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Originally Posted by Bodhisattva  Exploited is one type of oppression... I agree.
I do not think that it is severe enough to justify rebellion though.
I also should have stressed the word "truly" because they can feel oppressed all they like, but if it not true oppression, that being the type that robs them of life, liberty or property, then they are not being truly oppressed. I further that by saying that being robbed of property in the form of slaves upon entering a nation or territory that does not allow slavery is hardly being oppressed... |
After traveling miles of desert thru the danger of being attacked and robbed by the Pueblo Indians, are you willing to turn back to the road where you came from? Will you have enough supplies to last for the return trip? Will you be lucky enough to make another successful trip avoiding attack?? And even if you get back home, after wasting a large amount of your forture for that useless journey, how the hell are you and your family going to get back on your feet?
A trap. A traveler who is seeking a way to reap the benefits of his risk-taking is trapped. Taking risks is what business people do after all. The likely story is that this traveler have been saving up money, or using up his family fortune, for this entreprenurial journey. This was quite common during the expansion to the West during this time. But what do you do when a situation arises when you are faced with breaking the law and surviving? Again, I point out that there is a trap. Consistently, a trap precedes exploitation, which is oppression.
Not only this, but a slave at that time, is almost like a car in today's world. Large plantations have many slaves, and thus they produce more and sell cheaper. For a small business owner, having slave is necessary for competition. It is a critical asset to your business. If you do not turn a profit, how are you goint to pay back the debt you took from the bank this year? Most farmers of the time, take out loans, and hope to God that they have a good year. Having a slave raises the likelyhood of you maintaining your farm, whether you needed more hands for crops or to look after your cattle. Slaves are a huge asset to success.
Simarly if you don't have a car, the number of professions that are available to you are closed off. Such professions that require you to be available at weird/random/unconventional time schedules, such professions that require you to commute in unconventional/irregular distances or places, etc. A car is almost necessary for you to be able to compete in today's (labor) economy. Like the farmer without a slave, you are less competitive, and less likely to be able to suceed in life. Furthermore, if you are not allowed to drive a car, assuming illegal immigration issues, that further limits the number of proefessions you have to choose from. Particular limiting in the sense of lower wages. Again, a situation where success is less likely.
To deny a person of either a car or a slave in thier respective era is a form of oppression. Is the oppression justifiable? That because they are illegal immigrants, that justifies them being oppressed? I don't know for you, but you can make that call for yourself.
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But I don't get you Bodhi....I thought you said that defending Texas from Mexico was justified?? Doesn't that mean that Texas was being oppressed? I don't understand you. Was Texas being oppressed or not?