Pedagogy of the Oppressed - Chapter 1

Oppressed

Paulo Freire sees society as trapped by a perpetual conflict between two groups: the oppressors (the have's) and the oppressed (the have not's).  The oppressed fear and hate the oppressors for exploiting them.  The oppressors hate the oppressed for the constant threat of revolution, which leads to increased exploitation/oppression.

The oppressors 'oppress, exploit, rape by virtue of their power'.  They abuse anything in a mad pursuit to possess everything - for them, 'money is the measure of all things, and profit the primary goal... what is worthwhile is to have more - always more - even at the cost of the oppressed having less or having nothing.  Any threat to the present situation is perceived by the oppressors as (ironically) oppressive...

formerly, they could eat, dress, wear shoes, be educated, travel, and hear Beethoven; while millions did not eat, had no clothes or shoes, neither studied nor traveled, much less listened to Beethoven.  Any restriction on this way of life, in the name of the rights of the community, appears to the former oppressors as a profound violation of their individual rights... for the oppressors, human beings refer only to themselves; other people are 'things'

Education and generosity have been twisted in order to further perpetuate this game.  In education, the oppressors have a sense of being 'proprietors of history', in which they alone hold the truth to the past.  This 'absolute truth', once inoculated into the oppressed, will free them of their ignorance/poverty/uncleanness, and make them fit for society, as the oppressors see it - translation: continue the oppression.

Generosity too has been savagely distorted.  Freire believes that the oppressors practice what is a 'false generosity':

True generosity consists precisely in fighting to destroy the causes which nourish false charity.  False charity constrains the fearful and subdued, the 'rejects of life', to extend their trembling hands.

False generosity teaches free men to become dependent.  False generosity merely keeps people alive.  True generosity liberates men, and teaches them how to truly live.  Freire believes that if we (the have's) want to help the oppressed, we must be prepared to engage in dialogue, not monologue, with the people.  We can't teach them our (oppressive) version of history, but we have to teach them to think critically.  Solidarity is not keeping the oppressed dependent, but fighting at their side.

In the end, the oppressors are not free.  They are in fact slaves to their own power, unable to breakaway from the destructive cycle in which they find themselves trapped - everything they do reflects their imprisoned state.

Oppressed

Paradoxically, only the oppressors, once properly equipped, can break apart from the cycle, freeing (humanizing) themselves, as well as their oppressors.

However, in history, it is all too often that after a revolution, the oppressed simply replace the former-oppressors with former-oppressed.  Not knowing any other paradigm, they displace the despots only to replace them.  Hence, the oppressed don't desire to be free, but instead they feel an irresistible attraction to the oppressors and their way of life.  The oppressed have a fear of freedom.  But also, without any knowledge, or example, of an alternative to the current paradigm, they seek after only the 'better alternative', not the ultimate solution.

This system of violence, oppression, and exploitation is deeply flawed.  The oppressed must choose not to fight back with the same tools which created this system... the outcome would only be another traditional revolution, with perhaps some blood shed, a new flag, but much the same system.  Instead...

paradoxical though it may seem - precisely in the response of the oppressed to the violence of their oppressors that a gesture of love may be found... only the power that springs from the weakness of the oppressed will be sufficiently strong to free both (oppressor & oppressed)