There is a paradox inherent in complaining about oppression: the most oppressed people are not even allowed to complain, so the fact that you complain about being oppressed is simultaneously evidence that the oppression is… not at the strongest level.
For example, during communism, very few people complained publicly about lack of free speech. (Those who did, were quickly taken away by police, sometimes never to be seen again.) Today, in the post-communist countries, people complain about censorship and lack of free speech all the time, typically because someone disagreed with their opinion on covid or the recent war. Going by the number of complaints, one might easily conclude that he situation with free speech is much worse today… and some people indeed make this conclusion.
I am not saying that if you are allowed to complain, it means that all oppression and discrimination are gone. But the relation between “how much people are oppressed” and “how much people complain about oppression” is non-monotonous.
I don’t have a good solution to figure out who is most oppressed, because “these people have nothing to complain about” and “these people are too afraid to complain” may look the same from outside; also a nutjob from the former group may seem similar to a lonely hero from the latter group.
There is a paradox inherent in complaining about oppression: the most oppressed people are not even allowed to complain, so the fact that you complain about being oppressed is simultaneously evidence that the oppression is… not at the strongest level.
For example, during communism, very few people complained publicly about lack of free speech. (Those who did, were quickly taken away by police, sometimes never to be seen again.) Today, in the post-communist countries, people complain about censorship and lack of free speech all the time, typically because someone disagreed with their opinion on covid or the recent war. Going by the number of complaints, one might easily conclude that he situation with free speech is much worse today… and some people indeed make this conclusion.
I am not saying that if you are allowed to complain, it means that all oppression and discrimination are gone. But the relation between “how much people are oppressed” and “how much people complain about oppression” is non-monotonous.
I don’t have a good solution to figure out who is most oppressed, because “these people have nothing to complain about” and “these people are too afraid to complain” may look the same from outside; also a nutjob from the former group may seem similar to a lonely hero from the latter group.