Faced with the dearth of religiousness, the 21 century has a new guidebook to the purpose of life. A complex interplay of identity and oppression, and revaluation of self as the saviour. From the speaker's perspective, it is a brilliant story of liberation and may have some benign outgrowths like the cancel culture. The first step is identifying the oppression.
The first context in which oppression came into my vocabulary was the freedom struggle from colonisation. Thus a scary picture of pressure is etched into my memory. But, the oppression, like everything else, could be subjective. When I learnt of the hardship of my parent's childhood, I was to believe that I had successfully leapt out of oppression. However, it's clear now that I was a victim of an oppressive third-world system, where my counterparts in more prosperous economies lavishly spent their young years. There is a subjective truth in this. And perhaps masked envy. But what is distinct is that it combines discontent and jealousy to redefine our past. This is necessary to convince ourselves that we have been brave and successful in fighting oppression. We are the hero we read off.
I celebrate seeing the past as oppression and applauding ourselves for braving it. However, this hero is complete with an antagonist. And now, it must be a character from our past retrospectively taxed the burden of our evolution. In many contexts, the oppressors have been parents, teachers or, as I did in the above paragraph, our environment. Sometimes, we make unsuspecting, and perhaps well-wishers, villains, but they need not be. This demonisation of Samaritans leads to an explosive social structure. One where involving yourself with someone could be well misread.
I celebrate seeing the past as oppression and applauding ourselves for braving it. However, this hero is complete with an antagonist. And now, it must be a character from our past retrospectively taxed the burden of our evolution. In many contexts, the oppressors have been parents, teachers or, as I did in the above paragraph, our environment. Sometimes, we make unsuspecting, and perhaps well-wishers, villains, but they need not be. This demonisation of Samaritans leads to an explosive social structure. One where involving yourself with someone could be well misread.
What makes this alarming today is the rise of influencers. With many trying to be heroes, the search for villains is fiercer than usual. Most of them don't understand where they faulted to deserve the infamy.
Does this uphold the real stories which beg for light? Much worse is that it makes people with a relatable past believe that they are being oppressed, a realisation which has been socially forced upon them. Past is a complicated burden; one must strive to get better, at the same time, reverse the learnings. We may one day learn that we are both heroes and villains, and our stories are a little true.