Dwain Northey (Gen X)

Ah yes, humanity: the one species that can take a perfectly good tragedy and turn it into a justification for becoming the villain in the sequel. If there’s one thing we’ve mastered, it’s recycling oppression like it’s a family heirloom—handed down lovingly from generation to generation, with a little extra cruelty polished onto it each time.

Let’s start with the Jews. Oppressed? Absolutely. Victims of one of the most grotesque acts in human history? Without question. But fast-forward a few decades, and suddenly Gaza is a concentration camp with Wi-Fi. Somehow, the people who once cried “Never Again” now apparently meant, “Never Again… for us. For you? Well, that’s negotiable.” Bombed schools, blockaded food, and the casual shrug at civilian casualties—it’s like trauma has been rebranded as state policy. Oppression wasn’t destroyed; it was franchised.

Then we have the Christians. Oh, the poor Christians, fed to lions, burned at the stake, hiding in catacombs. Fast forward two thousand years, and their spiritual descendants are sitting comfortably in megachurches that look like shopping malls, while insisting they’re still persecuted because Starbucks forgot to print “Merry Christmas” on a cup. The religion that started with a man preaching love, humility, and care for the poor now has a political wing dedicated to stripping healthcare, policing bedrooms, and hoarding guns. Apparently, nothing says “What would Jesus do?” quite like suppressing the rights of anyone who doesn’t fit into your WASPy suburban fantasy.

And of course, America itself: land of the free, home of the brave… unless you were here first. Then it’s land of the stolen, home of the displaced. Let’s not forget: the pilgrims came here whining about oppression, fleeing Europe to find freedom, and within about five minutes they were handing out blankets laced with smallpox. Oppression was their favorite import—well, that and Puritan judgment. The Indigenous people who lived here for thousands of years in relative balance with the land? Oppressed, slaughtered, and herded onto reservations like livestock. But hey, the settlers were oppressed too, remember? They couldn’t wear their funny hats in peace back in England, so clearly they were justified.

And don’t even get me started on whiteness in America. Somehow, the people who already have every conceivable advantage still manage to cry that they’re the “real victims.” Yes, because when you dominate government, media, and culture, the logical next step is to convince yourself you’re under attack by pronouns and diverse casting choices in Disney movies. Meanwhile, anyone who isn’t white or Christian is expected to “know their place.” Freedom, apparently, is a zero-sum game, and some folks are very worried that if others get even a drop of it, their own privilege might lose a little shine.

So here we are, in 2025, watching the same cycle play out like reruns of a bad sitcom. Yesterday’s victims become today’s tyrants. Yesterday’s cries for freedom become today’s laws of exclusion. Humanity, in all its wisdom, proves once again that power doesn’t actually liberate—it just gives us shinier tools to oppress someone else.

If history has a catchphrase, it’s this: Meet the new boss, same as the old boss—just with a different flavor of self-righteousness.