People's Ignorance Contributes to their Political and Social Oppression

Education is key to overcoming oppression and to a just future (above, jeffspeigner photography), but many young ones are handicapped by acute economic pressure (right, Young Cambodian girls collect recyclable bottles and cans on a street in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Photo: EPA).

By Anonymous (teenage author)

(teenink.com)

In today's society, political and social oppression can be clearly seen from almost every viewpoint. This oppression arguably is the essential device for almost all of society's problems and has been haunting humanity for countless centuries. Even in the richest countries of the world, oppression still lingers and forces some of the cruellest outcomes known to man. Although many fight against this injustice through funds and charities, social and political oppression still thrives with ease. Therefore, after witnessing our failure to eliminate this dreadful essence, one may conclude that, in truth, social and political oppression is caused not only by one tyrannical leader and common greed, which a large percentage of our funds and charities fight against, but also by lack of education and general ignorance. Overall, our populations are too quick to accept the propaganda given to them and allow their governments to become the exact opposite of what they originally desired. The book, Animal Farm, by George Orwell, clearly depicts this and shows the dangers of ignorance explicitly, through the treacheries that the working class of animals eventually face. Orwell teaches us to educate ourselves, along with others, so that political and social oppression, as seen not only in Animal Farm, but also in the English-American colonial expansion and in World War II, does not continue to exist. Our populations must listen to Orwell more intently and further understand the importance of education, as human ignorance does, in fact, contribute to the general political and social oppression that we constantly face, and they must do so now.

In the famous book, Anima! Farm, farm animals revolt against their human masters, representing the Russian Revolution and the fail of Czar Nicholas II. The animals are treated equally in the beginning of the book; however, as the plot unravels, slowly ranks emerge within the animal population. Soon, most of the farm animals, representing the working class, return to their previous state of inequality and oppression while the other, much smaller percentile of animals, the pigs, manipulate the typical animal with propaganda and enjoy extensive and unnecessary luxuries, just as the earlier humans did. The working animals allow their self-claimed ruler, Napoleon, to do whatever he wishes and almost completely reverse the rules that were already instated to prevent corruption. The working animals simply accept that "Napoleon is always right," and so follow him blindly and do not educate themselves of the true unfairness of the situation. Just as in the Russian Revolution the peasants act as the animals, and Stalin becomes what he too fought against. In his book, George Orwell shows us how rapidly the newly formed system of equality can revert to that of the earlier, if society is ignorant and too quick to accept propaganda as truth. Through his novel, Orwell shows us that the ignorance of the average farm animals or average person eventually leads to their own demise and further explains the importance of education.

Common ignorance has not only led to political and social oppression during the Russian Revolution and in Animal Farm. In fact, during the westward expansion of American-Englishmen, the ignorance of the American-Indian populations has lead to their own oppression, as they were forced out of their land, unprepared and without advanced weaponry or diplomacy. The American-Indian populations had countless centuries to create allies within the western hemisphere and develop advanced weaponry. However, their ignorance of the possibility of other unknown powers conquering them prevented any of this from happening. Also, even after the landing of the later to be English-Americans, the American-Indians should have analyzed the capabilities of the English and defended or asserted themselves appropriately but, their underestimation of the future prevented this from happening as well. The American-Indian ignorance left them defenceless against the new technology developed by the English-Americans and their need for more land. Furthermore, in World War II, many of the German people followed Hitler without any true knowledge of the worldwide situation and the consequences of his actions. They did not educate themselves of the potential disasters that the soon to be World War II could create. Hitler easily convinced them that Germany would most definitely win the war and that Germany was being moral in its acts of such war against both the Jewish people and the other countries of this world. The German population charged into a massive war that they lost later in time with an astounding number of deaths. However, if the German people had educated themselves of the potential effects of the war, these mass deaths would not have occurred and neither would the terrors and general oppression that the human species, including the German people, later faced. Hitler used the ignorant hatred for the Jewish people and France that most of Germans supported against themselves to promote what is commonly agreed as a senseless war.

It seems clear; the ignorance of the populations certainly leads to their political and social oppression. George Orwell made this clear and through his book, the English-American colonial expansion, and World War II, one can easily see the truth of this statement. Education is key to stopping this oppression generated by ignorance and must continue to be supplied to as many as possible. Education is even more important than the direct donations we give to those that simply need income because of consequences unrelated to their actions, as it is the key to a just future.