to oppressed countries. Just to add, a lot of time it is a net positive for the people, and more complex than propagated from the outside.

>...lower middle-class rednecks who form the republican party, and elect people who at every turn scam them, screw them, and try to take away their medical benefits and social security? yes, they do want to be oppressed

>Mao

>...it's paradise for many a housecat.

Feels like a non-sequitur to compare opposition to state controlled medical coverage to the charmed life of house cats. People often opt to euthanize their aged pets. Animals which misbehave or become unmanageable are sent to shelters where they are euthanized. On the other hand, concerns about death panels and eugenics are laughed away.

Otherwise I agree somewhat with your sentiment. The two goal posts of tribal affiliation are pitted against each other. Authorities take their free kick.

The description of, "lower middle-class rednecks who form the republican party" reads exactly like the kind of partisan 'othering' you describe.

Maybe he's saying that lack of education and or genetics causes people to desire control, to have someone who tells them everything will be allright because they can't handle the size and complexity of the modern world.

>yes, they do want to be oppressed

>being under the boot is safe

Do they want oppression or safety?

They want that particular kind of safety that comes from being under one’s boot: the incredibly reassuring, simple worldview that one can pour all their misgivings and praise for their lot in life into a singular place.

“Bless the king, for I can do X,” “The leader knows how to stop Y from harming us, and knows what we need,” “Damn the council, I get that I must go through them to do toys safely, but it’s so tedious,” etc. You may have never heard any of this, but it’s rather common all the same.

They want safety regardless of how it's done. Many times this means others, i.e. gays may not be safe.

This doesn't make them good people. Good intentions mean very little when weighed against the outcome.

This is why I hate all republicans

I think you are making the grave mistake of confusing cause and effect. Confusing a price willingly paid for motivation.

>yes, they do want to be oppressed - but by their own people. not by your people.

This is a half truth. Nobody wants to be oppressed, but they will choose the boot they think is lighter on them or heavier on others.

You may have been around a lot of different people, but I don't think you actually listened if this is the conclusion you are drawing. You can take that as a comment from someone who identifies more as a "middle class redneck" and then the equivalent alternative.

Nobody is clamoring to have their medical and retirement benefits taken away, but they have been sold on the idea that the alternative is to pay for both their own and that of other people. They are picking the less oppressive option as they understand them.

You can ask your in-laws what they think the alternative to Mao was. You can ask the Russians what they think the alternative to Putin is. Both will provide you an alternative that they think would be worse.

People will accept some oppression if they think it is the Lesser of two options. They don't actively seek it out

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