Do these myths sound familiar?
"It is necessary for the oppressors to approach the people in order, via subjugation, to keep them passive. This approximation, however, does not involve being with the people, or require true communication. It is accomplished by the oppressors’ depositing myths indispensable to the preservation of the status quo:
for example, the myth that the oppressive order is a "free society"; the myth that all persons are free to work where they wish, tat if they don’t like their boss they can leave him and look for another job; the myth that this order respects human rights and is therefore worth of esteem; the myth that anyone who is industrious can become an entrepreneur- worse yet, the myth that the street vendor is as much an entrepreneur as the owner of a large factory; the myth of the universal right of education, when all of the Brazilian children who enter primary schools only a tiny fraction ever reach the university; the myth of the equality of all individuals, when the question: "do you know who you’re talking to?" is still current among us; the myth of the heroism of the oppressor classes as defenders of "Western Christian civilization" against "materialist barbarism"; the myth of the charity and generosity of the elites, when what they really do as a class is to foster selective "good deed" (subsequently elaborated into the myth of "disinterested aid," which on the international level was severely criticized by Pope John XXIII); the myth that the dominant elites, "recognizing their duties," promote the advancement of the people, so that the people, in a gesture of gratitude, should accept the words of the elites and be conformed to them; the myth that rebellion is a sin against God; the myth of private property as fundamental to personal human development (so long as oppressors are the only true human beings); the myth of the industriousness of the oppressors and the laziness and dishonesty of the oppressed, as well as the myth of the natural inferiority of the latter and the superiority of the former.
All these myths (and others the reader could list), the internalization of which is essential to the subjugation of the oppressed, are presented to them by well-organized propaganda and slogans, via the mass "communications" media- as if such alienation constituted real communication!"
-Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed (139)
I wonder how legitimate these myths are? While I’m inclined to buy into the oppressive dichotomy of subject-object, I have to question if these dichotomies are necessarily true. I would be remiss to overlook the complexities involved and simply dichotomize. More reflection later.
William Dare 