Can a person/people be brainwashed into liking the cruel exercise of authority? In this themed episode Juan and I discuss the topic of 'Oppression'. The convo begins with a tightening of the definition before discussing whether this topic has ever been a personal concern for ourselves. We then go over some examples from history and ask some hypotheticals related to the psychology of people under an oppressive regime.

The second half of the podcast centres around how the word is used in a modern context. We talk about the Oppression Olympics (very popular phrase of Gad Saad) and 'concept creep', the gradual change of a word over time that distorts it's original meaning. Two books were also referenced in our discussion: the classic 1984 by George Orwell and The Coddling of The American Mind by Greg Lukianoff & ‎Jonathan Haidt. We finish off finally with our MMM's before saluting our lone fan in North Korea.

As always, we hope you enjoy, Mere Mortals out!

P.S. The Mere Mortals don't condone the pony oppression by the evil racist frogs as evidenced throughout this video.

Timeline:

0:00 - Intro & definition

1:31 - The difference between oppressive and repressive

4:48 - Have we ever been oppressed?

8:33 - Is it possible to be oppressed without realising it?

13:55 - Is it possible to enjoy the oppression?

18:22 - How useful is it as a word?

22:34 - Coddling of the American Mind book

27:30 - The Oppression Olympics

31:33 - Dystopian future in 1984

35:07 - Concept creep

37:59 - Mere Mortal Moments

40:11 - Shoutout to our North Korean fan

About Mere Mortals:

Striving for excellence through life's lessons. Daily uploads @ 5pm AEST. 4M's, Book Reviews, Musings, Bonus, Themed Podcast, Conversations & Meanderings.

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